A study, funded by the British Department for International Development (DFID) provides new information on the extent and potential of groundwater as a way to support development and help buffer the impact of climate change.[more]

Up to now, it has hardly been possible to detect tropical hardwoods in paper. This is about to change. Four German institutes/universities – Darmstadt Technical University, Hamburg University, the von-Thünen-Institute and the...[more]

The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and a host of partners have announced a new initiative with the aim to boost yam productivity and double the incomes of yam farmers in West Africa.[more]

Hidden hunger afflicts more than 2 billion people worldwide and has negative health consequences, for this reason scientists are busy at work, developing new varieties of staple food crops that can help provide more of these much...[more]

Artemisinin, the best drug to combat malaria infection, can be produced more cheaply in future, and in sufficient quantities for all affected. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces (MPICI) in Potsdam...[more]

Cowpea is said be of a high nutrition value and owing to its resilience in dry, hot conditions, could be the solution Africa seeks in fighting food crisis in the continent.[more]

The phenomenon of foreign actors securing farmland in other countries has reached an unprecedented pace and dimension. Water plays a central role in these land deals. However, studies analysing these procedures and impacts of...[more]

A representative household study in north-western Vietnam shows that increasing maize output prices had a positive impact on net household income. In fact, this increase outweighed the negative impact of rising rice consumer...[more]

Methods of improving carbon storage in the soil, reducing greenhouse gases and maintaining important ecosystem functions such as soil fertility and water quality are the focus of a new research programme in the Amazon region of...[more]

The Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute in Basel has developed a vaccine that has proved effective and well-tolerated in tackling malaria in children. [more]

While water-related conflicts and shortages abound throughout the rapidly changing societies of Africa, Asia and Latin America, there is clearly sufficient water to sustain food, energy, industrial and environmental needs during...[more]

Production of cassava, one of the world’s most important food crops, is precarious and could collapse under a combined onslaught of pests and diseases, according to a new study by scientists at the International Center for...[more]

In December 2011, the Nigerian Government announced the release of three new vitamin A-rich ‘yellow’ cassava varieties that could provide more vitamin A in the diets of more than 70 million Nigerians who eat cassava...[more]

A study published in the British Journal of Nutrition indicates that orange sweet potato (OSP) is effective in providing vitamin A to malnourished women and children in Mozambique, where the prevalence of vitamin A deficiency...[more]