We are excited to announce the Round 7 recipients of Climate, Food and Farming – Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases Development Scholarships (CLIFF-GRADS). These PhD candidates from low- and middle-income countries have been selected from a large and highly competitive applicant pool, reflecting their outstanding qualifications and strong potential to advance agricultural climate research.
During 2026 and 2027, these fellows will undertake applied research focused on quantifying and mitigating agricultural greenhouse gas emissions, contributing to more sustainable food systems.
The 40 Round 7 CLIFF-GRADS fellows represent 21 countries from Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean. They will carry out research placements at 33 host institutions worldwide.
CLIFF-GRADS offers short-term research placements of 4 to 6 months. These placements give early-career scientists access to specialized equipment, software, and international expertise not available at their home institutions. Fellows contribute to cutting-edge research in areas such as enteric methane, rice systems, soil emissions, and blue carbon ecosystems.
Please follow this LINK to learn about the scholars and research projects they’ll be part of.
One Health in agrifood systems: Recognition for good practices, success stories and innovations in applying the One Health approach
As part of this year’s Global Conference for Actions on One Health in Agrifood Systems, FAO will celebrate best practices and outstanding innovations advancing the One Health approach across agrifood systems. Through this recognition, we will shine a spotlight on pioneering efforts from stakeholders across agrifood systems – showcasing impactful solutions and inspiring future action toward integrated, inclusive, sustainable, and health-oriented agrifood systems.
Objectives
This recognition aims to promote successfully implemented good practices and outstanding innovations in One Health in agrifood systems that have demonstrated significant measurable impact, and to inspire continued innovation through global stakeholder collaboration.
Scope
The Global Conference will recognize practices, success stories and solutions that represent significant advancements or innovations in One Health approaches and sustainable livestock transformation across the entire value chain, successfully implemented at scale in villages, communities, and cities across the world.
These may include new technologies, systems, practices, or solutions that improve efficiency and support action on One Health in agrifood systems and the sustainable transformation of the livestock value chain, encompassing food security, greenhouse gas mitigation, animal health and welfare, antimicrobial resistance, sustainable livestock farming systems, Indigenous Peoples and pastoralist knowledge systems, women and girls empowerment, capacity development for small-scale producers, finance, post-processing, and policy support.
Eligibility
The conference welcomes applications from institutions, international and regional organizations, academic or research entities, civil society groups, and private sector entities. Applications from women, youth, and Indigenous Peoples are particularly encouraged. FAO employees are not eligible to apply.
Selection process
An international panel of experts nominated by FAO will assess the applications, with attention to inclusive and balanced representation across regions, genders, expertise fields, disciplines, and stakeholder groups.
Evaluations will be based on the following criteria:
- Impact and practical application: Demonstrated real-world results and effectiveness.
- Innovation and originality: Novelty and uniqueness of the proposed approach.
- Inclusivity and social impact: Contribution to gender equality, youth engagement, Indigenous communities’ involvement.
- Scalability and replicability: Potential for adoption and implementation across diverse contexts and regions.
- Sustainability: Contribution to long-term resilience in agrifood systems.
Recognition, demonstration and ceremony
Recipients will receive official recognition at the FAO Global Conference for Actions on One Health in Agrifood Systems, to be held from 21–23 September 2026 at FAO headquarters. A dedicated technical presentation session and innovation pitch talk will be organized as a special event.
Applications should be submitted by 10 July 2026
Click HERE to apply
The Global Research Alliance (GRA), the African Climate Action Partnership (AfCAP), and the Government of New Zealand co-hosted this webinar to showcase the achievements of the New Zealand Climate Smart Agriculture (NZCSA) Initiative. The session highlights the initiatives key capability-building efforts across Africa focused on improving agricultural greenhouse gas (GHG) inventories, and the important role of the AfCAP Livestock Community of Practice. Through the NZCSA Initiative, technical work in ten countries has progressed beyond default emissions estimates to more advanced Tier 2 methodologies, enabling more accurate and country-specific data.
The Speakers
- Moderator: Sinead Leahy (Livestock Research Group Co-Chair, GRA) Opening remarks and Context setting
- Speaker 1: Andreas Wilkes (Independent consultant, Values for Development Ltd) NZCSA inventory improvement approach and impact across 10 countries
- Speaker 2: Walter Svinurai (University of Zimbabwe) Zimbabwe’s progress, policy relevance and regional connections
- Speaker 3: Séga Ndao (Director of ISRA/CRZ Dahra – AfCAP/Livestock CoP) Regional Inventory improvement and bilateral exchanges in West Africa
- Speaker 4: Roy Bouwer (Programme Lead, South South North) Regional collaboration in Southern and Eastern Africa and the AfCAP Livestock CoP
A video recording of the webinar are now available to view HERE
We’re proud to share the session recordings from the 2026 New Zealand Agriculture and Climate Change Conference!
The recordings cover a wide range of topics, from the latest research and innovation to practical conversations about the opportunities and challenges ahead for reducing agricultural emissions in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Click HERE to view the recordings.
The Global Research Alliance (GRA) & the African Climate Action Partnership (AfCAP) cordially invite you to register for our upcoming webinar on “Strengthening livestock GHG inventories in Africa: Lessons from the NZ CSA Initiative”. This engaging session will bring together inventory and livestock experts, national inventory compilers, researchers, government officials, and development partners involved in agricultural GHG measurement and reporting to gain practical insights into how African countries are strengthening agricultural GHG inventories through Tier 2 approaches. Attendees will also learn about the benefits and challenges of these transitions, their policy relevance, the value of regional collaboration, and hear directly from Zimbabwe’s experience.
Webinar Overview:
This session will showcase key capability-building activities in Africa, centred on improving agricultural GHG inventories, and the role of the AFCAP Livestock Community of Practice. Under the NZ Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) Initiative, technical work in ten countries has moved beyond default emissions estimates to full Tier 2 approaches. The webinar will highlight the practical benefits and challenges of Tier upgrades, their policy relevance, the value of regional collaboration through AFCAP, and insights from the Zimbabwean government.
Event Details
Title: Strengthening livestock GHG inventories in Africa: Lessons from the NZ CSA Initiative
When: 11 June 2026
Time: 10:00 SAST / 11:00 EAT / 09:00 WAT / 08:00 GMT
Where: Via Zoom
The Global AgriInno Challenge (GAC) 2026 is now accepting applications from innovators worldwide working to transform agrifood systems in Small Island Developing States.
Jointly organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Zhejiang University, and Pinduoduo, this sixth edition of the competition places SIDS at the center of global agrifood innovation, regions that face some of the world’s most pressing climate and food security challenges yet remain underserved by mainstream technology ecosystems.
GAC 2026 is open to agripreneurs and startups from any country, provided their solution directly addresses agrifood challenges facing SIDS or has been deployed within a SIDS context. Teams originating from or led by individuals from SIDS are strongly encouraged to apply.
Thirteen finalists will be selected through a competitive global screening process. Five of these spots are reserved for teams from the twelve SIDS countries participating in the FAO-China South-South Cooperation Project: Bahamas, Barbados, Cabo Verde, Comoros, Cook Islands, Fiji, Grenada, Maldives, São Tomé and Príncipe, Solomon Islands, Trinidad and Tobago, and Vanuatu.
All finalists will travel to Hangzhou, China in August 2026 for an immersive week of expert workshops, investor matchmaking, and the Global Final Pitch before an international jury.
Click HERE for further information.
The GANASUR team during a recent Workshop
The GANASUR project – “Developing Mitigation Strategies for the Livestock Sector Through a Collaborative Approach Across the Southern Cone”– is wrapping up in June, but it has positioned the region as a leader in low-emissions livestock approaches in South America.
Funded through the New Zealand Government’s Climate Smart Agriculture Initiative, as part of its contribution to the Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases (GRA), and coordinated by PROCISUR, GANASUR brought together leading scientific institutions from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay. This regional collaboration has generated practical evidence that can be used directly by policymakers.
From Fragmented Data to a Shared Evidence Base
A core achievement of GANASUR is the development of harmonised, region-wide “Business-As-Usual” baselines across diverse beef production systems in the Southern Cone. By using consistent methods and verifying typical pastural beef systems, the project created a shared evidence base to enable:
- robust comparison of mitigation strategies across countries,
- greater confidence in regional and national emissions estimates, and
- consistency with international reporting and GRA priorities.
This shared baseline is a critical step toward mitigation actions that can be compared and scaled up. It also allowed the creation of mitigation scenarios, which are useful because they show both the full potential and the realistic pathway for action:
- Maximum Theoretical Scenario – representing the highest potential mitigation achievable under full implementation of all measures. This helps set ambition and understand the total opportunity.
- Plausible Scenario – reviewed and agreed by stakeholders within each participating country. This makes it far more relevant for policy design and implementation.
Identifying What Works: Mitigation with Measurable Impact
GANASUR has moved beyond theory to quantify what mitigation options actually deliver across productivity, emissions, and profitability. The project is assessing practical interventions, including:
- improved reproductive efficiency,
- optimised grazing and forage systems, with a particular focus on enhancing forage quality (digestibility and nitrogen content) and availability,
- strategic supplementation, and
- enhanced animal health management.
Anti-methanogenic feed or additives impacts are evaluated on methane (CH₄) and nitrous oxide (N₂O) emissions up to the farm-gate to ensure that mitigation pathways are grounded in real farm performance.
Linking Science and Policy: The Economics of Mitigation
A key innovation is the development of Marginal Abatement Cost Curves (MACCs) tailored to Southern Cone systems. For each mitigation practice in livestock systems (e.g. better grazing, improved reproduction, feed additives), a MACC answers two key questions:
- How much can this reduce emissions? (the abatement potential)
- What does it cost to achieve that reduction? (the cost per unit of emissions reduced)
These options are then plotted so you can compare them side by side. These provide policymakers with clear insights into the:
- cost-effectiveness of mitigation options,
- trade-offs between emissions reduction and farm profitability, and
- opportunities for low-cost, high-impact interventions.
This economic lens is essential for designing credible, implementable mitigation policies and investment strategies.
Why GANASUR Matters for the scientific Community
GANASUR delivers exactly what is needed to accelerate progress aligned with the goals of the GRA:
- Comparable, regionally harmonised data frameworks
- Evidence on scalable mitigation practices
- Integration of productivity, resilience, and emissions outcomes
- Direct relevance for policy and investment decisions
As countries seek to balance food production, economic growth, and emissions reduction, GANASUR provides a replicable model for evidence-based, regionally coordinated climate action in livestock systems.
Its insights will inform policy development, mitigation strategies, and international collaboration, helping ensure that livestock systems in the Southern Cone and beyond are productive, resilient, and aligned with global climate ambitions.
Read more HERE:
“The Global Methane Hub is offering travel grants to researchers who work in Low and Middle Income Countries in order to facilitate their travel to the International Symposium on Rice Functional Genomics 2026.”
A list of eligible LMIC countries can be downloaded here. These countries have been classified by World Bank metrics.
Applications will be assessed by the ISRFG26 Scientific organising group. Successful applicants will receive free registration for ISRFG26 and 5 nights accommodation in London. We will also provide up to $500 to support travel to London.
Application deadline is June 1st 2026.
We will inform successful applicants soon after the deadline so that flights can be booked well in advance of travel.
An application can be submitted HERE
Manure management on livestock farms contributes significantly to the climate impact of agriculture via emissions of methane, nitrous oxide and ammonia. The IPCC tier 2 method to estimate methane emissions, developed in 1996, is based on the maximal methane production rate of fresh excreta (B0) and a conversion factor MCF to account for storage conditions. This calculation concept was meant to be simple, because it should be applicable worldwide, including regions where the staff carrying out the calculations has limited information about manure management systems or expertise in how management and environmental conditions may affect the processes behind methane emissions. Three researchers with much experience in developing models to calculate methane emissions from livestock farming will present new improvements of the tier 2 method as well as alternative approaches for calculating the emission. The intention of the webinar is to stimulate new initiatives to investigate the calculation of methane emissions from manure management, with the aim to develop a new generation of methods.
A video recording of the webinar are now available to view HERE
Location: Teagasc, Animal & Grassland Research Centre, Grange, Dunsany, Co. Meath C15 PW93, Ireland
Salary: Post Doc (Level 1) with a Salary Scale of €44,569 to €48,895
Closing Date: 17/04/2026 12:00 PM
For more information please click HERE
Location: Teagasc, Animal & Grassland, Research and Innovation Centre, Grange, Dunsany, Co. Meath. Salary: Research Officer with a Salary Scale of €41,996 to €79,618
Closing Date: 16/04/2026 12:00 PM
For more information please click HERE
This webinar presents the findings of a global meta-analysis examining the factors that regulate the effectiveness of biological nitrification inhibition (BNI) in reducing nitrous oxide (N₂O) emissions from agricultural systems. BNI is a plant-mediated process in which certain metabolites inhibit soil nitrifying microorganisms, slowing the conversion of ammonium to nitrate and potentially reducing N₂O emissions. By synthesizing results from 23 published studies, this analysis evaluates the influence of genetic, environmental, and management factors on cumulative N₂O emission reduction. The results highlight that plant genus and species, soil physical characteristics (including texture, clay and sand content, and bulk density), soil nutrient status (such as soil organic carbon, total nitrogen, available phosphorus, NH₄⁺ and NO₃⁻), drainage conditions, irrigation, geographic factors, measurement timing, and nitrogen fertilization practices (type and application rate) are key drivers shaping BNI effectiveness.
A video recording of the webinar are now available to view HERE