Through a pilot program, two promising scientists have recently arrived at CIAT’s headquarters in Cali, Colombia to learn new research techniques, gain exposure to the latest scientific developments in agriculture, access fully-equipped laboratories and libraries, and learn about unique public-private partnerships that help fund agricultural research and science.

CIAT in turn is applying their research to strengthen sustainable agricultural practices and global food security, and increase the impacts of ongoing projects.

Julian Witjaksono, Research Fellow, USDA-FAS in a maize field at CIAT headquarters in Colombia. Photo: N. Palmer/CIAT.

Julian Witjaksono

During his 12-week fellowship, Julian is conducting research on climate-smart agriculture, an approach proposed as a solution to transform and reorient agricultural systems, to ensure food security under the new realities of climate change. Julian has the opportunity to connect with leading scientists from the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), which CIAT leads, to boost the reach of his research.

CCAFS collaborations are reaping impressive results in Julian’s home country, Indonesia, where the government for the first time submitted baseline figures for GHG emissions from peatlands as part of the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) scheme.

Darwin Martinez, Research Fellow, USDA-FAS with a cacao tree on CIAT’s campus in Colombia. Photo: N. Palmer/CIAT.

Darwin Martinez

Darwin had a significantly less arduous journey to Cali, traveling from Santander in northern Colombia. He is advancing a new project to apply research from one locally popular crop – cassava – to another that is particularly celebrated in Santander: cacao, the main ingredient for chocolate.

Darwin is working with CIAT’s genetic transformation platform, and tissue culture and molecular genetic laboratories, to design methods and protocols for propagating and genotyping cacao, using cassava as a model.

Colombia is the third largest producer of cassava in Latin America, after Brazil and Paraguay (FAO, 2004). Similarly, Colombia has major potential for scaling up cacao production, with approximately 2 million hectares of suitable growing area (Corpoica, Fedecacao y el Ministerio de Agricultura y Desarrollo Rural, 2011). There is a significant industry presence in the country, represented mainly by Nacional de Chocolates and Casa Luker, to take innovations forward to transform the chocolate and confectionery sector.

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Diverse markets for cassava in Southeast Asia offer many opportunities for smallholder farmers to reduce rural poverty though higher income generation. And since the crop is relatively climate-hardy, improved management enables farmers to better adapt to the impact of climate shocks.

A group leader of 30 farmers since 2013, knows the value of cassava for her family. She is one of 40 million smallholder farmers across Southeast Asia who depend on the annual production of about 75 million tons of cassava grown as a cash crop on four million hectares.

Dramatic impacts if not properly managed

Since 2009, IFAD funded Training of Trainer courses – complete demonstration and field activity courses on sustainable cassava production – have been provided by CIAT staff, together with the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and other partners, across Cambodia.

More than 100 extension staff linked to the IFAD-funded Rural Livelihoods Improvement Project (RULIP) alone, in Ratanakiri, Preah Vihear and Kratie provinces, received training through demonstrations and on-farm trials.

Topics on the training curriculum include management of high-yielding, improved cassava varieties; land preparation and weeding techniques; appropriate use of fertilizers; soil erosion control; planting other crops with cassava for diverse incomes and soil fertility and pest and disease management options.

This year, Huong Sokhang planted cassava vertically, so the stake can take in more moisture from the soil if it’s dry. She learnt about this technique through a training day near her village, and since then, has made significant improvements in her farming, to adapt to a changing climate.

She also now saves US$200 in fertilizer each harvest, boosting her yield by five tons per hectare, through more prudent use of fertilizer. She plans to use that money to invest in new planting material, pay school fees and medical bills for her children, as well as buying more regular food for the family.

A pest and disease crisis

But despite cassava’s income-earning potential, it is increasingly vulnerable to phytosanitary threats which endanger the gains of these initiatives. These threats to cassava production include a swathe of emerging pests and diseases devastating harvests; declining soil fertility and volatile market prices.

For example, the cassava witches’ broom disease – a systemic disease resulting in 10–15% yield loss and 20–30% starch content loss – continues to threaten farmers’ yields and income. In key cassava cropping areas of Cambodia, virtually all cassava fields are infected, and farmers with little choice are planting infected stakes, risking their income.

Investigations by CIAT and national research partners in Southeast Asia continue to assess the cause and transmission of emerging threats, in order to recommend control options. Until then, farmers can only take minimal precautions to prevent disease spread and safeguard their livelihoods.

This work is made possible through partnerships with the Cambodia Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF), the Rural Livelihoods Project (RULIP) supported by IFAD, the International Potato Center (CIP) and Netherlands Development Organization (SNV).

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The Alliance, coordinated by CIAT and made up of over 350 partners, has released more than 550 new bean varieties in Africa since 1996, all of which were bred to be better than their ancestors.

This isn’t trivial: Beans have great potential to improve the food security, incomes, and health of rural and urban people, and make a significant contribution to national economies. That’s why PABRA works across the bean value chain, with activities starting from crop breeding right up to – and led by – the marketing and consumption of beans.

If you’re still not convinced about the power of the humble bean, this new infographic ought to help bring the issue to light.

Related:

• The role of CIAT in PABRA
• Impact to be proud of
• Partnership – the heart of bean research
• Bean impact: making sense of 16%

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But a recent trip to meet with donors and national partners in each country revealed strong interests in research into forages, soils and climate change, exposing new and exciting opportunities for future partnerships.

Meeting with Zimbabwe government partners. L-r: Mr. R.J. Chitsiko, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanization and Irrigation Development; Mr. Dumisani Kutywayo, Director Divisions of Crops Research, Department of Research & Specialists Services (DR&SS); Rodah Zulu, CIAT; Robin Buruchara, CIAT; Rowland Chirwa, CIAT; and Mrs. Danisile Hikwa, Principal Director, DR&SS.

The CIAT delegation, consisting of Robin Buruchara, Boaz Waswa, Rodah Zulu and Rowland Chirwa, met donor representatives from the World Bank, DFID, USAID, AfDB, FAO and IFAD among others.

“Many donors, such as UNFAO and African Development Bank, are developing new strategies for the region and are keen for us to link in,” said Boaz Waswa. “We have a lot we can offer the southern Africa region to support the improvement of agricultural systems.”

Meetings with government officials were equally as fruitful.

Meeting partners at the Zambia Agricultural Research Institute (ZARI). L-r: Boaz Waswa, CIAT; Dr. Godfrey Mwila- Acting Deputy Director, ZARI; Rowland Chirwa, CIAT; Rodah Zulu, CIAT; Dr. Moses Mwale, Director, ZARI; Robin Buruchara, CIAT.

In Zimbabwe, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanization and Irrigation Development, Mr. R.J. Chitsiko, was very excited to learn about CIATs work and called for more collaboration in the areas of beans, forages, soils and general productivity increase, saying his office is ready to support our work.

Zambia also showed great interest in our work. Opportunities for collaboration include: working to promote biofortified beans, climbing bean intensification in farming systems, country climate smart agriculture profiles with a focus on three regions within the country and support for soil improving fertility.

In both countries, CIAT and the National Agricultural Research System (NARS) partners agreed to continue to strengthen ongoing project collaboration and explore opportunities for joint projects.

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In a first phase, the APC-Colombia and CIAT strategic partnership will undertake SSC activities involving technical assistance and knowledge sharing with the ministries of agriculture of Senegal and Kenya (Africa); Barbados, Grenada, and Trinidad and Tobago (Caribbean); and Vietnam (Southeast Asia).

The partnership aims to help position Colombia across the world through cooperation and provide beneficiary countries with better access to innovation and scientific research through knowledge sharing in the agricultural sector.

“One national technical experience identified by APC-Colombia that is well known globally involves research undertaken by CIAT on value chains, agriculture, rural development, and climate change adaptation. We believe this work, which has shown excellent results in our country, can have the same impact in similar surroundings outside Colombia,” said Alejandro Gamboa, APC-Colombia director general.

First experiences of South-South sharing

A previous South-South exchange carried out by CIAT took place in September 2013, in collaboration with Colombia’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MADR) within the framework of the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS). Representatives of key institutions from the Colombian and Honduran agricultural sector visited Senegal to share knowledge and lessons learned on adaptation to climate variability, with the aim of better preparing to manage the risks involved through new ideas and collaboration.

Then, in May 2014, a delegation from Senegal was invited to Colombia to get to know first-hand the work undertaken by CIAT and major Colombian institutions working on climate change adaptation.

Last July, a workshop on climate change and food security was organized with the aim of strengthen South-South collaboration between Colombia and Africa. It was attended by a delegation of representatives from Ghana, Kenya, and Senegal.

“This was undoubtedly an inspiring experience. Today, we can say that the seed planted 2 years ago with the first visit of Senegal is starting to bear fruit, as Colombian institutions are boosting innovative initiatives such as “Local Technical Agroclimatic Groups” Task Forces in three subnational regions. We hope to be able to join efforts with APC and continue to strengthen the potential of this South-South exchange mechanism, which benefits each country by sharing and receiving,” said Osana Bonilla, CIAT and CCAFS scientific officer.

Another example of South-South cooperation with Southeast Asia was the “International Training Course on Cassava Witches’ Broom: Diagnostic Methods and Alternatives for Integrated Disease Management,” held at CIAT headquarters. This event, promoted by APC in November 2013, brought together researchers from Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Colombia.

Early steps

The first phase of the memorandum of understanding signed today will encompass various activities. In Senegal, training workshops will be held on the use of climate and agronomic modeling, methodologies for assessing present and future suitability of key crops, such as rice, and short- and medium-term planning for investment. The activities will also include sharing of successful organizational experiences with Colombian associations and institutions involved in value chains as well as knowledge sharing visits for technical staff from institutions in Colombia and Senegal. The cooperation will further be extended to Kenya, which has expressed interest in learning about Colombia’s successful experiences with silvopastoral systems, sugarcane, forages, and livestock production, and also to Vietnam.

The memorandum of understanding, which covers the period 2015–2018, was signed at CIAT headquarters, near Cali, Colombia.

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The approaching Congress brings together scientists from Africa, Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean, to discuss the value of climate-resilient root and tuber crops, particularly since Asia is especially vulnerable to climate change.

Cassava is now a key cash crop in Asia but needs to be well managed to protect the environment. Credit: G. Smith/CIAT.

Seeds of change

In Southeast Asia, cassava is grown by over eight million farmers as a primary source of income and calories, especially among poor, rural upland communities. Despite years of research neglect and stagnating yields during the 1980s, cassava has had a dramatic come-back as a popular cash crop – but it still needs to be coupled with good management practices to be sustainable.

Cassava can be processed into a wide variety of produce and demand is increasing. Credit: G. Smith/CIAT.

The brief outlines the role CIAT’s scientists and regional partners have played in developing improved cassava varieties, while promoting best management practices, creating opportunities for smallholder farmers to improve their food security and contributing to better incomes through expanded market opportunities.

CIAT’s genebank in Colombia contains the world’s most important collection of cassava germplasm – a total of 6,592 accessions from 28 countries conserved using in vitro techniques. Through collaboration with national partners in Asia, CIAT continues to ensure new and improved cassava varieties are adapted to local conditions.

Opportunities ahead

The Congress in China, which has already opened for registration, is evidence of growing interest in the cassava industry in Asia. The region is now home to the world’s leading cassava exporters. And although demand is driving wider economic development in the region, beneficiaries are still mostly smallholder farmers, making it an important focus for empowering rural communities.

Farmers are trained in management practices which reduce erosion and boost productivity. Credit: G. Smith/CIAT.

Scientists continue to work with local communities to make them aware of the impacts of climate change, presenting them with scalable options for mitigating and adapting to weather changes.

Through the CGIAR Research Program on Roots, Tubers and Bananas, CIAT continues to build on achievements in the region by breeding new crop varieties to address constraints such as low production and low resistance to diseases. A new emphasis on genomics – the study of genes and their functions – should accelerate future progress toward these goals.

Expanding root and tuber markets, and opportunities and challenges ahead, make for dynamic dialogue at the Congress – watch this space for more information.

The Congress will discuss many opportunities and challenges, including those presented by pests and diseases. Credit: G. Smith/CIAT.

Key highlights and results:

• Farmers’ gross annual income rose by US$386 million, or US$51 per family in Vietnam and US$460 in Thailand, due to increased cassava yields.
• The adoption of improved varieties resulting from research by CIAT and its partners in the region has generated benefits worth almost US$12 billion over the last 20 years.
• The returns on investment in cassava research in Southeast Asia are very high, reaching an internal rate of return (IRR) of 345% in Vietnam.

For further information:

CIAT. (2013). Action Now, Warn Experts, as Pests Threaten Indonesia’s Food Security.
CIAT. (2013). Clamp-Down Launched on Devastating Threats to Starch Crop.
CIAT. (2014). Managing Mealybugs in Cassava.

Robinson, J. and C.S. Srinivasan. (2013). Case-Studies on the Impact of Germplasm Collection, Conservation, Characterization and Evaluation (GCCCE) in the CGIAR. CGIAR Standing Panel on Impact Assessment. 

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Participants at the project launch workshop ( 15–17 April 2015) in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

“The ultimate goal of this project is to provide smallholder farmers with new market opportunities,” emphasized Clair Hershey, leader of CIAT’s cassava program, after the project launch workshop, which took place in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on 15–17 April 2015.

The workshop was attended by a total of 26 participants who represented agencies that are already project partners, such as Catholic Relief Services and Haiti’s Ministry of Agriculture, as well as other agencies interested in participating in the project’s implementation, such as Laval University and an initiative called Enhancing and Building Capacity for Increased Food Security in Haiti (AKOSAA)

The project launch workshop, funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), focused on three objectives:

• Identify and contact key partners in Haiti
• Present the project to those key partners and work with them on identifying research and training needs
• Identify key activities in beans, cassava, and soils in order to carry out the proposed interventions in Haiti, and at the same time, fill strategy and knowledge gaps

During the workshop, there was ample discussion of basic topics such as the challenges and opportunities that arise when attempting to support seed systems for Haitian food crops and the needs of farmers and crop production systems in Haiti’s Southern Department (state), among others.

During the first year of its implementation, the project will focus on activities such as: (1) farmer participatory evaluations to determine the status of the technologies and varieties in use today; (2) training for researchers, extension agents, and farmers to strengthen their research and extension capacities; (3) a preliminary assessment of value chains; (4) introduction of high-yielding cassava and bean varieties with high nutritional value; and (5) collecting and organizing soil profiles.

“This project is the result of a visit to CIAT by Haiti’s Minister of Agriculture in 2013, which re-opened the door for substantially and positively impacting the lives of Haitian smallholder farmers,” said Hershey.

Written by: Andrea Carvajal (CIAT)

Related stories:
Informing decision makers on climate change adaptation in Haiti
IFAD and CIAT: Taking the fast track to development impact

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The Canadian government, through its former international development agency, CIDA, has supported CIATs bean research in Africa for several years.

It is a successful collaboration that is hoped to continue. CIAT and the newly formed Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs Trade and Development (DFATD) are currently in discussions to extend support of the Pan-Africa Bean Research Alliance (PABRA) for the next five years.

Discussions are also ongoing for the development of a regional South-South collaborative project on forages with Embrapa in Brazil and national research institutions in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Ethiopia and Mozambique.

But, despite clear synergies in CIAT research and DFATD areas of interest, the Canadians weren’t so familiar with the centre’s other research in Africa. Until now.

On Tuesday 19 May 2015 CIAT staff in Nairobi welcomed Simon Snoxell and Susan Learoyd from DFATD’s Pan Africa Regional Program in Ethiopia and Kenya respectively, to find out more about its soils, forages and policy research.

Following presentations about CIAT Africa in general and the three research streams by Boaz Waswa, Leigh Winowiecki, An Notenbaert and Evan Girvetz, Simon Snoxell explained changes to Canadian international development support since the creation of DFATD in 2013. He highlighted that Canadian support now focuses on three themes – sustainable economic growth; food security; and children and youth (including nutrition), themes which complement much of CIATs work in the region.

DFATD is keen on strengthening public-private sector participation in these areas and is exploring best models to make this happen. For example, how can Canadian organisations with expertise contribute to support the region? Which other sectors could be of value for collaboration? What incentives would make it possible for more Canadian private sector engagement in research and development in Africa?

Overall, DFATD team was very positive about CIATs work in the region and looks forward to continued collaboration.

Written by: Stephanie Malyon

Learn about the impact of Canada’s investments

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A bean farmer in Nicaragua who, through rainwater harvesting, is boosting production during dry season. Photo: Neil Palmer (CIAT).

With the support of the government of Germany, and many other donors and partners, the Center aims to construct a state-of-the-art genebank that has LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification, with the aim of inaugurating this facility on the occasion of CIAT’s 50th anniversary in 2017 in Cali, Colombia. The new genebank will conserve collections of beans, cassava, and tropical forages collections and also serve as a global knowledge hub that fosters the sharing of crop diversity and related information, which are critical for finding solutions to global challenges that respond to local needs and conditions.

The value of crop diversity

Crop diversity – in genebanks, in the wild, and in farmer’s fields – is essential for strengthening food and nutrition security, improving livelihoods and enhancing environmental services. These resources are especially critical for adapting staple crops to climate change impacts, as these emerge in diverse production environments across the tropics. The value of genebanks like CIAT’s lies in their ability to supply genes that give crops greater resilience in the face of climate change.

Alejandro Echeverri + Valencia, an architectural firm based in Medellín, Colombia, has developed a creative plan for the building, which features a “double skin” or canopy-like structure that will create a cool microclimate.

Beans that can beat the heat

“Beans are not very well adapted to high temperatures, because they originated in the cool hills and mountains of Central America, Mexico, and South America. So, pushing them down into the warmer areas has always been a challenge,” said Steve Beebe, leader of CIAT’s Bean Program.

Beebe and other CIAT scientists recently selected 30 beans lines that can survive and even thrive under increasing temperatures. Many of the lines resulted from crosses between common bean and a related minor bean species from arid zones of North America, samples of which are stored in the CIAT genebank.

“In some parts of Africa and Latin America, farmers adopting these new heat beaters will actually be able to expand production on land where it’s normally too hot for beans,” said Andy Jarvis, a CGIAR climate change expert and director of CIAT’s Decision and Policy Analysis Research Area. “These lines represent a major breakthrough in buffering a vital protein source for the poor against the worst-case climate change scenario of a 4-degree temperature rise.”

Cassava that copes with climate change

BMZ’s investment will also help realize the enormous potential of cassava for bolstering food security in the face of climate change threats. The Ministry has met its commitment to foster climate-smart agriculture by supporting the genebank and promoting the development of crop varieties that can cope with climate change.

“Whilst other staples can suffer from heat and other problems of climate change, cassava thrives,” said Jarvis. The root crop is important as a staple food and source of livestock feed, starch, biofuel, and other products. However, there is need for research to make cassava more resistant to pests and disease.

In Kampong Cham, Cambodia, women making sago, processed food starch sold as small pearls. Cassava is used in the starch industry throughout Asia to make products from noodles to pharmaceuticals, supporting smallholder incomes. Photo: Georgina Smith (CIAT).

Germany leads the way

The German government recently provided funding for infrastructure that facilitates genebank functions, but the initiative requires further support. To this end, CIAT is reaching out to governments, foundations, the private sector, and individuals to establish a global genebank and knowledge hub for agrobiodiversity.

“For nearly 4 decades, CIAT’s genebank has resided at the heart of our efforts to make tropical agriculture more productive and resilient,” wrote CIAT director general, Ruben G. Echeverría and Board of Trustees Chair, Wanda Collins in their Annual Letter.

Related
NEW CIAT Annual Report 2014
Germany funds critical to maintaining CIAT’s crop collections
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Crop Trust’s Marie Haga visits CIAT genebank

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CIAT Director General Ruben Echeverría with Professor Lowell Hardin at Purdue University, USA, in April 2011.

Hardin’s seminal role in the creation of CIAT was an amazing institutional achievement for someone who had just begun a second career in 1965 as senior agriculturalist with the Ford Foundation. Hardin joined Ford after having been a member and then head of Purdue’s Department of Agricultural Economics for 2 decades – experience that gave rise to his “vision and passion for international development,” again in the words of the Purdue tribute.

In October 1966, Hardin and Lewis M. Roberts of the Rockefeller Foundation wrote “A proposal for creating an international institute for agricultural research and training.” One year later, their two foundations together with the Government of Colombia and Kellogg Foundation agreed to establish CIAT. Despite misgivings in some quarters that the vision for the Center was too broad, encompassing too many elements, Hardin and Lewis proposed that it “not focus on just one crop or just one specific activity. Instead, it would concentrate on identifying and solving problems in the agriculture and livestock production of the tropics.”

Construction of CIAT’s headquarters near Cali, Colombia. Concerned about growing food needs, Dr. Lowell S. Hardin of the Ford Foundation and Dr. Lewis M. Roberts of the Rockefeller Foundation proposed in 1966 the establishment of an international agricultural research center to be headquartered in Colombia. A year later, CIAT was founded to strengthen the fight against poverty and hunger.

In a seminar presentation that Hardin gave at CIAT in 1997 on the occasion of our 30^th anniversary, he spoke about “a center with a difference,” reaffirming the original decision to give CIAT research a dual focus, consisting of strong programs on multiple commodities alongside efforts on “overall farming systems” aimed at “addressing eco-regional concerns” and avoiding “widespread degradation of natural resources.”

In a chance meeting with Hardin at Purdue in April 2011, CIAT director general Ruben Echeverría retrieved a copy of the original founding document that sketched out this ample and flexible vision for the Center. The document’s wording seems especially prescient now against the background of recent developments in CGIAR. The scope and diversity of CIAT’s research are precisely what enables it to contribute so broadly and importantly to the global research agenda. This is the difference that CIAT makes, and it is part of the global legacy that Lowell Hardin leaves behind.

Written by: Nathan Russell, CIAT, Head of Communications and Knowledge Management

See timeline: The Ford Foundation and CIAT: Partners for food security and prosperity

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