The CacaoNet Technical Guidelines for the Safe Movement of Cacao Germplasm provide updated information on the precautions and quarantine measures that can be taken to minimise the risk of spread of pests and diseases when cacao genetic resources are being moved for research, crop improvement, plant breeding, exploration or conservation.

Knowledge of genetic diversity in plant germplasm and the relationship between genetic factors and phenotypic expression is vital for crop improvement. This study’s objectives were to understand the extent of genetic diversity and population structure in 60 common bean genotypes from East and Southern Africa. The common bean genotypes exhibited significant (p<0.05) levels of variability for traits such as days to flowering (DTF), days to maturity (DTM), number of pods per plant (NPP), number of seeds per pod (NSP), and grain yield per hectare in kilograms (GYD).

In this article we present a first attempt to understand the immediate impact of COVID-19 and the sanitary measures taken by governments on farming systems in Central America and Mexico (CAM). Through a review of information generated in these initial months of the COVID-19 pandemic (webinars, blogs, electronic publications, media) and 44 interviews with key informants across the region, we have identified the main impacts felt by different types of farming systems in the region.

Context Climate change is projected to negatively impact food systems in Sub-Saharan Africa. The magnitude of these impacts is expected to be amplified by the extensive reliance on rainfed agriculture and the prevalence of subsistence farming. In the Great Lakes Region of Central Africa, smallholder farming households are largely dependent on root, tuber and banana crops. However, the potential impacts of various climate change scenarios on these crops are not well reported.

The CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), through its Flagship on Low-Emissions Development—otherwise known as Flagship 3 (FP3)— seeks to address the increasing challenge that global warming is placing on agricultural practices, policies and measures and the overall challenge of declining food security. CCAFS was established in 2010 as a cross-cutting program of the 15 CGIAR Research Centers and strategic partnerships.

The report elaborates the results and recommendations of an evaluation study on the effectiveness of the development and implementation of the Climate-Smart Mapping and Adaptation Planning (CS-MAP) approach in Vietnam. The results are based on the experiences of the 23 provinces that applied CS-MAP in rice production.

As part of the Learning Platform (LP2) Participatory evaluation of Climate-Smart Agricultural (CSA) practices and technologies across the AR4D Climate-Smart Villages (CSVs) network, CCAFS Flagship 2 designed a new Integrated Climate-Smart Monitoring Framework to supports a global, systemic and standardized effort to build context-specific evidence on uptake of CSA options and the associated (perceived) outcomes at household and farm level.

The Banana Bunchy Top Disease (BBTD), caused by the Banana Bunchy Top Virus (BBTV) is the most important and devastating in many tropical countries. BBTD epidemiology has been little studied, mixed landscape smallholder systems. The relative risks associated with this disease vary between geographical areas and landscapes. This work analyzed the management and vegetation conditions in smallholder gardens to assess the factors linked to landscape-level BBTV transmission and management.

In most sub-Saharan African countries, staple cereal grains harbor many fungi and some produce mycotoxins that negatively impact health and trade. Maize and three small grain cereals (sorghum, pearl millet, and finger millet) produced by smallholder farmers in Zimbabwe during 2016 and 2017 were examined for fungal community structure, and total aflatoxin (AF) and fumonisin (FM) content. A total of 800 maize and 180 small grain samples were collected at harvest and during storage from four agroecological zones. Fusarium spp. dominated the fungi associated with maize.