Crop Trust Webinar Explores the Role of Genebanks in Strengthening Food Systems

The critical role of genebanks in reviving crop diversity, reconnecting farmers with underutilized crop varieties, and strengthening local food systems was the subject of the webinar Connecting Genebanks with Farmers and Communities – Restoring Crop Diversity for Resilient Food Systems, hosted by IGCAT with guest speakers from recent partner, Crop Trust, a leading international non-profit […]

The global human impact on biodiversity

Human activities, such as pollution and climate change, are altering ecosystems worldwide, yet the anticipated trend of biotic homogenization is not as straightforward as expected. A large-scale study across 97,000 sites reveals that while biodiversity declines and community composition shifts, the impacts are far from uniform. This research highlights that the degree of change varies […]

New research urges data-driven action for agriculture and food systems change

“The state of food systems worldwide in the countdown to 2030“, published by The Food Systems Countdown to 2030 Initiative (FSCI), provides the first science-based monitoring to guide decision-makers as they seek wholesale transformation of the global agriculture and food systems. This transformation is needed urgently both to reduce the environmental impact of these systems and to […]

How can indigenous knowledge help us create sustainable food systems?

Climate talks at the COP26 conference included attention on indigenous groups. “Indigenous peoples are at the center because they are the ones that are walking the walk,” said Yon Fernández de Larrinoa, head of the Indigenous Peoples’ unit at the UN. “They are living in communion and harmony with the environment, and that’s the only way to protect […]

FAO report maps insights from and threats to Indigenous Peoples’ food Systems

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), together with the Alliance of Bioversity International and The International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) released a new study identifying hundreds of diverse plant and animal species that Indigenous Peoples around the world depend on and care for to generate food sustainably and enhance biodiversity – and […]

Food loss and waste ‘an ethical outrage’, UN chief says on International Day

Last year, the UN General Assembly designated 29 September as the International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste Reduction, recognizing the fundamental role that sustainable food production plays in promoting food security and nutrition and highlighting the essential need to reduce food loss and waste. In addition, with the COVID-19 pandemic underlining the fragility of food systems, […]

Why it’s important to recognize multiple food systems in Africa

There are more than 815 million malnourished people in the world today. Almost 243 million of these are in Africa, where the problem is highest. Unfortunately, development organisations may be making food insecurity worse as they push the most advanced forms of agriculture to the detriment of other food systems. These include methods like foraging and subsistence […]