Agricultural research has played a crucial role food and nutrition security and agricultural productivity by increasing agricultural production to meet the food needs of a rapidly growing population. Investments in agriculture such as improved irrigation and drought-tolerant crops reduce price and income variability. Nutritionally improved crops give access to better diets, while productivity gains are key to food security households with poor access to food markets. The Division advances the research agenda coupled with supporting the generation and release of new agricultural technologies while at the same time improving the existing ones to promote agricultural productivity food and nutrition security. ARDD promotes climate resilience and various other technologies suitable to the region and responds to the challenges such as diseases and pests that the region is currently facing. Resilience to emerging agricultural risks: environmental, climate change and trans-boundary pests and diseases Nigeria has experienced increased frequency of extreme weather events such as droughts and excess rainfall. To cushion the farming systems from such shocks, the Division implements climate resilience activities and programmes to mitigate and adapt to climate change. The Centre conducts capacity building activities in the areas of agricultural productivity and natural resource base, sustainable and conservation agriculture, sustainable intensification and climate smart agriculture and agricultural land use change and policy for supporting the farmers to improve the resilience of their production systems to climate change. ARDD researchers ensure sustainable food production systems and implement resilient agricultural practices that increase productivity and production, that help maintain ecosystems, that strengthen capacity for adaptation to climate change, extreme weather, drought, flooding and other disasters and that progressively improve land and soil quality. The Division researchers examine the specific research challenges over the next five years for 20 key crop commodities, and for livestock and farmed fish, in order to stimulate national research communities, public and private, to devote efforts to meeting these challenges. ARDD researchers pursue policy research to identify broader constraints on agricultural progress resulting from misguided or simply counterproductive policies while socio-economic and policy research contribute to prioritizing research agendas and to educating policy-makers on both the consequences of bad policies and the importance of agricultural research in solving national problems of food security and poverty.