International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT)

CIMMYT is a non-profit, international agricultural research organization and a member of the CGIAR Research Centers network. For over 50 years, CIMMYT has applied agricultural science and fostered global partnerships to improve the yield, nutritional quality, and resilience of staple dryland cereals—specifically maize, wheat, triticale, sorghum, millets, and associated crops—with a primary focus on resource-poor farming communities across the Global South.

Global Impact & Key Metrics

• Economic Return: Generates $3.5–4 billion annually in economic benefits for farmers and consumers worldwide.
• Seed Footprint: 50% of maize and wheat grown in low- and middle-income countries derives from CIMMYT varieties.
• Breeding Lines: Supplies 80% of the world's breeding lines for maize and wheat via its global seed distribution network.
• Climate Focus: 90% of organizational research and programming addresses climate change adaptation and mitigation.
• Capacity Building: Delivers approximately 50,000 days of gender-inclusive training annually to farmers and agricultural experts.

Core Areas of Intervention

| Focus Area | Objectives & Scope | | --- | --- | | Resilient Crop Breeding | Developing seed varieties resistant to extreme heat stress, severe droughts, emerging pests, and crop diseases. | | Smart Farming & Resource Efficiency | Promoting improved soil and crop management practices that optimize the use of land, water, nutrients, and energy while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. | | Nutritional Security | Biofortifying and enhancing staple crops to combat malnutrition among low-income populations. | | Knowledge Transfer & Gender Inclusion | Equipping local farmers, researchers, and women producers with advanced agronomic tools, technology, and decision-making capacity. |

Strategic Objectives (2030 Strategy & Beyond)

• Food Security & Livelihoods: Improving the nutrition security, incomes, and livelihoods of smallholders and rural communities.
• Agrifood System Resilience: Strengthening the capacity of cereal production systems to withstand climate shocks and ecological stresses.
• Biodiversity & Conservation: Promoting the wider, more equitable utilization of maize and wheat genetic diversity.
• Enterprise & Economic Growth: Providing scalable technologies and practical agronomic know-how to local entrepreneurs and farmers.
• Institutional Capacity Building: Fostering long-term research collaborations with national agricultural research systems (NARS), global universities, and the private sector.