“Achieving food security by mid-century will require at least 50 percent more food production,” said Cary Fowler, the U.S. special envoy for world food security, noting that the world’s population is expected to reach 9.8 billion people and is facing dire consequences such as violent conflict, rising temperatures, increasing migration, and a dramatic decline in land, water resources and biodiversity. “Food systems need to be more sustainable, nutritious and equitable,” he said.
CIMMYT’s 2030 strategy aims to build a diverse coalition of partners to lead the sustainable transformation of agri-food systems. This approach addresses factors that affect global development, plant health, food production, and the environment. At DialogueNEXT, CIMMYT and its partner network shared success stories and promising directions for strengthening agricultural science and food security, focusing on poverty reduction, nutrition, and practical solutions for farmers.
Without healthy crops and soil, there is no food.
CIMMYT’s MasAgro program in Mexico has increased farmers’ resilience by introducing high-yielding crop varieties, new agricultural practices, and income-generating activities. Mexican farmer Diodora Petra Castillo Fajas shared how CIMMYT’s interventions have benefited her family. “Our ancestors taught us to burn stalks that degrade the soil. CIMMYT introduced conservation agriculture, which preserves stalks and increases soil moisture, allowing us to harvest more nutritious crops,” she explained.
CIMMYT and its African partners have begun applying MasAgro’s technology in collaboration with USAID’s Feed the Future. [1] In sub-Saharan Africa, where 80 percent of arable land is poor, little or no fertilizer is applied, rain-fed maize is the most widespread crop, many households lack a balanced diet, and rainfall and high temperatures mean a different approach to agriculture and food systems is required, through the Feed the Future Accelerated Innovation Delivery Initiative (AID-I).
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and CIMMYT are partnering to implement the Vision for Adapted Crops and Soils (VACS) movement in Africa and Central America. This key movement for transforming food systems, supported by the G7, focuses on crop improvement and soil health. Working with VACS implementers, champions and communities of practice, VACS will invest in the improvement and extension of 60 indigenous “opportunity” crops, primarily grown by women, including sorghum, millet, groundnut, pigeon pea and yam, to enrich soils and human diets.
MasAgro’s methodology was integral to the formation of the Feed the Future Southern Africa Accelerated Innovation Delivery Initiative (AID-I) Rapid Delivery Hub, an initiative between government agencies, private and public partners, including CGIAR. AID-I increases farmers’ access to markets and extension services for improved seeds and crop varieties. Access to these services reduces the risks of climate and socio-economic shocks, improving food security, economic livelihoods, and the resilience and prosperity of entire communities.
Healthy soil is important for crop health, but crops must also contain the genetic traits they need to withstand extreme weather, be nutritious, and be marketable. CIMMYT holds the largest maize and wheat gene banks with the support of the Crop Trust, providing untapped genetic material to develop more resistant varieties from these staple cereals and other heirloom crops. Through the development of harder, more adaptable varieties, CIMMYT and its partners are working to put in place stronger delivery systems to get improved seeds to more farmers. This approach prioritizes biodiversity conservation and addresses the main drivers of insecurity: extreme weather, poverty, and hunger.
To combat systemic inequalities, food systems must be inclusive
Successful projects and movements such as MasAgro, VACS and AID-I are transforming the agricultural landscape across the Global South, but urgent action to reduce inequalities and the investments needed to improve access to cutting-edge technologies to produce more nutritious food require comprehensive policies and frameworks such as CIMMYT’s 2030 Strategy.
“In Latin America and around the world, there remain large gaps in access to information and technology,” said Honduras’ Minister of Agriculture, Laura Elena Suazo Torres. “Civil society, the public sector and the private sector cannot have a sustainable impact if they work in opposition to each other.”
Ismahane Elouafi, Executive Managing Director of CGIAR, stressed that agriculture does not face a “lack of innovative science and technology”, but that it “is not connecting the dots”. CIMMYT brings together partner systems from different sectors – agriculture, genetic resources, crop breeding and social sciences – to provide a pathway to address the many interrelated problems that affect food systems, contributing to bringing agricultural innovations closer to farmers and different sectors to solve world hunger.
Healthy soils and crops are key to increasing yields, but ensuring safe, nutritious food production is essential to reducing hunger and inequalities in food access. CIMMYT is working with private sector stakeholders, including Bimbo, GRUMA, Ingredion, Syngenta, Grupo Trimex, PepsiCo and Heineken, to “connect science, technology and producers” to ensure strong food systems from soil to air to water, and transform vital grains into safe-to-eat foods like fortified bread and tortillas.
Narrowing the digital divide can facilitate knowledge sharing and scale improved agricultural practices like intercropping. As Senior Vice President Roy Steiner noted, the Rockefeller Foundation and CIMMYT have “embraced the complexity of diversity” through their investments in intercropping – cropping systems in which two or more crops are grown together to increase yields, diversify diets, and provide economic resilience. CIMMYT has promoted these systems in Mexico, and several indicators of success from MasAgro include:
Currently, CIMMYT is working with CGIAR and Total LandCare to train farmers in Southern and Eastern Africa on intercropping systems of maize and legumes (cowpea, soybean, jack bean). CIMMYT is also working with WorldVeg, a non-profit organization specializing in vegetable research and development, to promote intercropping in vegetable farming, ensure efficient and safe production, connect vegetable farmers to markets, and provide more financial resources to farmers.
Conflict exacerbates inequalities and instability. CIMMYT leads the Feed the Future Sustainable Agri-Food Systems Approach (SASAS) in Sudan, which aims to provide smallholder producers with updated knowledge and technology to increase agricultural productivity, strengthen local and regional value chains, and build community resilience in war-torn countries like Sudan. Funded by USAID, CIMMYT has forged strong partnerships with ADRA, CIP, CRS, ICRISAT, IFDC, IFPRI, ILRI, Mercy Corps, Near East Foundation, Samaritan’s Purse, Syngenta Foundation, VSF, and WorldVeg to devise solutions for Sudanese farmers. SASAS has already unlocked the potential of several well-grown vegetables and fruits, including potatoes, okra, and tomatoes. These crops not only provide promising yields through improved seeds, but also promote agricultural cooperatives that foster income-generating activities, gender-sensitive practices, and increased access to diverse foods that enhance family nutrition. SASAS also promotes livestock health and provides food producers with an additional source of economic resilience.
Governments play a key role in ensuring that vulnerable populations are included in global efforts to strengthen food systems. Mexico’s Secretary of Agriculture, Victor Villalobos, shared an example of how government intervention and political will through people-centered policies can increase direct investment in agriculture, reduce poverty, and increase shared prosperity and peace. “Progress must help reduce development gaps.” Expanded access to improved agricultural practices and digital innovations will keep the sector relevant for farmers and safeguard food security for the whole society. Besides Mexico, government representatives from Bangladesh, Brazil, Honduras, India and Vietnam reaffirmed their commitment to CIMMYT’s work.
Alice Ruweza, a senior director at the World Wildlife Fund, and Argentine farmer Maria Emilia Macaull agreed that food systems need to adopt a holistic approach. Ruweza called it “a big food puzzle, one size does not fit all. We need to integrate education and infrastructure to strengthen food systems and development.” Macaull added, “We have to strengthen this sector to include everyone. We all contribute to producing more food.”
Creating solutions together
In his closing remarks, held on World Population Day 2024, CIMMYT Executive Director Bram Govaerts thanked the World Food Prize for hosting DialogueNEXT in Mexico and stressed the need for all partners to evolve while pooling their capabilities. “We have already crossed several tipping points and urgent action is needed to avert global catastrophe,” he said. “Agri-food systems need to adapt and science needs to generate solutions.”
Through its network of research centers, governments, private food producers, universities and farmers, CIMMYT employs a multi-sectoral approach to ensure healthier crops, safe and nutritious food and the diffusion of essential innovations for farmers. “CIMMYT cannot achieve these goals alone. We believe that successful collaboration is guided by facts and data and rooted in shared values, long-term commitment and joint action. CIMMYT’s 2030 strategy aims to go beyond transactional partnerships and build better partnerships through deeper and more impactful relationships. Partner with us and let’s scale up this joint effort together,” concluded Govács.
[1] From 2010 to 2021, leveraging CIMMYT’s leadership, science and partnerships, as well as the funding and research capacity of Mexico’s Ministry of Agriculture (SADER), the program known as “MasAgro” helped more than 300,000 participating farmers adopt improved corn and wheat varieties and resource conservation practices on more than one million hectares of land across 30 Mexican states.
Visual summary by Reilly Dow.
