Latin America and the Caribbean
“Now CIAT has a more comprehensive view of environmental issues” David Kaimowitz
David Kaimowitz did not visit CIAT as the Natural Resources and Climate Change Director for the Ford Foundation, but as a family friend. And he found a CIAT placing more emphasis on climate change and with a potential in forest conservation, the subject matter of Kaimowitz’s expertise. Interview.
App enables smallholder farmers to be community influencers and citizen scientists
The GeoFarmer app allows community workers and smallholders to easily collect and share information on climate-related agricultural interventions. Development agencies can use the tool to gather effective feedback and to respond to emergent climate needs.
More bang for the climate buck: study identifies hotspots for adaptation funding
By combining the latest crop models and local expertise in Vietnam, Uganda and Nicaragua, scientists developed a process to pinpoint where cash crops and food security is most threatened by climate change. The tool can help streamline climate spending
Webinars help journalists navigate climate change and agriculture storytelling
A series of webinars on climate change and agriculture allowed a scientific experts and more than 100 journalists discuss how to cover these stories in Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa and Southeast Asia.
Paula Paz, scientific talent for a greener world
Paula Paz, from CIAT’s Decision and Policy Analysis (DAPA) and Agroecosystems and Sustainable Landscapes (ASL) research areas, has worked for two years with governments in Latin America to increase the adoption of Terra-i, a tool for monitoring changes in plant cover that was developed by CIAT researchers and colleagues.
Sustainable land use systems: A way to help achieve Colombia’s climate change mitigation and peacebuilding goals
Colombia has set ambitious targets to mitigate climate change and achieve stability. One promising approach to help achieve those simultaneously is designing and promoting sustainable land use systems that incorporate the views of all the stakeholders in the value chain.
Dramatic rainfall changes for key crops expected even with reduced greenhouse gas emissions
By 2040, rainfall on wheat, soybean, rice and maize will have changed, even if Paris Agreement emissions targets are met. Projections show parts of Europe, Africa, the Americas and Australia will be drier, while the tropics and north will be wetter.
USAID and NASA Harnessing Technology for Development in the Amazon
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) today announced a five-year project that will use satellite imagery to address environment and development challenges across the Amazon Basin.
María Elker Montoya, champion creator of method to fight Rice Hoja Blanca Virus
María, who started her career as a Research Assistant at the Latin American Fund for Irrigated Rice (FLAR, its Spanish initials) and is currently a member of the Phenotyping Platform team at CIAT, developed a method to establish different stages of infection in plants, and thus meet the increasing challenge faced by producers, caused by an outbreak of the Rice Hoja Blanca Virus (RHBV) that has been observed in recent years in rice plantations from different countries of Latin America and the Caribbean.
Inter-institutional team tackles Honduras’s water crisis
More than 300 actors, including technicians and decision makers from six departments in western Honduras (Copán, Intibucá, Lempira, La Paz, Ocotepeque, and Santa Bárbara), have benefited from the Honduras Water platform [Agua de Honduras], co-developed by CIAT’s Agroecosystems and Sustainable Landscapes (ASL) and Decision and Policy Analysis (DAPA) research areas.
CIAT in Latin America
Through our work in one of the most ecologically and agriculturally diverse regions on the planet, we aim to ensure that the whole world benefits from agricultural innovations developed in Latin America and the Caribbean.
With its wealth of natural resources, wide pool of human talent, and strong record of technological innovation, the region has great potential for restoring degraded lands, achieving sustainable agricultural development, and strengthening global food security.