In Afghanistan, the vast majority of the population relies on agriculture for its livelihood. Three decades of war have not changed the central importance of farming in this country, only its difficulty.

The Kashmir Himalayan region has been a hotly disputed area for decades, with both India and Pakistan laying claim to it. But some Kashmiris see their homeland not only as an area of conflict, but also as a land of agricultural opportunity.

In fact, efforts have been underway since 2009: the Earth Institute’s International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI) has been working for the past two years with India’s Ministry of Agriculture and other institutions to improve forecasts of the seasonal monsoon rains that water much of the nation’s farms, and to help farmers manage drought.

Scientific cooperation between Islamic countries has a lacklustre record, marked by a shortage of resources and a lack of political will for investment. The few countries that have invested heavily in recent years — including Iran, Pakistan, Qatar and Saudi Arabia — have chosen to work instead with scientifically advanced countries in North–South collaborations that offer more obvious benefits than partnerships among themselves.

Mohammed Karimi has come a long way to find himself at the gate of a cattle weighing station in Australia's outback...Karimi, along with six other refugees, are enrolled in a 12-week course at the Warwick campus of TAFE, a nation-wide tertiary educational institute. The students are the second batch to go through the new program, sponsored by Australia’s Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC), which trains them for work in the agricultural industry.

Addressing over 500 participants at the African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF), leaders representing African governments and the continent’s best and brightest in the fields of agriculture, finance, and development emphasized the need to break from long-term policies that have neglected agriculture and discouraged investment in the farm sector.