A doubling in funding for the CGIAR is expected to lift 150 million people in Asia out of poverty by boosting rice production, provide 12 million African households with sustainable irrigation, save 1.7 million hectares of forest from destruction and give 50 million poor people access to highly nutritious food crops.

The CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees And Agroforestry (of which the World Agroforestry Centre is a major partner) is predicted by2020 to prevent deforestation on 0.5 to 1.7 million hectares, reducing carbon emissions by 0.16 to 0.68 billion tons per year.

CGIAR is the world's largest agriculture research partnership and its funding has increased from $500 million in 2008 to $1 billion in 2013.

This increase will help finance CGIAR's 16 global research programs and accelerate the development of scientific, policy and technological advances needed to overcome complex challenges – such as climate change, water scarcity, land degradation, and chronic malnutrition, according to Frank Rijsberman, CEO of the CGIAR Consortium.

For the past 40 years, CGIAR and partners have transformed the lives of hundreds of millions of people through agricultural research, including sustainable farming methods such as agroforestry. One example is the integrations of food crops with trees that draw nitrogen from the air and transfer it to the soil. This innovative agroforestry practice captures carbon and reduces greenhouse gas emissions, while improving soil fertility, rainwater use efficiency, and increasing yields by up to 400% for maize in the Sahel region.

"The new funding will take CGIAR's work to the next level and be crucial in global efforts to enhance food and nutrition security in a world of climate change," said Rachel Kyte, Chair of the CGIAR Fund Council and World Bank Vice President for Sustainable Development.

Read the full story: World's largest agricultural research partnership doubles funding to $1 billion in 5 years