Search for News & Stories

Through multidisciplinary partnerships that empower smallholder farmers, says Edward Mabaya, a research professor in the Department of Global Development.

As the world population grows and climate change threatens agriculture and global food systems, researchers across CALS are reimagining agri-food systems for the 21st century.

In Africa, the climate crisis is impacting all aspects of life — but especially agriculture. A surge of extreme weather events, abrupt shifts in precipitation patterns and steadily rising temperatures have diminished crop production and...

With support from NextGen Cassava, dozens of young people have turned their passions into career pathways that will build capacity in Africa’s agriculture breeding programs. NextGen Fellows have obtained advanced degrees from Cornell University...

The Next Generation Cassava Breeding Project (NextGen Cassava) is blending advanced breeding technologies with equally sophisticated approaches to gathering market intelligence to serve a single purpose: meeting the everyday needs of millions of...

Today, cassava is cultivated on millions of smallholder farms across sub-Saharan Africa and consumed daily in a wide range of African dishes. This versatile food crop can be harvested and boiled fresh or dried and processed into flour or cassava...

At the start of the NextGen Cassava initiative, scientists were eager to unlock the genetic potential of cassava. But they were equally committed to exploring the preferences of people growing cassava. They wanted assurances that their advanced...

This is the fifth in a series of stories detailing actions CALS students, faculty and staff have taken over the past several years to make our community a more diverse, equitable and inclusive place for everyone. In fall 2021, CALS announced its first-ever faculty cohort initiative focused on hiring a group of scientists whose work explicitly addresses systemic challenges facing marginalized communities through transdisciplinary collaboration. The first search was received with great enthusiasm and 381 people applied for the six positions.

Meet Chuan Liao, assistant professor, Department of Global Development.

As a young researcher working with plant breeders to develop improved wheat varieties for smallholder farmers, Hale Ann Tufan confronted a profound dilemma. It wasn’t an issue of gnarly plant genetics or unruly research fields — commonplace...

This is the second in a series of stories detailing actions CALS students, faculty and staff have taken over the past year to make our community a more diverse, equitable and inclusive place for everyone. Here, we highlight college efforts to design a more inclusive curriculum and detail some of the courses CALS faculty have developed or adapted to address issues of racial, social, gender, economic and environmental justice.

Academic focus: Sustainable food systems, climate change mitigation and adaptation, food systems futures, systems analysis, livestock, sustainability, food security, environmental impacts Research summary: My research focuses on increasing the...

A new summer internship enables undergraduates across disciplines to learn about organic, restorative and agroecological practices while working at diversified, small-scale farms around New York state.

When Norman Borlaug said, “Rust never sleeps,” he was warning of the emergence of a highly virulent stem rust pathogen that threated wheat crops around the world. First identified in the wheat fields of Uganda, the fungal pathogen known as Ug99...

With the end of the semester in sight, we'd like to take a moment to recognize the CALS graduating class of 2021. During their time at Cornell, members of this exceptional class have explored the corners of purpose-driven science, traveled the...