By Busani Bafana
NAIROBI, Apr 9 2025 – In East Africa, climate change has made water a lifeline and threat.

In a region highly dependent on rainfall for growing crops, climate change is threatening water security but science-backed solutions are helping turn the tide.

Global leaders, scientists, policymakers, and development partners meeting in Nairobi during the inaugural CGIAR Science Week  made a tight case for water security and productivity in East Africa, a region vulnerable to the increased impacts of climate change such as droughts and floods.

The use, conservation and management of water underpins sustainable development of the East Africa region, which covers Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Somalia, Djibouti, Eritrea, and Ethiopia.

“Water security means considering how much water you have, water of sufficient quality and being  able to manage risks – drought, floods, extreme events – in ways that livelihoods and lives, the economy and ecosystems can all thrive together,” said Mark Smith, Director General of the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), at the launch of the IWMI Strategy 2024–2030 in East Africa.

Smith noted that the new strategy was a significant leap forward in the institute’s mission to harness science research in enhancing water security, supporting climate adaptation and driving sustainable agriculture across East Africa.

“Water security  is necessarily systemic and our strategy reflects that,” he said. “There is a  flipside to that aspect of water in which it intersects with different types of uses. If you can get water security right, then you can  trigger transformation across those systems as you open access to water and enable more  sustainable and fairer sharing of water across different uses.”

Mark Smith, Director General of the International Water Management Institute. Credit: Busani Bafana/IPS

By harnessing  cutting-edge research and fostering regional partnerships, IWMI aims to deliver solutions that improve livelihoods across East Africa.

“Water security is important for the transformation of agriculture and for sustainable development,” he said, adding that, “Water is at the heart of climate resilience, food security and economic development.”

Sara Mbago-Bhunu,  Director of the East and Southern Africa Division of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), highlighting the importance of collaboration in enhancing water security,  called for continued public and private financing for the water sector, particularly to benefit small-scale farmers through irrigation facilities.

IFAD has invested USD 2 billion in irrigation and water management in 100 projects worldwide, while in East Africa it has supported 14 projects in 12 countries. Mbago-Bhunu said it was critical to invest in water accounting.

“We tend to underestimate what water accounting is  and irrigation performance assessment translated into how we source water, how we manage it but also how we account for it because accounting  will give us further breakthroughs to where we should change in the way we invest in water technologies,” she said.

Ephantus Kimoto, Principal Secretary in the Department for Irrigation in the Ministry of Water, Sanitation and Irrigation of Kenya. Credit: Busani Bafana/IPS

Ephantus Kimoto, Principal Secretary in the Department for Irrigation in the Ministry of Water, sanitation and Irrigation of Kenya,  said the government was working to boost irrigation capacity in the country. Currently only four percent of Kenya’s arable land was under irrigation under the National Irrigation Sector Investment Master Plan (NISIP); there is irrigation potential of 3.5  million acres in the country.

Kimoto noted that Kenya had enough water resources but lacked the economic means to scale up irrigation projects. Under the national plan, Kenya seeks to increase the land under irrigation up to 1 million acres and boost food productivity and job creation, especially among the youth.

A panel discussion hosted alongside the launch of the IWMI strategy noted the importance of collaboration in the management of water resources in East Africa while at the same time scaling up innovation and research.

For farmers, saving water is everything.

“Water is a scarce resource and we need to  guard it well, “ said Elizabeth Nsimadala, President, Eastern Africa Farmers Federation.

“We are seeing a lot of water wasted and what is missing is the science bit. When you look at wasted water when it comes to irrigation, there is a lot and this directly affects the output. What is also a missing from our end as farmers is how much quantity does this crop require, as different crops require different quantities of water.”

Nsimadala – a coffee farmer – said policy, infrastructure, sustainability, access and management were priority issues for farmers in terms of water use. She called for the provision of water-saving technologies for farmers because of the competing water uses that have been worsened by the impact of climate change.

While Yelvin Denje, a research fellow with the African Group of Negotiators Experts Support

(AGNES) said the interface between science and policy has led to improvements in equitable access and unlocked the potential for water and development on the continent but it was hard to measure the effectiveness of policies.

“There are now in many African countries water regulations, acts and water laws,” he said, citing the Africa Water Vision for 2025.

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By Busani Bafana
NAIROBI, Apr 9 2025 – Climate change is outpacing science and farmers are paying the price. Agricultural research innovations need to reach farmers before it is too late.

Partnership, collaborations, and the right dose of political will are the fuel to put innovations into the farmer’s hands, says Simeon Ehui, Director General of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and CGIAR Regional Director, Continental Africa. The IITA has delivered solutions to low crop yields, poor quality, and unhealthy diet to boost food security, nutrition, and livelihoods for smallholder farmers who keep the world fed.

“We have developed a number of technologies; unfortunately, many of these technologies are not always going to farmers, the final users,” said Ehui, adding that with political will, innovation can be rolled out faster and wider.

“Policy makers understand the importance of science but face competing needs and sometimes need to make decisions that will not always go in the interest of farmers. We need to continue lobbying them to convince them of the importance of science.”

Ehui told IPS that the IITA has tackled food insecurity, poverty, and environmental degradation through cutting-edge research on key crops  like maize, banana, cowpea, soybean, cassava, and yam. With global hunger rising despite scientific advances, the question is, why are innovations not reaching farmers fast enough?

“While scientific breakthroughs are abundant, the real gap lies in delivery—getting these innovations into the hands of farmers at scale,” Ehui noted, citing that many countries still face weak extension systems, fragmented value chains, and limited private sector engagement.

IITA has bridged this gap through initiatives like the Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT) program, in partnership with the African Development Bank. TAAT has helped move proven technologies across priority value chains from research to farmers via CGIAR centers, governments, private sector actors, and financial institutions.

“It’s not just about deploying technologies; it’s about building systems for scale—streamlining release processes, aligning with policy, and expanding access to inputs and markets, especially for women and youth,” said Ehui.

Ehui quipped he had three messages for policymakers. “You need science to develop your agricultural productivity. You need investments in rural infrastructure, and you also need partnerships. Without partnerships, nothing can be done.”

Seeds for food security. Seed varieties from the IITA Gene bank. Credit: Busani Bafana/IPS

Revolutionary breakthroughs

The science research institute has put out more nutritious, climate-resistant crops, which have helped fight hunger and boost the livelihoods of smallholder farmers in Africa. It developed and released stress-resilient maize varieties that are both drought and Striga resistant and more nutritious. More than 170 maize varieties have been released between 2007 and 2024 in collaboration with IITA and national partners in Benin, Ghana, Mali, and Nigeria.

As a result of the research innovation, more than  480,000 metric tons of certified seed have been produced, which have been planted on an estimated 18 million hectares by 45 million households. Well over 500 million people have benefited from the improved maize crop.

Banana breeding programs have developed hybrids with enhanced resistance to the fungal diseases Fusarium wilt and Black Sigatoka, which can wipe out banana crops.

Ehui said IITA has also developed early-maturing, disease-resistant yam and cassava varieties, alongside digital tools like AKILIMO, which support farmers in optimizing agronomic practices and fertilizer use.

“We have also developed an economically sustainable seed system for root and tuber crops, powered by innovative rapid multiplication techniques,” he said, pointing out that the rapid stem multiplication approach has enabled the fast and efficient scaling of improved varieties to growers and the processing industry.

The science is progression; now it’s crucial farmers benefit, Ehui says.

“The IITA and CGIAR centers have to work with governments to ensure that technologies are taken up and we modernize the agriculture sector. This is the challenge we face because having research products in our labs does not help if they are never taken up by end users. The agricultural revolution is not in the lab but outside (in the real world). The lab is needed—the lab is not the end point.”

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By Cecilia Russell
NAIROBI, Apr 8 2025 – Good Food for All is the motto of The Chef’s Manifesto, a project that brings together more than 1,500 chefs from around the world to explore how to ensure the food they prepare is planet-friendly and sustainable.

It was Nairobi Chef Kiran Jethwa who prepared a menu filled with locally sourced food for the thousands of  delegates on the first day at the GCIAR Science Week in Nairobi.

The menu included High Iron Red Kidney Bean and Biofortified Sweet Potato,  Swahili Curry with Toasted Ginger and Dhania, Tilapia Pilau with Omena (Native Small Fish), Slow Braised Kenyan Kinyeji Chicken Stew with Cassava, Arrow Root with Seared Terere (Amaranth and Millet and Jaegerry Halwa with Raisins and Roasted Cashews.

Delegates snaked towards the tent under beautiful trees on this most exotic United Nations campus situated near Kienyeji forest in Nairobi.

At the Chef’s Manifesto lunch on the first day of CGIAR science week. Credit: IPS

Food is central to the debates here, where delegates debate how science can make a difference in the world where hunger is rampant (according to the United Nations, 3.1 billion people cannot afford a healthy diet) and climate change and conflict, among other issues, complicate food production.

As Prof. Lindiwe Majele Sibanda, who chaired the Council of the Wise session in the opening plenary, told the audience, the crisis we are in calls for bold action.

“We’re in a crisis because of climate change. We’re in a crisis because of environmental and health degradation… We are in crisis because of gender inequality, no jobs for our youth, and nutrition insecurity,” she said, and during this week “we are looking for solutions” to this in science.

Summing up the argument of former Prime Minister Dr. Ibrahim Assane Mayaki as AU Special Envoy for Food Systems, Sibanda coined a quote for social media.

“We are in a crisis and Dr. Mayaki says… We need more leaders who are scientists, because scientists solve problems.”

To applause, he agreed.

A healthy plate of sustainably sourced food. Credit: IPS

Former President of Mauritius, Dr. Ameenah Firdaus Gurib-Fakim, asked where the empowerment of women in agriculture was. “Food is produced mostly by women.”

And, she asked, how is it possible to get youth into agriculture?

Agriculture needs to break the stereotype of agriculture as a woman with a hoe breaking hard earth.

“We need the youth to realize that agriculture is a 1 trillion dollar business,” Gurib-Fakim said, emphasizing that it was time to change the narrative.

Sibanda agreed. “Can we have an education that is fit for purpose? Can we have women empowerment and youth as drivers of the food systems, research, and innovation?”

Former Prime Minister of the Republic of Guinea and expert in agricultural finance, Mohamed Beavogui, said it was time for “bold, practical, and inclusive solutions” for ensuring that what was produced on the land ended up on the plate.

Looking for a quotable quote, Sibanda summed it up as “LLP from the lab to the land to the plate, that’s a systems approach,” elaborating that CGIAR aims to reform the food, land, and water systems for food security globally.

“Please Tweet that,” she asked the audience, referring to X by its pre-Elon Musk name.

Finally, Sibanda asked former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan why we are still hungry, poor, and not preserving our biodiversity.

He didn’t believe that it was necessary to elect presidents that are scientists; he commented that in Africa leaders probably spend more time thinking about how to “hold onto leadership than thinking about their people.”

But getting the right mix into the cabinet was crucial—it was more about finding the right people and putting them in roles where they can make a difference.

Sibanda sums it up: “The president has to surround himself with the right people… to be game changers in the country.

Sibanda noted the session produced lots of “tweetable tweets.”

Summing up the panel’s view on policymaking, she said it was as messy and inexact—like “sausage making”—but needed to be “contextualized, evidence-based,” and those affected need to be consulted.

The “billboard” message, however, was that youth are the future and science should be at the forefront of agriculture.

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By Alfredo Giron
GENEVA, Apr 8 2025 – The ever-evolving tariff agenda has become a leading topic of public discourse and left stock exchanges spinning. Economists almost unanimously agree that the taxes levied on imported goods raise prices for consumers and threaten economic growth. But what seems to rattle forecasters most is the fog of uncertainty they have cast over markets.

Like most markets today, ocean-based economies typically operate in a system designed to maximize profit. However, history demonstrates that the approach often comes with significant social and environmental costs (like pollution and resource depletion) that are not included in prices. In response, governments and communities have begun to develop economies that look at the ocean as an opportunity for growth that balances long-term sustainability.

Ocean-based economies are particularly susceptible to trade disputes. Grocery shoppers, for instance, may be inclined to buy beef or chicken if the price of seafood climbs. In 2018, for example, retaliatory tariffs that China put on US seafood led to double digit price increases.

It is not difficult to imagine how a resulting drop in demand for fish products could then rapidly trickle through a supply chain, which may include wholesalers, truck drivers, processors, and harvesters, when adversaries swap tariffs. Also, fishing gear relies heavily on steel and aluminum, products also facing steep tariffs, which could compound costs passed on to consumers further.

Another sector that is particularly susceptible to tariffs is the decarbonization of shipping and port services. Low-carbon infrastructure is highly dependent on complicated global supply chains for materials and technologies that could face higher levies in a trade war.

Increased costs and any economic slowdown that follows might cause firms to pull back from such projects at a critical moment in the international effort to reduce emissions. The global shipping giant Maersk recently warned that tariffs will “clearly” be inflationary in the short term.

Whether that leads firms to pull back from efforts to decarbonize shipping with technologies like alternative fuels and AI-driven “smart ports” that streamline logistics is harder to say.

Fear over a possible recession could also spook travelers with their eyes on tropical destinations. Many nations have invested heavily in eco-tourism to help protect and restore coral reefs and coastal environments.

A precipitous drop in visitors following the COVID-19 pandemic, for example, left many island nations with large portions of their GDP relying on tourism in a difficult position, with some conservation goals in doubt.

Renewable ocean energy such as offshore wind could also be impacted by tariffs. An analysis by the financial firm Wood MacKenzie found that proposed US tariffs could increase wind turbine costs by 7 percent and overall project costs by 5 percent. It found that rising prices could trigger a 3-9 percent cut in new wind capacity installed annually through 2028 and slow deployment by 20 to 30 percent if the tariffs remain. Offshore wind in US waters has effectively been sidelined for the foreseeable future.

As with any large-scale economic transition, market disruptions can introduce risks with considerable financial implications for the blue economy, and it is important to plan effectively to remain resilient. For example, building sustainable fisheries may require regulatory changes, technological innovations, and shifting consumer preferences; tariffs could complicate each of these areas as businesses and governments weigh costs and benefits.

More specifically, higher costs could incentivize behavior that already plagues global fisheries like unfair labor practices and attempts to skirt environmental rules.

Furthermore, in light of the economic uncertainty tariffs have created, businesses and governments may be less inclined to make investments in expensive gear and scientific research that sustainability programs require. If volatility is bad for conventional capital expenditures, in other words, it is probably especially damaging to new ideas.

However, every challenge offers the possibility of finding a new way forward. As with the pandemic and the global financial crisis before it, the tariff disruptions present an opportunity to invest in new approaches that may not have had the attention of key stakeholders before.

Offshore wind in particular has enormous opportunities to cut emissions and spur economic growth on land. Whether in government or business, leaders today must assess financial risks in light of increasingly destructive extreme weather events, sea level rise, and a level of resource depletion that can no longer be ignored.

New tariffs or not, these climate impacts aren’t going away. An adequate response will require long-term planning with a vision towards building resilient systems and coupled with a serious commitment to balancing economic growth with ocean regeneration.

Alfredo Giron is Head, Ocean Action Agenda and Friends of Ocean Action, World Economic Forum.

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By Jan Lundius
SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic, Apr 8 2025 – On March 18, the first plane with deportees from the US landed in Cap-Haïtien. Of the 46 passengers, 25 were convicted felons. Taking effect on April 24 the US Department of Homeland Security will revoke the temporary legal status of more than 210,000 Haitians. They had by the Biden administration been granted a safe haven, but all these Haitians are now expected to be deported back to a country immersed in a humanitarian crisis.

Escaping poverty and violence, Haitians have also crossed the border into neighboring Dominican Republic, where they are constantly running the risk of being captured and transported back across the border. An activity that has given rise to a multifaceted and difficult-to-investigate corruption, including politicians, lawyers and the police. In 2024, The Dominican Republic deported more than 270,000 Haitians. In the last three months of this year alone, over 90, 000 “foreigners with irregular status” have been deported under a new operation aiming to remove 10,000 undocumented Haitians per week. This from a country where more than 75 percent of the estimated 800,000 Haitians are working full-time, particularly in agriculture and construction.

In the past month alone, violence in Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince displaced over 60,000 people. Only since the beginning of March, attacks by armed gangs have displaced more than 24,000 people. Desperate people are seeking refuge in 48 displacement sites, others have turned to host families. Despite ongoing efforts, the scale of need far exceeds available resources, this while the Trump administration has ended the USAID’s support to Haiti.

Efforts to curb gang violence have so far been inadequate. A UN supported contingent of around 800 Kenyan police, working alongside Haiti’s National Police, is leading a mission against the gangs, who are supported by drug- and arms traffickers. So far, one Kenyan officer has been killed and two others have been seriously injured.

Violence has escalated since October last year, when gangsters attacked the town of Pont-Sondé, killing 115 people. In November, gang attacks forced more than 20,000 people to leave their homes in the Capital. Between December 6 and 11, at least 200 innocent people were killed by gangsters in Wharf Jérémie, one of the worst slums in Port-au-Prince. In the same month, a community self-defence group lynched 10 gang members in l’Artibonite, the response was not long in coming and approximately 100 men, women and children were wantonly murdered. On December 17, a gang attacked the Hôpital Bernard Mevs in Port-au-Prince, setting it on fire and on Christmas Eve, gangs attacked the Hôpital général, the Capital’s largest hospital, killing several patients, at least two journalists and a police officer. Since then, the killings and general abuse have not ceased. People are getting increasingly desperate. On March 20, when protesters demanding protection tried to reach the Prime Minister’s office, the police dispersed the crowd by firing tear gas. At least 85 percent of Port-au-Prince is currently controlled by armed, criminal gangs.

No airlines fly to Port-au-Prince anymore. US aviation authorities have indefinitely banned all flights . If you want to get out from the country the only open airport is in Cap-Haïtien and you have to fly by helicopter. The cost is USD 2,500 and you are only allowed to bring 10 kilos of luggage. By early 2025, the number of people forced to leave their homes as a result of gang violence had reached over a million.

All this on top of earthquakes, hurricanes, centuries of political oppression and catastrophic environmental degradation. Born as the world’s first republic ruled by former slaves, Haiti has for more than two centuries suffered from the racist contempt of the outside world and an overpopulation originally caused by the 800,000 slaves imported by the French to their colony of Saint-Domingue (which later became Haiti). A country which tropical soils could not even then feed them all. On top of the misery, Haiti was until 1947 forced to pay reparations for taking possession of the “property” that their French oppressors had usurped.

To place a human face on the current situation we interviewed a skilled Haitian worker living in the Dominican Republic. For obvious reasons he wanted to remain unidentified.

How old are you and for how many years have you been living in the Dominican Republic?

I am 43 years old and have been working here for 28 years.

How did you first come here and what did you work with then?

I bought a false passport and a visa, something that made my entry legal and began to work collecting coffee for 50 cents a day, later on I could earn the equivalent of one US dollar a day, by weeding fields and collecting tomatoes.

Why did you leave Haiti and do you still have a family there?

I come from a village outside of Thomassique, not far from the Dominican border. We are eight siblings, my five brothers still live there, as well as my two sisters. The soil does not yield as much as before, being constantly degraded by draught. My father opposed he Duvalier regime and the Tonton Macoutes [secret police/militia] wanted to kill him. He was in hiding for six years until he died when I was eleven. We were starving. When I was fifteen, I left for the Dominican Republic. Every other year I try to visit Haiti. I have two sons living there, 12 and 13 years old. They live with a brother of mine and go to school there. I also have a 14 years old girl , who for five years has been living with us here in the Dominican Republic. She lacks papers and I had to take her out of the public school. So far, I cannot afford a private one.

You are now working with masonry. What is your education?

I went to school up until the sixth grade. I had to quit to help my mother and siblings. In the Dominican Republic my earnings were hardly enough to sustain myself. However, a friend helped me to find a job where I learned to do masonry and produce tiles. I am now able to do any kind of skilled masonry.

How much do you earn?

I am no longer with the masonry workshop, earning better by collaborating with an engineer involved with the construction of private villas. It is not a steady work. I am paid per hour and if I work from sunrise to sunset, I can generally earn the equivalent of 15 US dollars. Covering a middle-sized kitchen with tiles would earn me around 30 dollars. However, I seldom find work for more than fifteen days a month. I have to send money for my children in Haiti and support my wife and daughter her in the Dominican Republic.

Is your wife working as well?

No, she cannot even leave the apartment.

Why not?

She does not have any papers and I cannot afford getting any, neither for her, nor for our daughter. They risk to be caught in the street and deported to Haiti. Paperless Haitians are rounded up and brought to a compound, when enough are assembled they are locked up in special, barred busses and brought to the border, where they are let off. Some are not even born in Haiti; they have to find their way as best as they can. The trip to the frontier means several hours without food or water, and no possibility to visit the toilet. Mothers caught in this manner have to leave their children behind, to care for themselves until someone brings them to the authorities. If you are caught, the police generally ask for the equivalent of 5 dollars to let you go, not all are carrying so much money.

Would you prefer to live in Haiti?

Of course, there you feel free. You are among friends and equals. Dominicans assume they are better than Haitians. They look down upon us and depict us as criminals. To consider all Haitians as enemies to Dominican wellbeing has for centuries been part of Dominican politics. I understand them … no one wants strangers living in their house. I have no problem with the Dominicans I work together with, they respect my skills. However, everywhere else I feel questioned and despised.

Do you have a work permit?

I have to renew it every year and to do so I have to pay a lawyer working with the Dirección General de Migración. Before you could do it on your own. The lawyer arranges all the papers for you, and computerizes them. It is big business; the papers do not exist in reality. It costs me 25 dollars every year. Without work permit you live in fear all the time.

What do you want most of all?

To find work in any country except here. In Haiti, I cannot support myself, but with my skills it is possible anywhere else. If I could afford it, I would travel to Mexico and cross the border into the US. I might also find work in Latin America.

After our interview, which was carried out in another town, the mason took the bus back to Santo Domingo. The driver noticed his work tools and assumed he carried money. When the other passengers had left the bus in Santo Domingo, the mason was detained by the driver and his assistant, who demanded more money. If the mason did not pay, they threatened to denounce him to the authorities. When he said he had a work permit the driver menaced him with a machete. However, a bystander noticed what was happening and convinced the assailants to let him go.

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By Joyce Chimbi
NAIROBI, Apr 8 2025 – Global food and nutrition insecurity levels are hurtling towards a catastrophe. To counter these problems, leading world experts say science is the ‘silver bullet.’ That science will build climate-resilient agri-food systems, improve livelihoods across the value chain, and ensure more affordable, nutritious food while safeguarding the environment.

“We want a positive impact on the global food security. Science is about bringing us insights into issues so that we can then have an impact. Food security cannot happen without science, without research, without data, without analysis, without information, without intelligence, and without thought,” said CGIAR Executive Managing Director Ismahane Elouafi.

“CGIAR scientists will present to you our new research portfolio for 2025-2030, which we believe will really tackle the challenges that we are talking about in the Science Week. We have an incredible team of scientists who really envisioned what the organization can achieve in the coming years. We grow our robust research in high-risk systems and context-specific settings to achieve effective solutions.”

“The most important aspect is the ongoing work on the ground and in the industries, in the field and laboratories, and it is why we need our scientists and partners to come together. Our science research program can provide solutions but those solutions have to be made by people. For this reason, we need to meet in person and virtually and engage so that we live up to set goals.”

CGIAR Executive Managing Director Ismahane Elouafi on the first day of Science Week. Credit: CGIAR

During the second day’s plenary session, there was a special focus on the CGIAR’s new research portfolio and on exploring strategies for effectively scaling innovations to ensure they reach farmers and consumers worldwide. With a focus on addressing the major challenges to food, land, and water systems sustainability, participants were given insights into how CGIAR’s work aligns with the Sustainable Development Goals and contributes to global efforts for agricultural transformation.

Dr. Sandra Milach, CGIAR’s Chief Scientist, told participants where the organization’s scientific revolution all started. Nearly 50 years ago, CGIAR turned to science for solutions by building centers to address segregation in countries still dealing with the effects of centuries of colonization. The organization built farms and lifted millions from hunger in Africa, Asia, and many parts of Latin America.

“However, the world today is different, very different. Yes, we still have global food and water emergencies that we need to address, but we are also facing climate change, biodiversity loss, and new conflicts. Very difficult indeed. Once again, we need and must build capabilities to address these new problems. We have done it before. I’m very confident we will do it again. In 2021, we refocused our strategy to rebuild and do so around five important impact areas, including nutrition, livelihoods, gender, climate, and biodiversity,” Milach said.

Over the years, CGIAR’s mandate has been shaped by an evolving global crisis and they have developed their capabilities to match contemporary problems. She talked about CGIAR’s cutting-edge research and initiatives designed to tackle these pressing issues and discuss the pathways for translating scientific discoveries into tangible benefits for communities on the ground.

By highlighting the intersections between CGIAR’s research and broader international development agenda, she said the organization aims to underscore the importance of collaborative efforts in driving progress towards a sustainable and food-secure future. Emphasizing that the new research portfolio 2025-2030 is big and ambitious, as it for instance, seeks to reduce the number of people affected by extreme hunger by 26 percent and that is 1.82 million people, by 2030. Saying that this is nearly the size of her native country, Brazil.

“Our scientists know how to produce more crops and even more new crops. Our green fields are large and well-established, but we will need to look critically at all the staple crops, bio-fortified crops, and forgotten crops to understand what needs to be done tomorrow. Our scientists also have the knowledge and innovations to empower livestock keepers and fishermen and make sustainable animal and animal food production a core offering. But we will make sure not to design our research programs solely to produce more food. Equally important, better diets and nutrition are central to our work,” Milach.

“By 2030, it is our mission to lift 31 million people from extreme poverty and it will be the foundation of what we do. We hope also to create 92 million jobs, a number equal to the workforce of any nation, just to give you a perspective. Indeed, by improving farms and helping farmers, we will also benefit the environment so that jobs are created around the environment. And we will do it while increasing the average income by 87 percent. This is our pledge.”

Another priority goal will be to prevent 500 million tons of emissions by 2030. Milach said the innovations are just as important as the knowledge and that CGIAR will also build on indigenous and traditional food practices and that knowledge created through these systems will travel across borders. The issue of gender and social inclusion will feature prominently in the new portfolio and specifically towards increasing women and youth employment in the agri-food system and sector.

“Importantly, technologies can be adapted and developed beyond the communities they were designed for. In a more fragile world that we live in today, we have a duty to the smallholder farmers. But not only that, to the communities that they serve. We will need our science to adapt to new food frontiers and security contexts. Especially food producers in urban areas, in islands, and in conflict zones that exist across the world,” she reiterated.

“Our reform was designed to tackle the biodiversity crisis. One million species are at risk of extinction. By 2030, we want to deliver an innovation that will protect 20 billion hectares of land for expansion. This represents 25 percent of the size of the Amazon forest.  But we cannot focus on one parcel of land, one waterway, one specific crop, or one biome. We need to use less land and we need to build a bigger land and this can be achieved through environmentally sound solutions.”

Panel discussions in plenary buttressed her remarks by emphasizing the critical role of science in promoting climate-smart agriculture and in proper diversification, soil health, better conservation and conservation practices, and in addressing water scarcity. Overall, CGIAR is designed to prioritize the organization’s impact within their global mission. While also setting the tone for the global science community so that science can serve people and communities.
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By Carolina Vega and Chibuzor Nwabueze
Apr 7 2025 –  
In an increasingly digital world, democratic practices are evolving to encompass new forms of participation. Digital democracy – the use of technology to enhance civic action, movement building and access to information – has become a crucial force in shaping local and global political landscapes.

As digital spaces become central to public discourse, civil society’s work is crucial to ensure these spaces remain accessible, open, participatory and resistant to disinformation, censorship and repression.

RightsCon 2025, recently held in Taiwan, offered an opportunity to discuss the current challenges and opportunities at the intersection of tech and human rights.

The digital democracy dilemma

Internet access has expanded among excluded communities, providing new opportunities for civic action and organising for historically excluded communities. But at the same time there’s increasing use of digital surveillance, censorship and algorithmic manipulation by governments and companies with the aim of suppressing dissent and controlling public discourse.

In 2023, the last year for which full data is available, internet penetration in low-income countries grew by three per cent, but this came alongside a record decline in global electoral integrity, with state-backed disinformation campaigns influencing elections in at least 30 countries. This means there’s an urgent need for policies that both enhance digital inclusion and safeguard civic freedoms from technological threats, particularly given that AI use is growing.

Civil society is calling for a global regulatory framework that ensures tech is beneficial for all, while facing the challenge of tech-facilitated attacks on civic freedoms. At the same time, civil society resourcing is shrinking and stigmatising narratives from authoritarian governments spread by tech are on the rise. Meanwhile – as CIVICUS’s 2025 State of Civil Society Report outlines – big-tech corporations focus on protecting their political and profit agendas. This makes spaces for convening and deliberation like RightsCon more vital than ever.

What next?

A global framework is crucial to ensure technology serves the public good and contributes to a more inclusive and equitable society. As digital technologies become deeply embedded in every aspect of governance and civic space, as well as cultural and belief systems, the risks of fragmented digital policies and regulations grow, leading to inconsistent mechanisms for protection and unequal access across regions. This fragmentation can significantly increase exposure to disinformation, exploitation and surveillance, particularly for traditionally excluded and vulnerable groups.

The Global Digital Compact (GDC) agreed at last year’s UN Summit of the Future represents the kind of comprehensive, multilateral framework civil society should advocate for. By fostering global cooperation, the GDC aims to establish shared principles for digital governance that prioritise human rights, democratic values and inclusive access to digital tools.

Through international bodies and cross-sector collaborations – such as those held at RightsCon – civil society can contribute towards shaping this framework, ensuring that civil society, governments and the private sector, including tech companies, work together to create a cohesive and accountable approach to digital governance.

Challenges and opportunities

Follow-up to the GDC must address a wide range of challenges, including digital access and inclusion. The existing digital ecosystem hinders equitable participation in democratic processes and efforts to realise human rights. There’s a need to close digital divides through targeted investments in education, digital skills and infrastructure, ensuring that everyone, regardless of geography or socioeconomic status, can access the tools needed to participate fully in shaping society. Civil society’s work here must be locally led, putting communities’ needs at the heart of advocacy and focusing on curating spaces for consultation and participation.

Another critical challenge is the intersection of government digitalisation and civic engagement. E-governance and online public services offer the potential for greater transparency, efficiency and participation, but they also introduce risks for privacy and security, reinforcing longstanding structural injustices such as racism and gender discrimination. Guidelines are needed to ensure transparency and accountability in digital governance while protecting the right to privacy. Polices need to enable the use of digital tools to fight and prevent corruption and ensure governments are held accountable.

And then there are the complex issues of AI governance. As AI technologies rapidly evolve, there come growing threats of algorithmic biases, a lack of transparency and the manipulation of public discourse and information ecosystems. Robust ethical standards for AI are needed that prioritise human rights and democratic values.

From the manipulation of public opinion, efforts to distort electoral outcomes and the generation of false narratives that can incite violence and social unrest, disinformation has many negative impacts on democracy. Evidence has repeatedly shown that in countries where politicians intensively use disinformation tactics, people’s trust in public institutions and democratic processes wanes and civic participation, a critical ingredient for democratic progress, falls. Conversations during RightsCon 2025 emphasised that civil society must engage with governments and regional and global institutions to help develop policies that regulate how information is managed in the digital age while working to improve media literacy and fact-checking initiatives.

The added value of civil society lies in its ability to act as a convener, broker and watchdog, and an advocate with and for traditionally excluded voices. Civil society is key in pushing for the inclusion of strong data protection laws, digital rights protections and regulations that curb the unchecked power of tech companies, where many grey areas for accountability remain underexplored. Working alongside governments and the private sector, civil society can lead the way in developing policies that safeguard democratic values, enhance accountability and ensure technology remains a tool for positive societal change. Through collective advocacy and partnership, civil society can drive a vision of a truly inclusive and ethical digital future.

Digital democracy and the challenges it faces aren’t national issues but global ones. Disinformation, cyberattacks and the erosion of digital rights transcend borders. More grounded international solidarity and cooperation is needed to create and enforce standards that protect online civic space and rights. The GDC must be supported and made more robust as a global framework for digital governance that upholds human rights, promotes transparency and ensures accountability.

Initiatives like the Digital Democracy Initiative should be championed in recognition of the unique role society plays in monitoring, analysing and challenging threats to digital democracy. It’s never been more crucial to enable and amplify civil society action in the face of global democratic decline amid an increasingly digital age.

Carolina Vega is Innovation Quality Management Lead at CIVICUS, the global civil society alliance. Chibuzor Nwabueze is Programme and Network Coordinator for CIVICUS’s Digital Democracy Initiative.

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By Harpinder Collacott
NEW YORK, Apr 7 2025 – Watching on our screens the devastation wrought by the earthquake which struck South-East Asia last week has brought a stark reminder of our shared vulnerability in this interconnected world. It has exposed again, too, the weak beams of traditional funding models that struggle to ensure a timely response to disasters.

Too often, when the emergency call goes out, the full extent of the response needed is held back with the message “please wait while we fundraise.”

Other global threats stalk us all too. Amongst the most worrying is that, while resources for disease prevention shrink, there’s a mounting worldwide risk that infectious diseases could resurge, threatening public health for everyone, everywhere.

At a time when the old systems have fallen down, it’s easy to succumb to the belief that we can only endure crises, not prevent or surmount them. But this fatalism is misplaced. Vulnerability is universal—but so too can be hope.

Harpinder Collacott

Yes, profound changes in the last few years have brought great pain, and no, we can’t undo the past. But we still have the collective power to shape a better future. We can overcome the challenges we face and seize new opportunities, but only if we approach them in new ways—and work together.

The solution to addressing shared global challenges is global public investment, a framework that will ensure support is readily available during emergencies and enable swift action against threats like infectious diseases. No country can face these alone, and no few countries should monopolize the response.

Working together is the way we can tackle shared risks and maximize shared rewards. This is not charity—it is collective self-interest. Everyone plays their part in meeting a common need from which everyone gains, and everyone steers those efforts together. In other words: all benefit, all contribute, and all decide.

But can we afford these investments?

Collectively, of course we can. In fact, we can’t afford not to make them. These investments will ultimately save money. And, it should be noted, countries are already putting resources into disaster preparedness and research for medicines, but too often, they operate in isolation or even competition with one another. With global challenges, cooperation is always a more effective strategy.

An old and patronising assumption in the Global North has been that low- and middle-income countries will never be able to contribute anything towards shared global challenges. In contrast, however, low- and middle-income countries themselves, during the height of the COVID crisis, pointed out their readiness to be involved in shared investment in global public goods.

These nations called for collaboration in research, shared access to medicines, and mutual protection—and warned how dangerous it would be if parts of the world were left to be treated only as an afterthought. High-income countries’ response? They promised to donate leftover vaccines once their own needs were met.

The results of the Global North’s refusal to work with the Global South as equals were, predictably, disastrous: millions more died, the pandemic lasted far longer, and even high-income countries suffered much higher economic costs than they would have faced had they worked in global partnership.

The lesson is clear: we need shared investment, with shared power, to secure our shared future.

Of course, not all countries would pay the same amount. Just as within a country we all contribute through taxes to shared services from which we all benefit, international contributions would be scaled to each country’s means. From this pooling of resources, everyone wins out.

Soo too, sharing decision-making power isn’t a loss; it enhances everyone’s collective capacity to tackle problems too large for any single country to manage alone.

Global challenges are complex, and no single measure will suffice. Alongside global public investment in shared challenges and opportunities, we also need to take other urgent steps, including addressing the global debt crisis and stepping up international cooperation to prevent tax avoidance. This era of “polycrisis” can only be resolved through “poly-action.”

Countries in the Global South are at the forefront of advocating for global public investment. Colombia, for example, is championing reforms to make the international financial system more equitable and inclusive approach and has declared itself “very much aligned with the global public investment approach.”

Chile, likewise, has called on the world “to be creative and ambitious. Crucial will be a significant increase in public money, that cannot be managed as we managed it in the last century. Governance in the 21st century needs to be representative and effective. Chile supports the development of global public investment.”

This call from the South is also winning support amongst forward-thinking countries in the North. “A new system geared toward solving truly common problems must be based on equitable relationships between countries,” says Norway’s Norad agency. “Global public investment is the closest thing to a shared vision for the transformation of international development.”

Experts, international organizations, and governments have been building plans for the global public investment approach for over a decade, and support and momentum have continued to grow.

This year, global public investment is rising up in international negotiations even faster: South Africa’s leadership of the G20’s Development Working Group has named “global public goods and global public investment” as its number one priority, “aimed at the construction of a new architecture of international cooperation, based on three precepts: all contribute according to their means, all benefit according to their needs, and all decide equitably”.

As these pioneering governments are demonstrating in advancing progress for global public investment, hope is not passive, hope is an active force we create together. It needs all of us. For the global challenges we face, building a new international architecture based around global public investment is necessary, urgent, feasible, and widely supported.

As more leaders commit to this cause, global public investment will not only change lives—it will illuminate the path forward in overcoming common challenges.

Harpinder Collacott is the Executive Director of the Global Public Investment Network

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By Stein Tønnesson
Apr 7 2025 –  
The armistice agreement that ended the Korean War in 1953 has been mentioned as a possible model for how to end the fighting in Ukraine. This makes sense. The Trump administration, however, seems to opt for a quick deal like the 1973 Paris agreement on Vietnam or the Minsk agreements of 2014–15, combining “ceasefires in place” with vain prospects of subsequently reaching a genuine peace agreement.

One lesson from the negotiations that led to the Korean armistice is that patient diplomacy is needed to end a stalemated war. When talks began in July 1951, the impatient Mao Zedong estimated that two weeks would be enough to conclude. The negotiations instead took two years. The result was a long text, detailing the exact border line and establish a demilitarized zone across the peninsula under UN supervision. The stated intention was to follow up with a peace agreement. This came to nothing. The conference established for the purpose in Geneva decided instead to reach an agreement on Indochina, dividing Vietnam for the next 21 years and replacing the French with American military forces.

The biggest difference between the Korea and Ukraine wars is that the Ukrainians are fighting alone, with only external military support, while the Korean War was primarily fought by American and Chinese forces on Korean soil. Back then, the armistice agreement was concluded by the commanders of the US-dominated UN forces, the Chinese “volunteers”, and the North Korean army, against the wish of Syngman Rhee’s government in Seoul. He wanted to continue the fight for national reunification. Only after being offered a defence pact with the US did he accept the negotiated outcome, yet did not sign the agreement. South Korea has never signed the armistice that has prevented new outbreaks of war.

The key similarity between the Korean and Ukrainian wars is the prominent role of the USA as a supporter of the governments in Seoul and Kyiv. In both cases a condition for ensuring that an armistice can hold is that the US take responsibility for any agreement and joins up with others in providing security guarantees. A key reason why war has not resumed in Korea for the last 72 years is the continued US presence in the south. American troops act as a “tripwire,” ensuring that any North Korean invasion would lead to a war it would surely lose. For the same reason, the US needs to have boots on the ground in Ukraine.

Another similarity is that any attempt to conclude a genuine peace agreement is futile. A genuine peace in Korea would require that North and South agree either on national reunification or on recognizing each other as independent states, just as East and West Germany did in 1973. A peace agreement was even more unthinkable for Syngman Rhee and Kim Il Sung in 1953–54 than it is for Seoul and Pyongyang today. It is just as inconceivable that President Vladimir Putin will withdraw voluntarily from Donbas and Krym as it is for President Volodymyr Zelensky to conclude a definitive peace agreement that does not recognize Ukrainian sovereignty to its entire territory. To maintain the principle of national sovereignty and territorial integrity, it is also crucial for Europe and the UN that Russia’s violation of Ukrainian sovereignty is not internationally recognized. Therefore, just as the two Koreas, Russia and Ukraine must settle for something less than a peace treaty, namely an armistice. This may end the fighting and could save hundreds of thousands of lives but will not establish peace.

An armistice is not a simple ceasefire, where military forces are supposed to remain where they happen to be situated when the agreement is made. For a Ukrainian armistice to be respected, the Russian and Ukrainian forces must withdraw to either side of a clearly delineated demilitarized zone. This is complicated by the fact that the front lines are so long. The easiest compromise would be for Ukraine to let Russia retain control over Krym, while Russia withdraws from Donbas. Third parties should put pressure on Moscow and Kyiv to accept that neat solution. To soften the pill, Ukraine could guarantee a high degree of local autonomy for Donetsk and Luhansk. International monitoring with the use of satellite surveillance along the entire border would be needed. If one or both parties were to mobilize combat forces, launch drone attacks, or place rocket launchers on alert, warning signals should be triggered and international security guarantees enforced by robust multi-national forces.

A final similarity between Korea 1953 and Ukraine 2025 armistice is that both sides must abstain from any political interference at the other side of the agreed boundary. Russia and Ukraine must remain fully sovereign and independent states. Any rapprochement between the two Korean states continues to depend on Seoul’s ability to convince Pyongyang that it does not seek regime change in the north and on the willingness of Kim Jong Un to abstain from provocative missile tests and vocal threats. Putin apparently wants an agreement to include a provision for new elections in Ukraine, so he can interfere in Ukraine’s internal affairs and remove Zelensky from power. This is a destructive demand that should be consistently rejected by any mediating or facilitating party to talks. The Ukrainians must decide for themselves when to lift their state of emergency and hold democratic elections.

President Trump has put pressure on Ukraine to agree to a ceasefire and has conceded on Ukraine’s behalf that it cannot get back all its lost territory or obtain NATO membership. He should now concentrate his efforts on convincing both sides to engage in negotiations for a strongly guaranteed and highly monitored armistice rather than a quick and fragile ceasefire or a dodgy settlement allowing one side to interfere in the other.

Related articles:

Korea Will Soon Face a Security Dilemma Like Europe’s
First Vietnam, Then Afghanistan: Is Ukraine Next?
Is the Time Ripe for an End to the Ukraine War?

Stein Tønnesson is Senior Research Fellow (Peace and Security in Northeast Asia) at the Toda Peace Institute and Research Professor Emeritus, Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO)

This article was issued by the Toda Peace Institute and is being republished from the original with their permission.

IPS UN Bureau

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By IPS Correspondent
NAIROBI, Apr 7 2025 – CGIAR and the Kenyan Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) are bringing together the world’s leading scientists and decision-makers in agriculture, climate, and health for the first CGIAR Science Week. This gathering will be a key moment to advance research and innovation, inspire action, and establish critical partnerships that can secure investment in sustainable food systems for people and the planet.

IPS’ team of journalists, Busani Bafana, Joyce Chimbi, and Naureen Hossain, will bring you news and interviews throughout the week as the conference unfolds. This will include the launch of the CGIAR Research Portfolio 2025-2030 today (April 7, 2025).

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