The only mandated international agricultural research organization is the CGIAR The CGIAR Fund supports 15 international agricultural research centers such as the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and the Center for International Forestry Research that form the CGIAR Consortium of International Agricultural Research Centers and are located in various countries worldwide, The centers carry out research on various agricultural commodities, livestock, fish, water, forestry, policy and management.
Ibadan is the capital and most populous city of Oyo State, in Nigeria. It is the third-largest city by population in Nigeria after Lagos and Kano, with a total population of 3,649,000 as of 2021, and over 6 million people within its metropolitan area. It is one of the country's largest cities by geographical area. At the time of Nigeria's independence in 1960, Ibadan was the largest and most populous city in the country, and the second-most populous in Africa behind Cairo. Ibadan is ranked one of the fastest-growing cities in sub-Saharan Africa, according to the UN Human Settlements Program (2022). It is also ranked third in West Africa in the tech startups index. Ibadan joined the UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities in 2016.
The cowpea is an annual herbaceous legume from the genus Vigna. Its tolerance for sandy soil and low rainfall have made it an important crop in the semiarid regions across Africa and Asia. It requires very few inputs, as the plant's root nodules are able to fix atmospheric nitrogen, making it a valuable crop for resource-poor farmers and well-suited to intercropping with other crops. The whole plant is used as forage for animals, with its use as cattle feed likely responsible for its name.
CGIAR is a global partnership that unites international organizations engaged in research about food security. CGIAR research aims to reduce rural poverty, increase food security, improve human health and nutrition, and sustainable management of natural resources.
The International Center for Tropical Agriculture is an international research and development organization dedicated to reducing poverty and hunger while protecting natural resources in developing countries. It is based in Palmira, Colombia, where it employs over 300 scientists.
The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) is an international organisation which conducts agricultural research for rural development, headquartered in Patancheru, Hyderabad, Telangana, India, with several regional centres and research stations . It was founded in 1972 by a consortium of organisations convened by the Ford- and the Rockefeller- foundations. Its charter was signed by the FAO and the UNDP.
The Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice), formerly known as the West Africa Rice Development Association (WARDA), is a pan-African intergovernmental association and a CGIAR Research organization, currently headquartered in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire. AfricaRice is an agricultural research center that was constituted in 1971 by 11 West African countries. By 2023, the center counted 28 African member states. Since 1986, AfricaRice has been one of the 15 specialized research centers of CGIAR.
Worldwide more human beings gain their livelihood from agriculture than any other endeavor; the majority are self-employed subsistence farmers living in the tropics. While growing food for local consumption is the core of tropical agriculture, cash crops are also included in the definition.
The International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), a member of CGIAR, supported by the CGIAR Fund, is a non-profit agricultural research institute that aims to improve the livelihoods of the resource-poor across the world's dry areas.
Florence Muringi Wambugu is a Kenyan plant pathologist and virologist. She is known for her advocacy of using biotechnology to increase food production in Africa.
The Collaborative Crop Research Program (CCRP) funds participatory, collaborative research on agroecological intensification (AEI). Funded projects typically link international, national, and local organizations with communities of smallholder farmers, researchers, development professionals, and other parties. Projects work together as part of a Community of Practice to generate technical and social innovations to improve nutrition, livelihoods, and productivity for farming communities in Africa and South America. Large-scale impact is realized when new ideas, technologies, or processes are adapted, when insights from research catalyze change in policy and practice, and when innovation inspires further success. The program is under the direction of Rebecca J. Nelson of Cornell University and Jane Maland Cady of the McKnight Foundation.
Bioversity International is a global research-for-development organization that delivers scientific evidence, management practices and policy options to use and safeguard agricultural biodiversity to attain global food- and nutrition security, working with partners in low-income countries in different regions where agricultural biodiversity can contribute to improved nutrition, resilience, productivity and climate change adaptation. In 2019, Bioversity International joined with the International Center for Tropical Agriculture to "deliver research-based solutions that harness agricultural biodiversity and sustainably transform food systems to improve people's lives". Both institutions are members of the CGIAR, a global research partnership for a food-secure future.
Crop diversity or crop biodiversity is the variety and variability of crops, plants used in agriculture, including their genetic and phenotypic characteristics. It is a subset of a specific element of agricultural biodiversity. Over the past 50 years, there has been a major decline in two components of crop diversity; genetic diversity within each crop and the number of species commonly grown.
The National Root Crops Research Institute, Umudike, Abia State is an agricultural research institute in Nigeria. Its origins can be traced back to an experimental farm established at Moor Plantation, Ibadan on January 1, 1923 by the Nigerian Department of Agriculture. The School of Agriculture was established in 1955, and the two establishments were combined as the Eastern Nigeria Agricultural Research and Training Station (ARTS) in 1956, with headquarters at Enugu. In 1972, the institution assumed federal status as the Federal Agricultural Research and Training Station (FARTS). In 1976 it was renamed the National Root Crops Research Institute, coming under the Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria. In 1995, the training wing was split off as the Federal College of Agriculture, Ishiagu.
Crops For the Future, known by its acronym CFF, is an independent international organisation with a mandate to promote and facilitate the greater use of neglected and underutilised crops for enhanced diversification of agricultural systems and human diets, particularly for the benefit of poor people in developing countries. Crops for the Future is the only such organisation exclusively dedicated to an agenda increasingly recognised as important to achieving food security in a sustainable manner and making use of local agricultural biodiversity. Crops for the Future is based in Semenyih, Malaysia, and is governed by a Board of Directors, including a representative of the Government of Malaysia.
The Regional Strategic Analysis and Knowledge Support System (ReSAKSS) was established in 2006 and compiles and analyzes information to help design and evaluate rural development strategies and monitor the progress of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP). CAADP is a program of the African Union and the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), which aims to increase the share of national budgets allocated to agriculture.
Yellow cassava is a new, yellow-fleshed breed of one of the most popular root crops in the tropics. Regular cassava is a staple crop in tropical countries which 300 million people rely upon for at least 10% of their daily caloric intake, in 15 African countries "In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, cassava is estimated to provide more than 1000 kcal/day to over 40 million people". Three yellow root cassava varieties, UMUCASS 36, UMUCASS 37, and UMUCASS 38, are being grown in Nigeria for their high concentrations of β-carotene. β-carotene is a precursor to Vitamin A. Vitamin A deficiency is a major issue, especially in Africa. Nigeria in particular sees a prevalence of Vitamin A deficiency in nearly one third of children under five years old. Since cassava is a major food staple, yellow cassava shows great potential to alleviate Vitamin A deficiency in Africa.
Derrick Thomas was a British agricultural researcher with special contributions to grassland and forage research in the tropics.
Felix Kolawole Salako is a Nigerian professor of Soil Physics who served as the Vice Chancellor of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria, from 2017 to 2022. He is a Fellow of the Soil Science Society of Nigeria (FSSSN), and was a two-term deputy vice chancellor before his elevation as the vice chancellor of the said Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria.
Geoffrey Hawtin OBE is an agricultural scientist and World Food Prize laureate who has served in public institutions working in agricultural biodiversity, plant genetic resources, crop breeding and research management. He was awarded an OBE by Queen Elizabeth II and has been recognized for his career "dedicated to using agriculture as a weapon in the war against poverty in developing countries." He played key roles in the creation of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault and the negotiation of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources. He has headed two CGIAR Research Centers and currently is on the Executive Board of the Crop Trust.
