WHAT WAS THE CGIAR RESEARCH PROGRAM ON MAIZE?

An international collaboration to mobilize global resources in maize research and development to achieve a food-secure future for maize producers and consumers worldwide.

MAIZE IN THE WORLD
From 2012-2022, MAIZE research led to the development and deployment of more than
669
maize varieties in
34
countries
Maps show the combined contributions from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA).

Click on each one for more details.

Select a map to explore:

Our impact
Nutrition
900
million people living on less than $2 a day depend on maize as a staple.
Maize is an essential staple crop that plays an important role in food security. Over the last decade, the CGIAR Research Program on Maize has worked to understand and strenghten the nutritional potential of maize and maize products around the world.
Poverty
75%
of the world's poor & food-insecure rely on agriculture & natural resources for their livelihoods.
MAIZE research has targeted those regions where 90% of the world's poor, climate-vulnerable farmers live. Against the backdrop increasingly virulent biotic stresses and a changing climate, MAIZE research has reduced poverty and improved livelihoods by developing and deploying stress-resilient varieties, improved agronomic practices, and supporting the growth of local seed-systems.
Gender
20-30%
That's the yield gap between women and men farmers due to gender inequalities.
MAIZE’s Gender Strategy built gender awareness and social inclusion into its research design and implementation, engaging more women and young farmers to meet their needs and interests.
Climate
90%
of the world's poor maize farmers live in tropical regions most vulnerable to climate change.
MAIZE has invested in science that equips maize farmers for more extreme and erratic weather, as well as threats from climate-driven pest and disease spread. This work includes breeding climate-resilient and pest- and disease-tolerant maize varieties, and spearheading global rapid-response efforts to threats like fall armyworm and maize lethal necrosis disease.
Environment
5-20 t/ha
The amount of topsoil maize farms on sloping land in southern Africa lose yearly using conventional practices.
From Conservation Agriculture to helping smallholders preserve local landraces, MAIZE invested in approaches that respect planetary boundaries by supporting healthier ecosystems and the preservation of biodiversity.
Our global community
“I feel CIMMYT is like a family member.”
Samjhana Khanal, Nepal.
"When it comes to growing maize, I now consider myself an expert."
Mary Sikirwayi, Zimbabwe.
"Practically 100% of the varieties within the traditional system are from CIMMYT."
Román Gordon, Panama.

I am largely benefitted by this interaction [with MAIZE] in several ways that include working with public and private partnerships, design and development of research projects, conduct of large-scale trials both on research farms and farmers’ fields, large scale seed production and distribution, establishment of better and more concrete networks through collaborations.


Lohithaswa Chandappa, Professor of Genetics and Plant Breeding, University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore.

I was involved in training researchers in GENNOVATE[…] It was wonderful to be part of the GENNOVATE process. Awareness of the importance of gender in MAIZE has been enormously increased and shared through journal papers, guidance notes, blogs, and much more. This is really a major and transformative contribution that CIMMYT has made.


Cathy Rozel Farnsworth, Independent Scholar.

Interaction with CIMMYT/MAIZE scientists has improved our maize research in the university. Through CRP MAIZE , we could test, identify and deploy (notification is pending) a drought tolerant maize hybrid for rainfed regions of northern Karnataka.


Prakash Kuchanur, University of Agricultural Sciences, Raichur, Karnataka, India.

At present, all the production of open-pollinated varieties in [Panama] comes from work carried out with genotypes sent from CIMMYT. [This] has given alternatives to producers of family agriculture and a low level of use of inputs.


Román Gordon, Researcher, IDIAP, Panama.
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What we have done

Looking for MAIZE related materials? This is your one-stop-shop for links to the most relevant repositories, tools and documents.