This month we focus on the unprecedented role played by the African woman in agriculture as we shine light on the need to amplify her voice in policy making and towards the building of a vibrant bio-economy. This issue focuses on the gender perspective in food security.

In our Story of the Month we share Gaudiose Mujawamariya's article on the Critical Role of Women in avoiding a COVID-19 "Food Pandemic" in sub-Saharan Africa. She argues that although African women play a key role in all aspects of the region's food systems, they often assume this burden while laboring with key disadvantages due to long-standing gender roles that can limit their access to economic resources – both within their households and communities. Gaudiose shares lessons that could avert a crisis.

In our Video of the Month, we share a simple recipe on how to prepare a cassava meal. Although cassava is an important food security crop in the region, various communities in Kenya have shied away from this resilient crop due to perceptions that it is a poor man's crop, and limited knowledge on different ways to turn it into a palatable meal. Given the impending food crisis brought about by disruptions in the food system, it is important that our communities embrace traditional and resilient crops such as cassava. ISAAA and the VIRCA Plus project will be sharing a series of short videos on different ways of cooking cassava.

We would like to extend an invitation to our readers to register for ISAAA's webinar series on genome editing. The four-part series continues on Friday 3^rd July, 2020, with a special focus on business opportunities and entrepreneurship.

Lastly, we wish to thank all our readers who participated in the public participation process for the VIRCA Plus project in Kenya by sending in their comments! As promised, we will update on the progress.

Enjoy your read!