International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT)

20/05/2026

🐝 Happy World Bee Day!

Did you know bees visit thousands of flowers every single day, carrying pollen, feeding ecosystems, and making much of our food possible?

70% of the crops we eat depend on pollination. Bees aren't just important. They're essential.

This World Bee Day, let's remember the small but mighty workers behind our food systems. 🌻

Support us: https://on.cgiar.org/3PmtmuY

18/05/2026

Earlier this month, CIMMYT facilitated a three-day training at Ambo University in Ethiopia, covering experimental design, statistical modelling using R, and scientific writing. What made it different: participants worked with their own research data, not generic datasets.

"The training significantly strengthened our capacity to produce high-quality research outputs suitable for renowned international journals," said Meskerem Gulma, Lecturer at Ambo University.

Proud of this partnership and what it means for the future of agricultural research in Ethiopia.

18/05/2026

Have you ever wondered how far our science actually reaches?

Zanzibar. Nepal. Guatemala. Bangladesh. Ethiopia. Mexico. Kenya. India. These are just a few of the more than 80 countries where CIMMYT has worked to strengthen food systems, develop climate-resilient crops, and support farming communities facing some of the toughest conditions on the planet.

The geography changes, but our mission does not.

We will keep showing up, in the field, in the lab, and in the places where science is needed most. With your support, we can reach even further.

Support our work: https://on.cgiar.org/3PmtmuY

16/05/2026

More than two billion people depend on dryland agriculture. And climate change is making it harder every single season. 🌫️ ⛈️ 🌡️

CIMMYT and ICRISAT just launched a five-year initiative to change that, backed by the Novo Nordisk Foundation.

The goal: cut crop breeding cycle times by at least two years using AI-driven predictive breeding, genomic selection, and speed breeding. Starting with sorghum and groundnut, two crops critical to food security in Eastern Africa and India.

What does that mean in practice? Better, more climate-resilient varieties reaching farmers faster than ever before.

🔗 https://on.cgiar.org/4dmgU6E
Support our science: https://on.cgiar.org/3PmtmuY

14/05/2026

Almost everything on your plate was designed. 🧪 🧫 🔬

Not by a factory. By generations of plant breeders who spent their lives observing, selecting, and replanting, quietly ensuring that the food crises you never heard about never happened.

Carrots were not originally orange. Watermelons needed to be cooked. Maize, as we know it today, is four times more productive than it was a century ago. Without that progress, we would need three times as much land to feed the world.

And yield is only part of the story. Breeders stopped Maize Lethal Necrosis from devastating Africa's food supply before it ever made headlines. They are developing fall armyworm-resistant varieties right now. They are the reason the next famine stays silent.

CIMMYT's Ashish Saxena in collaboration with CGIAR Breeding for Tomorrow writes about the architects of our plates, and why the engine behind them must keep running.

🔗Read the full piece and learn more about the work behind it, including contributions from Breeding for Tomorrow: https://on.cgiar.org/4dtEJJW
⚠️ Support us: https://on.cgiar.org/3PmtmuY

14/05/2026

🚜 🌽 🫘 A major step forward for climate-resilient agriculture!

Today, CIMMYT and ICRISAT officially launched a groundbreaking five-year initiative to accelerate the development of climate-resilient and market-preferred crop varieties for dryland farmers across Eastern Africa and India.

Supported by the Novo Nordisk Foundation, the will harness:

AI-driven predictive breeding
Genomic selection
Speed breeding
Advanced data integration

The initiative recognizes a long-standing gap in agricultural investment, particularly for dryland crops that have historically received far less attention despite supporting millions of vulnerable farming communities worldwide.

At the launch, CIMMYT Chief Science Officer Sarah Hearne, stressed the initiative's co-designed, farmer-centered approach, built with CGIAR centers, national research systems, and global partners. She also spotlighted ADCIN, a network of 200+ scientists across 19 countries advancing dryland crop innovation in Africa.

🌍 CIMMYT is committed to science that delivers for smallholder farmers in vulnerable dryland communities.

Support the science that feeds the world: https://on.cgiar.org/3PmtmuY

13/05/2026

A conflict in the Gulf. Fertilizer prices up 28% in three weeks. Up to 45 million people pushed closer to hunger. And a planting season that cannot wait.

This is not a future scenario. It is happening right now.

In a new piece for Mexico Business News, CIMMYT Director General Dr. Bram Govaerts Cimmyt breaks down how the Strait of Hormuz crisis is moving through energy markets, fertilizer supply, and farm-level decisions in real time, and what the international agricultural research system needs to do about it.

The window to act before this harvest season closes is measured in weeks, not months.

🔗 Read the full piece: https://on.cgiar.org/4txZA4L
Support us: https://on.cgiar.org/3PmtmuY

13/05/2026

It was a pleasure to welcome His Excellency Agostinho Van-Dúnem, Ambassador of the Republic of Angola to the United States, and his delegation to CIMMYT's global headquarters in Texcoco, Mexico.🤝

During the visit, the delegation explored our work in safeguarding maize and wheat genetic diversity, developing climate-resilient and nutritionally enhanced crop varieties for Africa, Asia, and Latin America, and bridging the gap between agricultural research and farmers on the ground.

The visit closed with a conversation on potential areas of collaboration, a dialogue we look forward to continuing.

Embassy of Angola in the US
Agencia Mexicana de Cooperación Internacional para el Desarrollo

12/05/2026

We are deeply honored. 🏆

CIMMYT has been named the recipient of the 2025 Al-Sumait Prize for African Development, a sovereign State honor conferred in the name of His Highness the Amir of Kuwait, recognizing CIMMYT’s life-saving contributions to food security in Africa.

This prize is external validation of what hundreds of scientists, farmers, staff, and partners have built together across more than 20 African countries: drought-tolerant crops, healthy soils, strong seed systems, and good rural jobs that help communities not just survive crises, but recover and thrive beyond them.

In 2025 alone, tens of thousands of African farmers planted climate-resilient crops to withstand El Niño. That is science for humanity in action.

9.2 million households. 5 decades of work. And a shared commitment with Kuwait to keep going.

🔗Read the full story: https://on.cgiar.org/4uzyM4Q

Support the science that feeds the world: https://on.cgiar.org/3PmtmuY

Maize and wheat science for improved livelihoods.

12/05/2026

On , here is what most people never see: You check ingredients. You count calories. But the war for your food started long before the supermarket. 🌽 🫘 🍽️

Stem rust. Wheat blast. Maize Lethal Necrosis. Never heard of them? Your food has.

Every year, pests and diseases silently destroy enough food to feed hundreds of millions of people. This threat is invisible, fast-moving, and growing.

At CIMMYT, this is the what we show up for every day. Science before the supermarket.

12/05/2026

We asked: what if we got the smartest people in a room and told them to reimagine food systems in the Global South? 🌍🔥

This weekend, CIMMYT Inc and Oxford Edge found out.

Innovators. Researchers. Entrepreneurs. Three days. One mission.

The ideas that came out, climate early warning systems, smarter crop planning, tools to fight deforestation, and more.

And the winners go to 🏆

🥇 CIMMYT Grand Impact Prize: Frontier Transition Infrastructure
🥇 CIMMYT Future of Food Prize: Seed Disco
🥇 Edge Visionary Pitch Prize: Kilimo
🥇 OVHcloud Frontier Builder Prize: CropIQ
🥇 OxTechWeek Rising Innovator Prize: CropIQ

Congrats to everyone who showed up and went all in. First hackathon, not the last. 👀🌱