Yet during the week-long World Congress on Root and Tuber Crops in Nanning, China this week, Dr. Claude Fauquet, Director of the Global Cassava Partnership for 21^st Century leading the Congress, said more investment is needed if relatively resilient crops like cassava are to stay ahead of climate challenges.

A shift from responding to crisis to anticipating it is needed, he said. “Nigeria is the perfect place for cassava today. But that doesn’t mean it will be the perfect place for cassava tomorrow. We need more resources for research, to help people living in these areas prepare for what’s going to happen.”

Dr. Graham Thiele, Director of the CGIAR Research Program on Roots, Tubers and Bananas, added that research can provide valuable insight into the dynamics of climatic change and foresight which can be translated into climate models, to guide breeding programs as well as investment into new technology.

“We know temperatures will increase,” he said. “However, we need to think outside of the box about what this means, for example how will changes affect processing technology? If it rains more, what does that mean for sun drying technology?” These are the kinds of tricky questions smallholder farmers in the poorest places, relying on root and tuber crops for food security, need answered.

When disaster strikes

Farmer Huyen Thi Phuc, a smallholder in Southern Vietnam, has grown the root crop cassava with cashew nut for 15 years. It brings in more than half her income. She grows it because it doesn’t require heavy labor or fertilizer investments, and it’s one of the few crops that grow in the poor soil on her farm.

But strong winds, worse in recent years, have blown down the tall-growing cassava varieties which she usually plants. So, she tried planting new cassava varieties, developed at the local Hung Loc Research Center, in Dong Nai Province.

“I recently grew two new varieties and my yield doubled,” she said. “Also, the stems do not fall down when it’s windy,” she said. Huyen Thi Phuc is one of millions of farmers who today can find better, higher-yielding, disease or climate-resilient cassava varieties as a result of decades of agricultural research.

Since the 1990s, dedicated agricultural researchers in the region and globally have collaborated to develop highly successful cassava varieties. Take for example cassava variety KU 50, released in 1992. Tapping the diversity of germplasm in Latin America – CIAT’s genebank where the world’s largest cassava collection is kept – researchers evaluated, made many crosses and exchanged germplasm with local breeding programs across the region.

Climate change: opportunity or threat?

They improved varieties with potential to meet demands in Asia: higher fresh root yields and starch content; improved disease resistance and environmental adaptability. By 2002, Asian breeders had released more than 50 improved varieties including KU 50 – the world’s most cultivated cassava variety.

Widespread adoption of these varieties was also a result of new soil and crop management practices explored together with farmers, which led to rapid yield increases in Asia in the last 15 years. Thailand and Vietnam are now today’s leading cassava exporters.

With rapid population growth and urban expansion, cassava is now used in a range of niche markets, for example in low fat and gluten-free products – a huge opportunity for smallholder cassava farmers, who are the majority suppliers. But new threats, such as emerging pests and diseases in Asia exacerbated by more intense weather patterns, need to be tackled if full benefits of improved varieties are to be realized.

It could have important implications for the way seed sales and distribution are organised, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa.

For decades, scientists have developed new crop varieties aimed at responding to the most persistent environmental and nutritional challenges faced by smallholders. But many of these have not made it to the people who need them most – the farmers themselves.

According to new research published in the journal Food Security today, that’s because the method for disseminating new seeds neglects some of the most important outlets used by smallholders.

The paper explains that modern crop seeds are typically sold by a relatively small group of licensed agro-dealers clustered in major towns and cities. The seeds are certified for quality and sold to farmers in sacks often weighing five, ten, or even 20 kilos.

But following what is thought to be the largest study of seed transactions to date, covering around 10,000 in Kenya, South Sudan, DR Congo, Zimbabwe Malawi and Haiti, researchers found that the majority of farmers in these countries do not buy seed from these so-called “formal” markets.

Instead the majority prefer to use local market stalls, independent traders, and even “mom-and-pop” stores. These “informal” markets, while sometimes considered off-the-grid in terms of location, are often much more accessible for many farmers, especially women. Even though they don’t offer certified seeds, many farmers prefer informal markets, partly because they can buy from people they know and purchase in smaller quantities, enabling them to try different varieties at low risk.

In addition, informal markets tend to stock a much wider range of seeds that those available from agro-dealers, which typically sell only maize and a small selection of vegetables. It means smallholders use informal markets to purchase as much as two-thirds of beans and other legumes – vitally important smallholder crops due to their protein content.

“Science has a strong track record of innovation for developing stronger, higher yielding crops, but now it needs to focus on innovations in delivery,” said Louise Sperling, a senior technical adviser at Catholic Relief Services (CRS), who led the research while working at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT). “As new varieties of heat or drought tolerant crops become available it’s crucial we get them into farmers’ hands quickly and effectively. Our findings suggest how and where we need to expand our efforts.”

Sperling and co-author Shawn McGuire of the University of East Anglia note that there has long been anecdotal evidence pointing to the importance of local markets as a source of seed. But they believe their study is the first to extensively quantify these transactions, crop by crop.

They hope their findings could bring about recognition of the importance of informal markets, with a view to them eventually offering new varieties and high quality seed on a continuing basis.

“Imagine if a company like Amazon.com only sold a handful of products and only mailed them to a few distribution centres in each country. They would have nothing like the reach and impact that they’ve had. We’re not suggesting that research organisations mail seeds to individual farmers, but it seems the world of crop improvement can certainly learn a thing or two from the retail sector when it comes to better distribution systems, and catering to customer demand. It could help get better seeds into the hands of smallholder farmers and significantly increase the impact of scientific research.”

CIAT’s Steve Beebe, leader of the organisation’s Bean Research Program, described the results specifically relating to bean seed as “highly significant.”

“Insights like these should help guide efforts to get new varieties to the farmers who really need them,” he said. “This can help ensure that the hard work to develop beans that can tolerate drought, or high temperatures, or that contain higher levels of micronutrients, can be accessed quickly and easily by farmers.

“The findings are a great way to celebrate the United Nations International Year of Pulses because it gives us a clear opportunity for reaching more farmers with better beans.”

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The study’s conclusions come from a long-term a collaboration involving CRS, CIAT, the University of East Anglia School of International Development, the Pan-African Bean Research Alliance, and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

At the week-long World Congress on Root and Tuber Crops in Nanning, China this week, Dr. Chareinsuk Rojanaridpiched, formerly of Kasetsart University in Thailand, and CIAT emeritus Dr. Reinhardt Howeler, a soil scientist with more than 20 years of experience in Asia, received the Golden Cassava Award.

Dr. Joe Tohme, Dr. Reinhardt Howeler, Dr. Chareinsuk Rojanaridpiched and Dr. Claude Fauquet.

Dr. Chareinsuk Rojanaridpiched recived the award for developing the cassava variety Kasetsart 50 (KU 50), cultivated on more than 1 million hectares in Thailand and Vietnam, as well as in large areas of Indonesia, Cambodia, the Philippines and Lao PDR.

Dr. Reinhardt Howeler was recognized for his contributions towards improving soil management practices. He worked directly with farmers throughout the region to ensure widespread adoption of new varieties including KU 50, as well as better crop and soil management, leading to higher yields and farm income.

“I have been very lucky to have worked with researchers and extension workers and farmers who worked hard to adopt new varieties and improved practices, resulting in higher yields and considerable improvements in farmers’ livelihoods,” said Dr. Reinhardt.

Dr. Chareinsuk Rojanaridpiched (left), Dr. Reinhardt Howeler (right).

“The greatest satisfaction comes from seeing that your work is having an impact on the ground in helping people improve their lives. Receiving the Golden Cassava Award is a great honor and an indication that the value of working with farmers in order to achieve greater food security and improved livelihoods is being recognized as the ultimate goal of our mission.”

The story of cassava in Asia, from root to riches

Cassava (Manihot esculenta) is a carbohydrate source for more than 500 million people globally. It ranks sixth among crops for calorific contribution and is produced as a staple crop in Africa, Asia and South America – accounting for 53%, 33% and 14% of global production, respectively.

Today in Southeast Asia, the crop supports an estimated 40 million mostly poor farmers with less than five hectares. The crop tolerates stress, drought, heat, and can grow in poor soil in marginal upland environments with minimal investment.

During the 1990s, cassava production stagnated largely due to a downward spiral in demand in European animal feed markets for cassava chips and pellets. Cassava yields also stagnated or declined, and attempts to improve local varieties were not successful as a result of lacking cassava genetic diversity in Asia.

Despite the fact that cassava is a vital source of calories and food security in Southeast Asia, especially among poor ethnic minorities, many researchers neglected cassava improvement in favor of other staples such as rice and maize.

Yet, Dr. Chareinsuk Rojanaridpiched and colleagues at Kasetsart University and the Department of Agriculture in Thailand, persevered to develop the highly successful cassava variety KU 50, released in 1992. They used a very well adapted local Thai cassava variety, crossed with one with a genetic background from CIAT’s genebank in Colombia – the largest cassava germplasm collection in the world – to achieve this, drawing on local breeding expertise.

Tapping this diversity of germplasm in Latin America, the researchers evaluated, made many crosses and exchanged germplasm with CIAT’s genebank, where a total of 6,592 accessions from 28 countries, including 883 genotypes of wild species, are conserved using in vitro techniques.

They improved varieties with potential to meet demands in Asia: higher fresh root yields and starch content; improved disease resistance and environmental adaptability. By 2002, Asian breeders had released more than 50 improved varieties including KU 50 in nine countries, with considerable benefits for cassava growers, almost doubling fresh root yields.

In parallel, Dr. Reinhardt Howeler worked with researchers, extension agents and farmers in China, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia, Lao PDR and East Timor, to improve soil fertility management and erosion control practices for cassava and enhance the adoption by farmers of improved varieties.

This involved conducting simple trials with farmers in their fields, with local researchers and extension workers, to select and manage practices for their own conditions. Thousands of farmers learned about new, more efficient practices of cultivating cassava through participation in field days, training courses and cross visits, as well as from brochures, and from radio and television interviews.

The work led to widespread adoption of improved varieties and new soil and crop management practices, contributing significantly to rapid yield increases in Asia in the last 15 years. Estimated increases in annual gross income of cassava farmers in Asia due to higher cassava yields in 2009, compared to 1994, were estimated at more than US$1.75 billion.

Asia is today’s leading cassava trader

Thailand and Vietnam are now the world’s leading cassava exporters, with Thailand and Indonesia the region’s biggest producers. With rapid population growth and urban expansion, use of cassava also extends into niche markets, for example in low fat and gluten-free products – a huge opportunity for smallholder farmers, who supply most cassava.

It’s estimated that income accumulated by cassava growers in Thailand from KU 50, between 1993 and 2011, totaled US$1.56 billion dollars. The national economic benefits of investment in cassava production and export continue to improve. In Vietnam alone, cassava currently fetches between 1.3-1.5 billion US$ annually in exports.

Today, 48 CIAT-related cassava varieties in national breeding programs are planted on more than 40 percent of the region’s total cassava-growing area. According to 2015 estimates, the adoption of improved varieties resulting from research involving CIAT and national partners has reached nearly 100% in Thailand and over 90% in Vietnam.

Cassava demand in Asia is on the rise. Photo credits: G.Smith / CIAT

If you’re on a diet in 2016, restricting your carb intake might be on your list of New Year’s resolutions. But around the world, demand is on the rise for starch and other forms of carbohydrate, as incomes rise and consumer preferences change.

It might seem strange that demand for a starchy root crop would increase with higher incomes. But the multiple applications of cassava in diverse markets have helped it fight its reputation as an economically ‘inferior’ commodity.

The World Congress on Roots and Tuber Crops, to be held in China next week, (January 18^th – 22^nd) explores exactly the diverse nature of this market. In Asia, cassava is in demand for starch – mostly sweeteners and other products in our modern diets – and dried roots for ethanol or livestock feed.

Self-sufficiency and price support policies for alternative commodities in the region have also favored cassava processing. In recent years, cassava has become a relatively cheap alternative to maize in China – the main export market for cassava products – fueling demand and production expansion in Asia.

But to stay competitive, cassava yields have to keep pace with competing crops, like maize, especially with multiple new challenges on the horizon.

Yet despite receiving a tiny fraction of the billions invested in improving maize productivity in the United States – the world’s biggest maize exporter – cassava starch yields have largely kept pace with maize, with the added advantage of being produced in Asia.

“More investment into cassava’s genetics could unlock hidden potential in an already top performing crop. The cassava genome has been sequenced, but we’re just beginning to use the data as a breeding tool,” said CIAT’s cassava program leader, Clair Hershey.

Cultivating a top performer  

When it first started, CIAT’s cassava program was a response to the plight of poor farmers who benefitted little from the Green Revolution technologies of the 1960s. Cultivating the most marginal upland areas of the tropics, they were caught in a low productivity trap.

New, high-yielding, high-input grains swept Asia, but some required extensive fertilizer and pesticide use or irrigation schemes to ensure that extracted nutrients were replaced in the soil, for example. In some areas, farmers couldn’t afford irrigation or fertilizer use, and so they turned to other crops.

Cassava already grew in Asia, but it attracted little research investment and yields were low. Yet yields were relatively impressive considering the crop was planted with minimal labor and fertilizer investment. It also grew in poor, low-fertile soil where other crops wouldn’t, and was drought-tolerant.

With a vital weapon in their arsenal – the world’s largest collection of cassava landrace varieties or “germplasm” – researchers turned their breeding efforts to genetic discovery and spent decades improving crop yield and management, to provide farmers in Asia with a stepping stone out of poverty.

So, what of the revolution?

Funding was tough; research was slow. Then researchers did for cassava in Asia what smartphones did for mobiles. They took a commodity in demand, revolutionized its efficiency, adapted it to the modern environment and multiplied it for a mass market. Only with a lot less money and probably more sweat.

Fast-forward 50 years and we’re looking at nothing short of a smart revolution.  After decades of evaluating, selecting and exchanging germplasm between CIAT’s genebank in Colombia and national breeding programs across Asia, high-yielding cassava varieties have been multiplied and released.

Fresh root cassava yields in Asia more than doubled. By 2002, Asian breeders had released more than 50 improved varieties in nine countries. Considerable benefits trace back to producers and cassava growers, who are typically smallholder farmers planting on marginal land.

One variety in particular, KU 50, developed at Kasetsart University by Dr Chareinsuk Rojanaridpiched and colleagues in Thailand, took the market by storm. By 2013, aggregate economic benefits from its adoption were estimated at US$44 million in Thailand. Today, KU 50 is the most cultivated cassava variety in the world.

Of course many challenges remain ahead – not only in better understanding cassava’s genetics but in managing a swathe of new pests and diseases threatening its production. All of these require investment. Yet the total cost attributed to KU-50 development in Thailand is around US$21.6 million.

That’s a weighty return on a more lean investment. Exactly what carbs do best.

For more information, download the briefs: 

Adding value to cassava for diverse markets

Looming pest and disease crisis threatening cassava production in Asia

Case studies: emerging pest and disease crisis in Cambodia

Check out the photo-album 

A storm is brewing for coffee too.

You’ve probably also been hearing that climate-smart agriculture (CSA) can help farmers big and small prepare for and respond to climate change – not just for crops like coffee and cocoa, but across the board.

But how should CSA be implemented, and more to the point, who should pay for it?

Should smallholder farmers bear the cost of, say, a new irrigation system or the switch to a drought tolerant crop variety, when the whole supply chain benefits from their efforts? Can smallholders even afford to invest in effective CSA practices without financial support from the buyers who depend on them? And where do consumers fit into all this – shouldn’t they do their bit by paying a premium for food with climate-smart credentials?

These are the kinds of issues that a new project from USAID, which leads the US government’s global hunger and food security initiative, Feed the Future, hopes to shine a light on. By starting a series of conversations with famers, agribusiness and consumers it’s aiming to build the business case for private sector investment in CSA. It could result in more widespread adoption of CSA.

It’s no coincidence that this “learning community” – a consortium led by CIAT, the Sustainable Food Lab, the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture and Root Capital – will start off by looking at the coffee and cocoa sectors.

It’s not just because coffee and cocoa are two high-value crops expected to take a hammering from climate change. Nor is it just because they’re grown predominantly by smallholders in developing countries. Nor is it simply because coffee and cocoa are well-known, internationally-traded commodities with big markets in the wealthy world.

“An additional major draw of working with the coffee and cocoa sectors is that they are already familiar with the language of supply chain responsibility,” says CIAT’s Mark Lundy. “Over the past couple of decades these sectors have helped pioneer voluntary certification schemes, for example, to ensure things like good environmental stewardship and fair working conditions for employees.”

“Looking at whether it’s viable to embed climate-smart agricultural practices into these kinds of schemes makes total sense.”

Certification is just one option; as the conversation grows it is likely to uncover more possibilities, depending on the crops, the regions and the markets involved.

“Together, we’ll co-develop a learning community that provides business cases, strategies and action plans for agribusiness engagement in climate smart agriculture,” said USAID’s Justin Finnegan, writing on the Feed the Future blog this week.

It’s the beginning of a much bigger conversation that could end up covering a much broader range of crops and regions.

“Our goal is to increase understanding of how private companies, in coordination with governments and civil society, can increase the adoption of climate-friendly practices that improve the lives of the farmers our global food system depends on,” continues Finnegan.

“Working together, we can ensure that progress in global food security lasts for years to come.”

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A major national consultation took place in Hanoi, Vietnam this week, to unite key players in agricultural research and define a collaborative road-map to deliver impact.

The meeting comes during a crucial phase in CGIAR restructuring, as a second phase of Center Research Program (CRP) themes are further refined to be rolled out next year.

Inputs from national participants at the meeting, which took place at the Agricultural Genetics Institute on December 14-15^th, will be included among CGIAR Center priorities, aligned with national priorities and targets of Vietnam.

Ten CGIAR Centers were represented, led by CIAT and co-led by ICRAF.

More than 40 national research institutes and partners gathered to discuss major agricultural challenges  and debate potential solutions.

The CGIAR panel presented key CGIAR joint targets in Vietnam, to trigger discussions on national topics of concern and opportunity including poverty reduction and productivity, food and nutrition security and natural resource management.

CGIAR support crucial 

Delivering his opening remarks, Professor Nguyen Van Tuat, Vice President for Vietnam Academy of Agricultural Sciences (VAAS) under the Ministry of Agricultural and Rural Development (MARD), said Vietnam is restructuring the agricultural sector to raise production and incomes as a key priority.

“Support from the CGIAR is crucial to reduce rural poverty and manage resources sustainably,” he said. He added that the gathering is an opportunity to discuss and identify gaps and priorities for research in Vietnam, strengthening partnerships towards a strategy for improved agricultural development.

Professor Le Huy Ham, Director General of the Agricultural Genetics Institute (AGI), noted the CGIAR’s decision to make Vietnam a focus country for CRP integration. “It is crucial information that Vietnam has been chosen as one of the priority countries for the CGIAR for the next phase of the CRPs,” he said.

“We need to raise awareness about this, especially because there are ten CGIAR centers operating in Vietnam.” Addressing agricultural issues in each agro-ecological region of Vietnam is an important approach, he said.

Better coordination between CGIAR centers, and improved cooperation between CGIAR centers and researchers in Vietnam, is vital to achieve greater impact going forward, he said.

Improved coordination 

Dr. Leo Sebastian, CCAFS Regional Program Leader for Southeast Asia, outlined objectives for the meeting, noting that national partner feedback at this stage of the CGIAR’s development  is key to address both CGIAR objectives and national priorities.

Dr. Dindo Campilan, CIAT Regional Director for Asia, further noted: “Vietnam is one of six focus countries for the CGIAR, so today is key to discuss future collaboration,” he said.

“Vietnam has different agro-ecological characteristics, with needs, opportunities and research gaps which vary from the Mekong River to the northwest region.”

“Today we will dive into the details of the ecoregions and discuss what Vietnam needs – specifically which Centers will have strategic interventions for the different regions.

“Key outputs included identifying goals and opportunities for site integration, and recommending mechanisms for coordination in Vietnam.

“To address key outputs we also seek feedback from our national partners, we need to address questions such as the relevance and usefulness of the CGIAR goals, and gaps and priorities to address,” he said.

Site Integration: Background and expectations

The Consortium of CGIAR centres is proposing a second phase of CRPs to effectively contribute to its global strategy.

A key dimension in the second phase portfolio is increased integration across the CRPs and a strengthened ability to work with a wide range of regional partners and stakeholders in achieving development goals.

To realize this, a focus on improved coordination and collaboration, particularly through a process termed ‘site integration’, starting in a select set of Geographies, will be carried out.

Site integration plans are necessary to ensure CGIAR Centers work together in a way that is informed by – and aligned to – priorities and processes, in particular geographies.

From 20 countries, six were identified as site integration countries based on a criteria that includes significant presence in the country; impact potential and government and donor interest, as well as strategically important for CGIAR research.

The six site integration countries are: Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Tanzania and Vietnam.

Finishing off the year in style, soil held the spotlight during the recent climate change negotiations in Paris. Numerous side events hosted by CGIAR, the governments of France and Germany, and others at the 21^st Conference of the Parties (COP21) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) held earlier this month put soil at center stage, identifying ways to make agriculture a part of the solution to climate change.

4 pour mille

The “4 pour mille” Initiative, launched by France as part of the Lima-Paris Action Agenda, for example, seeks to increase soil carbon by 0.4% (4 per thousand or “pour mille” in French) per year to offset atmospheric carbon emissions. A partner in this initiative, CGIAR announced a 5-year proposal supported by a strong research agenda developed jointly by French research institutes, CIAT, and sister CGIAR centers and research programs. The proposal seeks to promote the adoption of locally adapted farming methods to not only sequester carbon but also improve crop productivity, soil health, and particularly its water retention capacity (see blog post by Frank Rijsberman).

CIAT’s Deborah Bossio (third from right) took part in a panel discussion at a COP21 side event

The 2015 Global Landscapes Forum (GLF): From Lima to Paris

Held alongside COP21, GLF too gave soil a prominent place on its agenda. Exactly a year after its launch at GLF 2014 in Peru, Initiative 20×20, led by the World Resources Institute (WRI) and supported by CIAT, took stock of progress during a discussion forum, “From Pledges to Practice,” which brought together investors and national, regional, and international stakeholders.

The initiative initially aimed to restore 20 million hectares of degraded land in Latin America by 2020. But surprisingly, it has already secured more ambitious commitments to restore 27.7 million hectares, with investments amounting to US$730 million from the private sector (read more on WRI blog).

CIAT’s Deborah Bossio presented Center projects underway in seven countries of the region and explained how they are helping governments set priorities and ensure equitable benefits from land restoration initiatives.

Large-scale land restoration initiatives, however, will be hard pressed to deliver on expectations and ensure equitable benefits unless they are also informed by a gender perspective on land tenure and rights. Given renewed relevance by the historic climate change accord reached in Paris last week, land rights and tenure are vital for ensuring that women gain access to the resources they need to support themselves and their families, so as to improve their resilience to climate change variability.

Unsurprisingly, evidence shows that women are more likely to invest in their land if they have more secure tenure and rights. Today’s stark reality, however, is that only 28 countries give men and women the same legal rights to land. Clearly, more needs to be done.

A high-level panel session, “This Land is Our Land,” brought this issue to the forefront at GLF. It was organized jointly by the CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems, CIAT and IFPRI, with support from the CGIAR Gender and Agriculture Research Network.  As one speaker declared, “Land rights are human rights. . . . You cannot exclude women from governance, from growing food; it’s undemocratic.” Representing the full spectrum of actors from donors to research centers and grassroots organizations, the panelists reinforced the perspective that improving women’s land rights not only creates enabling conditions for land restoration but also paves the way for equity and improved livelihoods for all (read more on gender.cgiar.org).

2015 was an important year for soils. There is little doubt that soil has earned its place in the climate change and sustainable development agenda. As the International Year of Soils winds up, let’s maintain the momentum and ensure that sound soil science and data are available as needed to tackle global challenges. With new project opportunities unfolding from key partnerships in Colombia, Denmark, France, and Germany, CIAT stands ready to do its part in 2016 and beyond to cultivate change and ensure a secure future for us all.

If funded, the work will contribute to the country’s commitments to tackle climate change agreed at COP21 in Paris last week.

With around 23 million cattle grazing an area roughly the size of Germany, Colombia’s livestock sector accounts for almost all of its agricultural greenhouse gas emissions. Poor practices have resulted in low productivity and extensive land degradation, which in turn have driven widespread deforestation as farmers seek new areas for grazing. Land degradation and forest clearance are major sources of carbon dioxide emissions.

The proposed Sustainable Bovine Livestock project will focus on the introduction of mixed, rotational grazing systems to boost productivity, regenerate land and ease pressure on forests. These “silvo-pastoral” systems will combine nutritious forage grasses that can can sequester high levels of carbon dioxide with leguminous plants and trees that improve soil health by fixing atmospheric nitrogen. By-products such as timber will enable farmers to diversify their sources of income.

Rehabilitating pastures and restoring ecosystems is expected to capture around 167 million tonnes of carbon dioxide over the duration of the project (2018-2032).

But enormous additional savings are expected as a result of “avoided deforestation”, as cattle farms become productive enough that farmers no longer need to clear trees for grazing. This could spare an estimated 2.5 million hectares of forest from being felled, averting a colossal 1.2 billion tonnes in new carbon dioxide emissions over the same period.

Savings will also be made through efforts to reduce methane emissions along the beef and dairy value chains. Uses of the potent greenhouse gas as an energy source will also be investigated.

“With more productive and profitable systems in place, significantly less land will be needed to raise the same number of cattle, freeing up areas for conservation, rehabilitation and reforestation,” said Daniel Escobar, part of a team at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) that helped calculate the possible emissions savings. “It could provide a great model for sustainable intensification, and clearly shows that smarter livestock production can be a major contributor to mitigating climate change.”

“It could also help ensure that as Colombia edges towards ending its long-running civil war, there are plenty of options for rural communities held back by conflict to develop sustainably.”

The proposal builds on a 2011 pilot project from Colombia’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, and Ministry of the Environment and Sustainable Development, to investigate sustainable livestock production in the country. It was led by the World Bank and Colombia’s cattle producers’ federation, FEDEGAN, with support from the Global Environment Facility and UK Department of Energy and Climate Change.

The research concluded that improved livestock production systems showed great promise for mitigating greenhouse gas emissions, improving farmer livelihoods and increasing the resilience of ecosystems. The new proposal aims to introduce sustainable livestock production in 15 of the country’s 32 departments.

“There are so many ‘wins’ with this approach to sustainable livestock production,” said Andy Jarvis, head of CIAT’s Decision and Policy Analysis Research Program, and a research leader for the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS). “It mitigates climate change, restores soil, reduces deforestation, improves ecosystem health, boosts farm incomes; the list goes on.

“In recent years Colombia has established an impressive track record of progressive thinking in responding to climate change and promoting sustainable agriculture. The new plans are a great example of the kind of integrated approach that’s badly needed all over the world – it connects government departments and research organisations with both national strategies for rural development and global commitments to tackle climate change.

“The most encouraging thing is that they’ve successfully completed years of research to show that these approaches, when combined, are effective.”

The Colombian government is now seeking international partners to fund and implement the project, which will cost USD$900 million.

With support from CIAT, CCAFS and CIPAV*, sections of the proposal specifically relating to expected emissions reductions as a result of ecosystem restoration have been submitted to the United Nations as part of Colombia’s Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs). These are non-binding commitments by countries to tackle climate change. Colombia’s NAMAs will in turn support progress towards achieving the country’s Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs), which were agreed at COP21 in Paris last week.

Sections relating to emissions reductions from avoided deforestation will fall under the country’s commitment to implement REDD+** strategies.

IN BRIEF: Colombia’s Sustainable Bovine Livestock project aims to:

• Restore a total of 1.6 million hectares of grazing land through intensive and non-intensive silvo-pastoral livestock systems.

• Plant over 2 million hectares with improved, nutritious forage plants, reducing the amount of land needed for grazing.

• Benefit around 200,000 farming families through more efficient cattle production systems, payments for environmental stewardship, and improvements in local infrastructure.

• Capture 167 million tonnes of C02 through restored ecosystems.

• Save around 2.5 million hectares of forest, representing avoided emissions of around 1,200 million tons of C02.

*

Teams from CIAT’s Soils Program and Forages Program also contributed to the assessments of emissions savings, and feasibility studies relating to the different livestock systems and technologies proposed under the new plans.

*

*CIPAV – Centro Para la investigacon en Sistemas Sostenibles de Produccion Agropecuaria
**REDD – Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation

He got his start at the Center in the Soil Program with Howeler Reinhardt, working on nutritional requirements of cassava for the acid soils of the Eastern Plains, in the Carimagua station. Circumstances led him to the Cassava Program to work on improvement, and his passion was such that he studied for a Master’s degree in plant production with an emphasis in improvement at the National University of Colombia.

Hernán Ceballos, a plant breeder in the Cassava Program, says that “he is a man who represents the spirit of what CIAT was at the beginning: an attitude towards his work that goes beyond merely doing his duty. For him, work is not meeting a schedule but accomplishing a mission. He is a person who wakes up and goes to sleep thinking about cassava.”

For her part, Nidia Betancourt, communications analyst of Clayuca Corporation, says that “in his frequent visits to the corporation, he was always ready to share his knowledge. He has been a trainer of technicians, researchers, entrepreneurs, producers, farmers, teachers, students, and journalists.”

Clair Hershey, leader of the Cassava Program, adds that “Fernando is a person who manages to integrate wide theoretical and practical experience in multiple disciplines and topics related to cassava; in addition, his friendly nature and personality facilitate teamwork between the field and the laboratory.”

As friend and father

Hershey adds that “he is an incomparable person who gets along well with everyone. He enjoys life, he is simple and uncomplicated, he adapts to any situation – sometimes we traveled in difficult conditions and he never complained.”

Calle is a good friend, husband, and father. He likes to play ping pong as a sport, and his favorite food is meat. Friends like Ximena Moreno, administrative analyst, claim that “he was the best friend of my husband, Jairo Bedoya, who worked for many years at CIAT in topics related to cassava. I will always be grateful to him for having been available and for serving as a support for my daughter and me after my husband died.”

Achievements with cassava

Fernando worked with dozens of local and national organizations in cassava-producing countries, as well as with advanced research institutes in the industrialized world. In order to make a contribution toward linking this tuber with dynamic markets, he also collaborated with companies in the private sector in countries such as Argentina, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Mexico, and Ecuador.

He maintains close ties with Clayuca, from where he promotes the development and dissemination of improved technologies for the production and processing of cassava for Latin America and the Caribbean.

Calle contributed to the development of elite germplasm by using modern breeding techniques, such as rapid cycling recurrent selection and the production of duplicate haploids. “It has been a great strength to be able to rely on the expert advice of one of the professionals with the greatest knowledge and experience at a worldwide level about cassava production systems,” said Bernardo Ospina, executive director of Clayuca.

A large part of his achievements has focused on consultancy in the selection of cassava varieties for adaptation trials in other regions of the world, strengthening the systems of production and agronomic management of the crop, and supporting activities of knowledge management with groups of co-workers in the field and in the laboratory.

He has also cooperated in the integration of various disciplines (pathologists, entomologists, plant breeders, among others); he has been a trainer in the Cassava Plant Breeding Network in Latin America and the Caribbean, where his objective was the consolidation of production, quality, and resistance data in a language that would make it possible to access data and genetic material to achieve the interchange of germplasm between countries.

Another of his achievements was consulting on a project that was carried out in Argentina in an alliance with the European Union and Clayuca in the management of the cultivation from weed control to control of pests and diseases.

“I consider that one of the advantages of having worked in the Center is all the learning that is acquired on different topics. I am proud to have been part of this organization,” said Fernando Calle, research assistant, who says good-bye to CIAT as of December 23.

Calle will continue training and leaving his mark of enthusiasm and love for cassava growing. This legacy is shared with many of the people who worked with him and who had a chance to become familiar with this mission to see work and cultivation as the road to changing the world of cassava.

“He takes with him an enormous load of institutional memory that will be impossible to replace. I came to the program 15 years ago and I grew in his shadow. He was the one who taught me much of what I know now, and he transmitted the love of cassava to me. Imagining myself in this program without him is going to be very difficult,” said Hernán Ceballos, Cassava Program plant breeder.

Take beans, for example. Beans are a cheap and healthy diet staple for millions, especially in developing countries. But they don’t like the heat. Some studies estimate that global warming could halve bean production by 2050.

While ministers negotiate a new 29 page draft agreement, a senior bean researcher at CIAT – Steve Beebe – spoke to German broadcaster Deutsche Welle about the threat rising temperatures pose to beans, and how a new bean developed to survive drought and heat could be a game changer for bean production, especially in east Africa.

Listen to his interview

Georgina Smith / CIAT

Beans are grown, eaten and sold around the world and are especially popular in East Africa. Estimates suggest the new heat-beating bean, currently being tested in Colombia at CIAT’s headquarters, could enable farmers to expand bean production in east Africa into lowland areas, making a huge positive contribution to food security and incomes.

Find out more about beans that beat the heat.

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The UN has declared 2016 the International Year of Pulses (IYP2016). Pulses, including beans, cowpea and chickpea, are a primary source of protein and other essential nutrients. The year will be used to promote discussion and cooperation at national, regional and global levels to increase awareness and understanding of the challenges faced by pulse farmers. Find out more about CIAT and IYP2016.

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Interested in pulses? Don’t miss the Pan-African Grain Legume and World Cowpea Conference in Livingstone, Zambia from 28 February to 4 March 2016.

Co-hosted by IITA, the Legume Innovation Lab, CIAT and partners, the event has been selected as one of 11 UN signature events during IYP2016. It will bring together more than 400 scientists, academics, farmers and business people from Africa and throughout the world to showcase the latest scientific agriculture research on pulses in the region. Conference themes include: human nutrition and diets, genetic improvement, gender and youth, seed systems, climate resilience, plant pathology, integrated pest management, linking farmers to markets, and value chains.

As our diet becomes ever more complex, cassava – or tapioca – a root crop like sweet potato originally from South America, has been transformed far from it’s center of origin and today in Asia, can be found in everything from noodles to sweeteners, street food snacks, industrial products, pharmaceutical products, even biofuel.

It is still eaten as a staple crop in the region, steamed or boiled and eaten as a carbohydrate staple, especially in mountainous areas where few other crops grow. But in various forms including starch, root and tuber crops supply an increasingly diverse and lucrative market.

Asia is now the world’s largest trader of cassava and cassava products. Farmers cultivate cassava on their small plots of land because they do not have to spend a lot of time looking after it, and it brings in a good income, and it is relatively climate-hardy: it can grow well despite low rainfall, poor soil fertility and temperature increases.

Image credit: Ignazio Graziosi / CIAT

Global demand in the carbohydrate market for cassava is on the rise, driving a billion-dollar industry. This burgeoning market represents a huge opportunity for poor smallholder farmers to earn a better income from a crop which requires little investment and can grow on very poor soil.

Driving a billion-dollar industry

Yet the food security agenda in Asia-Pacific is dominated by grain crops, rice and wheat, despite the fact that cassava – and other root and tuber crops like potato, sweetpotato – are a staple food for poor farming households, especially among ethnic minorities.

Root and tuber crops are directly consumed in a variety of traditional fresh and processed foods. They also play an increasing important role as a source of income – both in urban fresh markets and from processing in food and non-food industries – enabling families to buy other sources of food.

Opportunities for both women and men to gain from these value chains could be better understood, and research is underway to investigate how poorer smallholder farmers can benefit most. The FoodSTART+ initiative, part of the CGIAR Research Program on Roots, Tubers and Bananas, to be launched in Asia in early 2016, is one such example.

When disaster strikes

The crop is grown in a rapidly and dramatically changing environment, characterized by climate change, population pressure, fast changing land use patterns, low input use and low soil fertility, driving the emergence of new pests and diseases and presenting new challenges.

But root and tuber crops are considered buffer crops when disasters like typhoons strike or during acute food scarcity following extreme weather events. Farmers turn to root and tuber crops for an income, or to provide immediate food.

Funded by the European Union through IFAD, the FoodSTART+ project will assess possibilities for poor communities to improve their food security, nutrition, and income earning opportunities by tapping into root and tuber value chains in China, India, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines and Vietnam.

CIAT’s work in Asia on root and tuber crops spans decades to improve food security in the region. This new project is part of a wider strategic research initiative to investigate urban and informal markets, distribution dynamics and gender relations to understand rapidly changing food supply chains in Asia.

Next year there will be a major focus on root and tuber crops in the region, during the World Congress on Root and Tuber Crops in Nanning, China, January 18-22.

Download the CIAT Asia brief: Adding value to cassava for diverse markets and uses

Related links: Story-map: Achilles’ Heel

The coffee on your desk might never have arrived this morning. Deforestation rates in Ethiopia – one of the world’s top coffee exporters – are so high, records show, that forest is slashed from 40 to less than 3 percent of the country.

As well as surviving deforestation, those most prized coffee beans would also have fought for every nutrient and drop of water among the most degraded and barren soils in sub-Saharan Africa.

Soil loss in Ethiopia is an expensive problem, adding up to more than US$100 million every year. The country is locked in a cycle of land degradation and poverty, costing it soil, money and not just coffee – but other crops as well.

Lulseged Tamene likes his coffee. But not as much as he likes the idea of breaking that cycle of soil degradation and poverty. “It may not mean much for a farmer that soil erosion in Ethiopia’s highlands reaches over 130 tons per hectare every year,” said Tamene.

“Partners understand better if they can see interventions in the landscape, what erosion means in terms of yield loss, what challenges are and how to solve them.”

 Rising above the challenges

While farmers realized they were losing soil, they did not know how much, nor what to do about it. At the same time, researchers had identified top drivers of soil loss including  planting crops on steep slopes, combined with intense rainfall, bare sloped land and poor land management.

Together with key partners including ILRI, ICRAF, IWMI, ICRISAT and Mekelle University, Tamene is part of the Africa RISING research team in Ethiopia, which is working together with communities to tackle soil loss. Led by ILRI, CIAT’s component in the research involves collecting and analyzing soil data to advise communities about better land and water management practices, to protect the whole landscape.

Sustainable intensification, the team argued, can best be done through Integrated Natural Resources Management: tackling soil erosion at the whole landscape level – rather than at farm plot level – to transform dust bowls into healthier landscapes, better able to withstand climate shocks.

Research teams worked together with the local community to pin-point major areas of soil erosion, like landslide areas, to identify options for how best to manage them. To show farmers that land degradation is reversible if managed well, an exchange visit was arranged to Tigray region, where watersheds have been transformed from desert-like conditions.

The Chairman of Adisghe County, near Debre Birhan city, recorded the visit on his mobile phone and showed the footage to his community, inspiring them to transform their eroded landscape. “I knew that if we did one tenth of the work they did, we could bring our land back,” he said.

Africa Rising the climate-smart way

Communities identify soil degradation hotspots.

Through high resolution satellite imagery, the community has helped researchers identify soil erosion hotspots. Together, they have mapped gulley erosion by looking at satellite images and walking and tracking coordinates, then digitally plotted on maps, and discussed to decide what action to take.

Two years later, the proof is literally in the landscape. Trial data shows doubled yields in some areas following good agronomic practices and appropriate fertilizer application. After hands-on training in the field, the community has built check dams, ditches and ponds, and water has percolated through to the lower part of the landscape.

This not only improves the structure of the soil – it also improves the retention capacity of the landscape. Especially valuable during drought, more water is now available for farming and other income-earning activities.

Research is still ongoing to collect, analyze and map soil data to build a more complete picture. Challenges remain, among them the need for more communities to start using the approaches that have already worked.

Africa RISING’s coordinator Kindu Mekonnen, said: “We have introduced these new technologies, created good partnerships with communities and demonstrated how different technologies are useful. Now we need to take this to the wider scale – we’re in the process of working with partners to do that.”

Download brief: Bringing soils to life

Picture credits: Georgina Smith / CIAT

This is perhaps why I felt so relieved when I read a while back about a new approach called “genome editing.” Finally, I thought to myself, the molecular biologists are speaking a language that for me makes complete sense.

Does this mean that crop improvement will soon be as simple as “cut and paste,” “insert table,” and “save as” in word processing? Or to use a more old-fashioned metaphor, will plant breeders’ job become as straightforward as red-penciling plants? My chance to find out came when Joe Tohme, director of CIAT’s Agrobiodiversity Research Area, announced recently that a CIAT research team has been experimenting since 2014 with genome editing in rice. I couldn’t wait to find out more from the team’s leader, Paul Chavarriaga.

At a meeting in his office, Chavarriaga first explained to me the basics of how genome editing works. The idea is to remove, “switch off,” or otherwise modify genetic material in organisms to achieve a desired change. This is made possible by a new technology called CRISPR – for clustered, regularly interspaced, short palindromic repeat. Found in the genomes of some bacteria, it generates nucleases, notably one referred to as Cas9, which is an enzyme (or type of protein) that chemically cuts the links between the subunits of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) – the molecule that carries genetic instructions for the development, functioning, and reproduction of living things.

The cutting action catalyzed by CRISPR-Cas9 is guided by pieces of ribonucleic acid (RNA) – a molecule that decodes the instructions “written into” DNA for protein synthesis and regulates gene expression, among other functions. Tailoring the RNA to fit a particular genetic sequence, scientists can use the CRISPR-Cas9 system to cut DNA at specific sites recognized by the RNA. The DNA then repairs itself, incorporating some type of genetic change, such as gene mutation or insertion or the replacement or rearrangement of genetic sequences.

Many problems of plant and human health involve more than a single gene. Not to worry! The CRISPR-Cas9 system has proved capable of modifying several genes at a time.

Since 2011, when the technique was first developed, applications have proliferated, as reflected in the large number of publications (more than a thousand by 2015) now flooding the scientific literature. These articles document the use of Cas9 to modify cells in a wide variety of animals (e.g., mice, rabbits, frogs, and fruit flies) and plants (including rice, sorghum, tobacco, and wheat). In Brazil, for example, scientists have used the CRISPR/Cas9 system to show how mosquitoes can be rendered incapable of serving as carriers of malaria.

To demonstrate proof of concept in CIAT’s research, Chavarriaga’s team recently used the system to induce the “drooping leaf” effect in IR64, an elite rice line developed by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). Scientists in Japan had already performed the same feat with Japonica rice. IR64 has been incorporated into hundreds of improved rice varieties, which have been released in a dozen countries and are grown on millions of hectares. If genome editing for important agronomical traits could give more of an edge to this already superior rice, the benefits would reach many millions of people.

“The drooping leaf trait has only a minor effect on plant performance,” said Chavarriaga. “But it serves very well to show the effects of genome editing in a way you can easily see in rice plants.”

CIAT scientist Sandra Valdéz is preparing a note on this development, which will hopefully be CIAT’s first contribution to the growing scientific literature on genome editing. In this work, Valdéz is collaborating with Japan’s National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences (NIAS) and the University of Melbourne in Australia.

Another application of genome editing to which CIAT researchers are contributing involves eliminating the antibiotic used as a “marker” in transgenic rice possessing high levels of the vital micronutrients iron and zinc.

“The antibiotic is actually harmless,” said Chavarriaga, “but its presence in rice might arouse concern about the possibility of creating antibiotic resistance in humans. By using genome editing to eliminate the antibiotic gene, we hope to simplify the passage of this transgenic rice through the regulatory process, so that its nutritional advantage can be put to use more quickly.”

Further possibilities that Chavarriaga has in mind are using genome editing to enhance the presence in cassava of beta-carotene, the precursor of Vitamin A, or to create new mechanisms for resistance to bacterial and viral diseases of the root crop.

So far, so good. But as Chavarriaga spoke, I began to get a sense of déjà vu. Despite the mild metaphor, his description of genome editing sounded to me a lot like transgenics (i.e., genetic transformation or engineering). The sensation was reinforced by the fact that Chavarriaga also manages CIAT’s genetic transformation platform. An important difference, though, is that genome editing has not yet been used to introduce genes from other organisms but only to modify genetic material within a given organism. Still, there’s nothing to prevent scientists from using genome editing to introduce foreign genes.

Surprisingly, though, this does not appear to be among the main concerns that have people worried, as documented by recent articles in The Economist, The New York Times, and The New Yorker. Their main fear is about the use of genome editing on human embryos. Some 6,000 human diseases are caused by genetic malfunctions, and genome editing shows enormous promise for solving them. But what if the technique has unexpected effects on humans, creating new problems even as it solves old ones?

Another fear is that genome editing could have unanticipated environmental impacts, particularly if genetic modifications in animals or plants are passed on from one generation to the next by means of a technique called “gene drive,” which is being used in the work on mosquitoes mentioned earlier.

Cognizant of these concerns, researchers have begun to address them by establishing clear ground rules for the application of genome editing. They must also engage right away in public dialogue about the technique’s promise and perils to avoid getting bogged down in the sort of trench warfare scenario that overtook the debate on transgenics. The potential benefits of genome editing are far too great to be squandered for lack of a shared understanding across society about how the technique can best be used to improve human well-being.

A Burundian farmer tends her climbing bean crop. CRuraduma/ISABU

“I am with Burundi” came the words of a colleague as he left Bujumbura, referring to the engagement and commitment of national partners to transform Burundi’s bean sector. It was a sentiment echoed by each member of the Pan Africa Bean Research Alliance (PABRA) who travelled to Burundi for the launch.

Burundi has a long history with PABRA. As one of its founding members, along with Rwanda and DR Congo, Burundi once had a strong bean research programme supporting improved food security and nutrition for its population of 10 million.

Sadly, the programme suffered during 17 years of civil war. Since its end in 2005, the formidable Capitoline Ruraduma, Burundi’s bean research programme leader at the Institut des Sciences Agronomiques du Burundi (ISABU), has been working hard with her team and partners to restore it with the support of PABRA. They are determined that the current situation, which has left the international community fearing for the stability of this small landlocked country, will not halt progress.

Capitoline Ruradumu, bean research programme leader, Institut des Sciences Agronomiques du Burundi (ISABU). SMalyon/CIAT

“We need to produce food for the population. Everybody needs it. I don’t think one should sit and say that since there are problems we should not to this,” she said, as fellow researchers, NGOs, government officials, business owners and farmer organisations met to agree how the initiative will be implemented. “We have to involve ourselves.”

Her commitment and that of partners to ensuring the project meets its aims is palpable. It stems from a real need to intensify and improve agriculture for a growing population, most of whom live on less than $1.25 a day. Even before recent events led to food price hikes and falling incomes, less than one third of Burundians were food secure, and more than half were chronically malnourished.

PABRA works with 30 countries across sub-Saharan Africa to tackle these issues. In Burundi, where bean consumption is among the highest in the world (around 50 kg per capita per year before the civil war) and more than 90% of farmers grow beans for food and income, they could prove an even more potent entry point.

Small strides, big challenges
In 10 years, Capitoline and her small team of researchers have made much progress. The ‘bean team’ is the strongest of all ISABU crop research departments. Through regional germplasm exchange and capacity building from PABRA, ISABU has released 17 improved varieties that are high yielding, early maturing, highly marketable and more nutritious. To ensure these new varieties reach farmers, researchers are building partnerships with farmers, small seed entrepreneurs and NGOs to multiply quality seed. They have also trained farmers and extension service providers in better crop management practices, communities in nutrition and entrepreneurial women in bean processing, such as bean flour production. But there are many challenges that need to be addressed.

The majority of farmers are struggling to access quality seed and knowledge of improved agronomic practices. Most can’t afford to invest in inputs to increase their yields or storage facilities to prevent post-harvest loss to pests. All of which put them at the mercy of opportunistic traders, who buy grain at low prices after harvest when farmers need cash, and sell it back at a higher price when they need food.

Poor bean productivity in Burundi has led to trade opportunities for neighbouring farmers in Tanzania, Rwanda and Uganda, whose imported beans make up the shortfall between production and demand. Burundians eat an estimated 395,000 tons a year, yet national production only meets two thirds of the demand.

“This situation is not positive,” says Capitoline. “Burundians eat beans at every meal but some families can only afford a small quantity which is not enough for the whole household. The situation has to change.”

Planning ahead

Participants in Bujumbura.

Back in Bujumbura, 65 partners spent an intensive two days discussing the challenges, the contribution each will make to address them and the additional support, such as training, needed to achieve their goals.

Meeting participants tried a variety of bean-based products, including biscuits and mandazi. SMalyon/CIAT

Entrepreneur Christelle Ndayishimiye discusses her bean-based composite flour with participants. SMalyon/CIAT

They were spurred on by stories from fellow PABRA countries, such as Rwandan farmers who increased their yields and incomes through improved climbing bean varieties and better seed systems, and Ethiopia, which has built a $90 million bean export industry providing incomes for three million farmers.

Robin Buruchara, CIAT’s Africa Region Director, said: “Burundi was selected for this flagship project because of the strength of its partnership with CIAT and PABRA, and because of the opportunities and potential for bean research to reduce poverty and malnutrition. To do that we need to exploit the strengths that each of the different actors and agencies bring to the partnership. We want to support Burundi achieve the same success in beans as we have in Rwanda, Kenya and other PABRA member countries.”

Project activities will be specifically aimed at: extending climbing bean technologies; strengthening seed production and delivery; bridging the yield gap through promotion of integrated crop management systems; supporting nutrition initiatives, including the wider use of more nutritious beans (with higher iron and zinc content); increasing women’s access to production resources and basic nutrition skills; increasing access to profitable markets in an inclusive (women and men farmers) manner; and supporting the capacity building of researchers, partners, value chain actors and farmers. During the two day meeting, partners agreed on key project sites/areas of implementation, complementary roles/activities and key monitoring indicators among other items.

Government support
The partnership has captured the support of Burundi’s new Minister of Agriculture, Dr Deo Guide Rurema, who opened the planning workshop. A scientist himself, and former food security and nutrition advisor to the government, Rurema has put the participation of farmers in research as central to his drive to intensify agricultural production and to improve post harvest management.

L-r: Dr Deo Guide Rurema, Minister of Agriculture & Livestock, Burundi, and Dr Robin Buruchara, Africa Regional Director, CIAT. SMalyon/CIAT

Speaking at the event, he said: “This fits in with the objectives of national food security policy that prioritises the organisation and development of the seed sector in Burundi to increase agricultural production and thus improve the living conditions of the population and rural households in particular.”

A hopeful future
As the meeting drew to a close, Capitoline shared her hopes for the shape of Burundi’s bean sector in five years’ time. “I want to see more farmers using quality seed of improved bean varieties and complementary crop management. I want to see increased production so that farmers have enough to eat in the home and to sell for a good profit. And I want to us to be exporting beans, not importing them.”

Looking around at the partners making their plans, she finished, “I believe things will go well.”

Participants mapped the districts where they work to identify areas of opportunity.

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Interested in pulses? Don’t miss the PanAfrican Grain Legume and World Cowpea Conference in Livingstone, Zambia from 28 February to 4 March 2016.

Co-hosted by IITA, the Legume Innovation Lab, CIAT and partners, the event has been selected as one of 11 UN signature events during the International Year of Pulses 2016. It will bring together more than 400 scientists, academics, farmers and business people from Africa and throughout the world to showcase the latest scientific agriculture research on pulses in the region. Conference themes include: human nutrition and diets, genetic improvement, gender and youth, seed systems, climate resilience, plant pathology, integrated pest management, linking farmers to markets, and value chains.

Cocoa is the raw ingredient in chocolate. Pic credit: Neil Palmer / CIAT.

An environmental disaster is unfolding in Asia. The “haze” plumes of smoke from Indonesia, where El Nino has stirred up more peatland fires, have since September topped average daily emissions in the US, with the smog stretching to nearby countries.

During 1997, one of the worst years on record, the annual fires cost the government an estimated US$20 billion – not to mention billions lost in healthcare and disrupted travel costs. Around 70 percent of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions are from agriculture, livestock; fishery and forestry activities – the majority from forest and peat clearance – mostly to plant palm oil – releasing carbon dioxide.

In the run-up to the United Nations conference in Paris, where it’s hoped nations will agree a global deal to act on climate change, Indonesia has pledged emission cuts of 29 percent by 2030 from current rates, and more if it receives financial support.

A sticky situation

The haze is a complex problem and there are no single solutions. Protecting the forests is one thing; helping farmers earn a living so they don’t destroy the forest is another. In comparison to energy, transport and construction sectors, Indonesia’s land and forestry sector lags behind in tackling emissions.

The biggest culprit is undoubtedly palm oil. But unfortunately for chocolate-lovers, cocoa is up there too. Demand for chocolate is on the rise in Asia, and Indonesia is the world’s third largest cocoa producer. That demand is not likely to disappear, and more cocoa could lead to more deforestation if it’s not managed.

Although cocoa agroforests maintain high levels of biodiversity, they cannot replace primary forest.

And with high levels of fertilizer and pesticide used in cocoa production, making chocolate sustainable is a major concern. Who wants to make a guilty treat for sustainable-savvy consumers more guilt-ridden?

Smallholder farmers, who produce more than 80 percent of Indonesia’s cocoa, need to gain from any initiative to reduce emissions. Planting trees for carbon offsets doesn’t wash anymore – that’s often seen as nothing more than sustainability lip-service.

Enter insetting. Basically, this is a process of embedding sustainable activities directly into the cocoa supply chain of large companies, rather than paying for offsetting. Reducing costs – and GHG emissions – within direct supply chains of chocolate companies: that’s a more robust approach.

Demand for chocolate in Asia is on the rise.

But will it work?

It’s a striking fact that multinational exporters, processors and manufacturers sourcing cocoa beans in Indonesia don’t know what their carbon footprint is – at a value chain, sector or product level. That will have to change: recent deals show that sustainability is affecting bottom-lines and billion-dollar business.

Paving the way for product branding as low carbon or carbon neutral, carbon insetting can help the private sector claim premium prices – which should get back to farmers in the form of improved services and benefits. That involves analyzing agricultural practices that best tackle emissions.

It’s complicated because some agricultural systems have a higher carbon storage capacity than others, and that depends on everything from temperature and rainfall in specific locations to soil type. And then those best practices have to be communicated to farmers.

 Cool tools and Big Data

In the words of big data revolutionaries: “You can’t manage what you don’t measure.” Insight into what agricultural practices enhance or deplete carbon stocks is the first step to manage and make carbon credit schemes.

CIAT is currently developing a method to assess GHG emissions on thirty plots in thirty production systems using cool tools – literally The Cool Farm Tool – to measure GHG emissions for the whole cocoa sector. The tool already exists, but it does not include data for trees used in cocoa production.

With the support of the Sustainable Cocoa Production Program, the collaboration will result in a database of 60,000 farms. “What we do is incorporate and analyze the COCOATRACE database to assess carbon stock and footprints for the entire cocoa sector in Indonesia,” said Peter Läderach, leader of the Climate Change Program at CIAT.

“This is the most amazing sample that we will ever come across,” he added. The analysis take a vast set of data into account: fertilizer and pesticides use; waste management; transportation; forest data to see which species can increase carbon stocks above and below-ground; current practices.

Indonesia’s government has pledged US$95 million to revitalize the cocoa sector and double national output in two years. Yet the country is already far behind other cocoa-producing countries in realizing its export potential. Even cocoa farmers are switching to more lucrative crops like palm oil.

Industry players know they have to adapt to change. With extreme weather likely to affect production in future, insight is key to environmental sustainability.

CIAT is also exploring climate exposure maps for cocoa-growing areas in Indonesia to determine future climate vulnerability – as has already been done in West Africa.

These efforts should make for a sweeter chocolate treat – if not one that’s entirely guilt-free.

Download CIAT’s cocoa briefs on cocoa in Indonesia:

Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions and carbon insetting

Exposure maps: cocoa suitability 

Understanding carbon footprint and GHG emissions

Data to understand adoption of improved cocoa production practices

Up-scaling Climate Smart Agriculture 

Links to related blog posts:

The bitter taste of chocolate: Esri mapping 

Building climate-resilient cocoa chains in Ghana

Soil stewardship to climate-proof Ghana’s cocoa sector

Joe Tohme, director of CIAT’s Agrobiodiversity Research Area

Joe Tohme, director of CIAT’s Agrobiodiversity Research Area, has been named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Election as an AAAS Fellow is an honor bestowed upon AAAS members by their peers.

This year, 347 members have been awarded this honor by AAAS because of their scientifically or socially distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications. New Fellows will be presented with an official certificate, and a gold and blue (representing science and engineering, respectively) rosette pin in a ceremony to take place on Saturday, 13 February, at the AAAS Fellows Forum during the 2016 AAAS Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C.

“Joe’s accomplishments represent the highest ideal of CIAT and the entire CGIAR: harnessing agricultural science to benefit the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people,” said Ruben Echeverría, director general of CIAT.

This year’s AAAS Fellows will be formally announced in the AAAS News & Notes section of the journal Science on 27 November 2015.

As part of the Biological Science section, Tohme was elected as an AAAS Fellow “for distinguished contributions to the field of plant biotechnology, particularly in seeking ways to reduce micronutrient malnutrition using agriculture and genomics.”

“I am delighted that AAAS has recognized Dr. Tohme’s outstanding contributions to agricultural research,” said Howarth Bouis, director of CGIAR’s HarvestPlus initiative. “He has developed and managed our innovative portfolio in plant genomics, which has been instrumental in developing nutritious crop varieties that are now being cultivated and consumed by farmers in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. This will have a long-lasting and significant impact in alleviating malnutrition in poor countries.”

The tradition of AAAS Fellows began in 1874. Currently, members can be considered for the rank of Fellow if nominated by the steering groups of the Association’s 24 sections, by any three Fellows who are current AAAS members (so long as two of the three sponsors are not affiliated with the nominee’s institution), or by the AAAS chief executive officer. Fellows must have been continuous members of AAAS for 4 years by the end of the calendar year in which they are elected.

Each steering group reviews the nominations of individuals within its respective section, and a final list is forwarded to the AAAS Council, which votes on the aggregate list.

The Council is the policymaking body of the Association, chaired by the AAAS president, and consisting of the members of the board of directors, the retiring section chairs, delegates from each electorate and each regional division, and two delegates from the National Association of Academies of Science.

The AAAS is the world’s largest general scientific society, and publisher of the journal, Science as well as Science Translational Medicine and Science Signaling. AAAS was founded in 1848 and includes 254 affiliated societies and academies of science, serving 10 million individuals. Science has the largest paid circulation of any peer-reviewed general science journal in the world, with an estimated total readership of 1 million. The non-profit AAAS is open to all and fulfills its mission to “advance science and serve society” through initiatives in science policy, international programs, science education, and more. For the latest research news, log onto EurekAlert!, the premier science-news website, a service of AAAS.

Sustainable food systems and urbanization were among key themes for future collaboration.

Michigan State University and CIAT kicked off a series of seminars and meetings across Southeast Asia on November Saturday 7^th. The delegation of researchers from MSU met with CIAT’s local partners in Vietnam for a two-day seminar to discuss potential collaboration before travelling to Cambodia and other countries in the region.

During discussions in Ho Chi Minh City, delegates discussed regional challenges, including water shortages for rain-fed crops and tapping local expertise and extension services to get important messages to farmers, especially about implications of climate change.

Rapid urbanization, data collection, intensified demographic and infrastructure change, land use change, and disaster risk management were also discussed as areas requiring further investment and research.

Three specific areas which might lend themselves to future collaborative research between CIAT, MSU and regional partners included:

 Water: Quantity and quality in the face of climate change. In particular, cross-border issues need to be addressed – such as precipitation patters affecting flood systems throughout the Mekong River.

 Land Use: Improved coordination for water resource management and data collection.

 Geography / Geospatial technologies: potential collaboration to establish a set guidelines for sustainable intensification of agricultural crops.

 Presentations from CIAT covered research underway on sustainable food systems; climate modeling and tools to assess climate-smart agricultural practices and suitability for given areas; cassava integrated crop management; soil modeling and data collection.

From MSU, presentations on possible areas of collaboration included urbanization, the use of big data solutions in assessing soils for agricultural suitability, related to agricultural production trends and social factors and water management modeling.

Concluding areas of synergies are: 

• Take the data we have to use to capture the knowledge and share: MSU have strong modeling capabilities which can complement CIAT’s modeling techniques.
• Urban linkages and food systems: different skill sets and crop suitability analysis of interventions is possible.
• Water and soil interface: possibility to collaborate on research in urban and food systems; land use change; climate-change resilience.
• Disaster risk preparedness and sustainable agriculture for development.
• How supply and demand are linked: regional food systems – how sustainable and safe is it?
• Capacity development and building
• How to communicate with different decision makers, including policy makers, translating research into action
• Analysis of value chains from production to the market
• Collaborating on specific ecosystem management

Further discussions will be conducted in the coming months.

I love Terra-i, but today I hate it. A lot.

The system uses satellite images to track deforestation in the Amazon in near-realtime. It’s extremely accurate: if a bunch of trees come down somewhere – no matter how remote – Terra-i picks it up.

Cool, right? Not today.

CIAT’s Louis Reymondin, the system’s chief architect, dropped the bombshell over coffee: it looks as though hundreds of hectares of rainforest in Peru are being trashed by… papaya.

Screengrab of deforestation hotspots in Madre De Dios, Peru, from Terra-i.

It was one of those heart-sinking moments, when you have to fundamentally re-evaluate something you hold dear. Like when Jamiroquai started making bland pop music instead of space-funk. Or when Volkswagen was outed for bluffing emissions tests.

This morning I just wasn’t ready to add papaya to my list of fallen idols.

As far as I was concerned, the fruit was a keeper. I munch through at least one of those plump, sumptuous, rugby balls of joy every week. Even if I’m not buying, I could spend hours at the papaya stand in the market, just squeezing the fruits, feeling how much the flesh yields – an indicator of their readiness for total, dribbling devourment.

Louis, please not papaya. Seriously.

The thing with Terra-i is that it doesn’t lie. Two years of cross-checking what the satellite images show with what’s happening on the ground means it’s the best near-realtime deforestation monitoring system around.

Unfortunately for me, it was one of these “ground-truthing” exercises that spilled the beans on papaya.

It started a few months back, when the Terra-i team discovered hotspots of new forest clearance in the Peruvian Amazon. The satellite images showed red and purple freckles in a sea of green. To trained eyes, this didn’t look like oil palm, ranching or mining – common causes of deforestation in the region.

Intrigued, the team joined Peru’s Ministry of Environment (MINAM) – which uses Terra-i as its official deforestation monitoring tool – to go and take a look.

You can probably guess what they saw when they arrived in Yurimaguas, in the country’s northeastern Amazon: papaya trees. Lots of them. Large areas of forest had been cleared to make way for plantations. While initially surprised, the team thought it might be a one-off, a localised incident.

But several hundred kilometres southeast in Madre De Dios state, they saw the same thing: new deforestation on the map, and on the ground, papaya. In Pucallpa in the centre of Peru, still more.

It was starting to look like a troubling trend: papaya was becoming a deforestation driver. Thanks Louis; thanks Terra-i. You just rained on my papaya parade.

Pic by Terra-i CIAT. Papaya plantations in the Peruvian Amazon.

This inconvenient ground-truth forced me to reconsider my allegiance to my favourite fruit. I picked apart all of the assumptions that had led me to love it so much. But beyond its fabulous flavour and compulsive squeeziness, I realised I didn’t know much for certain.

For example, I’d never given much thought as to where and how papaya is grown. On numerous occasions I’d seen individual trees in home gardens across the tropics, often within reaching distance of the kitchen. Foolishly, it had never struck me as a plantation crop.

And as it turns out, papaya’s environmental credentials – if it’s grown as a monoculture – are quite damning. Louis explained what typically happens: first you clear the land of those pesky trees, then you plant. In two-to-three years you’ll get fruit; but after only a few harvests the trees are exhausted and so is the soil. Before you can plant again, the land has to rest for at least a year. While you wait – you guessed it – you might as well clear a tract of forest nearby and plant more papaya.

That said, all plantation crops have the potential to cause environmental havoc so it’s unfair to pillory papaya in particular. There’s also a lot more we need to understand about papaya-driven deforestation. The team heard that human migration is probably partly to blame: with life in Peru’s high plains so unforgiving for many people, Altiplaneros are moving to the fertile forests downhill. Papaya is a popular choice because harvested fruits are relatively easy to transport and require zero processing. Prices are good too: at the moment, a medium-sized papaya in Lima can retail for as much as USD$2 and there’s also a vibrant export market.

At the very least, the ability to quickly spot new papaya plantations with the help of Terra-i means MINAM has a better idea of what’s going on. And in terms of the total area affected, Louis assures me that tree-felling for papaya is still just a blip on the radar in Peru. Oil palm and livestock remain major culprits, accounting for thousands rather than hundreds of hectares of cleared land, he says.

But what intrigues him about papaya is that, right now, we don’t know where we are on the trajectory. There’s no doubt that papaya-related land clearance in the Amazon has exploded since 2014, while tree-cutting for crops like oil palm has remained more-or-less stable.

Is papaya really becoming a new bad kid on the block, or is this just a flash in the pan? At the moment that’s up for grabs, but whatever happens next, Louis and the Terra-i team will probably be the first to know.

*

CIAT’s work on Terra-i is funded by the World Resources Institute and the CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforesty.

Ellen Tuyisenga, founder of Ibisubizo.

Ellen Tuyisenga has the answer. It came to her one day in the field, as she talked with friends about earnings from the previous bean harvest. One lady recounted that she had made more than US$1,000. Then her husband took the money away, leaving her with nothing.

“I saw how hard the women worked, but they could not make decisions,” she said. “This story added to my frustration. I made a promise to myself that I would form a company, so that as women, we can make decisions and open our own bank account. I wanted to demonstrate that it can be done.”

With support from her husband, she formed the Ibisubizo cooperative, whose name means “the answer.” Today, she is president of Ibisubizo in the hilltop town of Musanze, northern Rwanda. More than 500 other smallholder farmers have the answer too.

While the cooperative’s shelves are stacked high with different bean varieties, 80 percent of its business consists of supplying high-yield climbing beans, particularly those with increased levels of iron and zinc. “Our motto is one field, one variety; one bag, one variety,” Ellen says, weighing out beans for a growing queue of customers.

One farmer, who buys climbing beans – the type that climb up stakes like a vine – says she buys beans here to feed her family of four, selling surplus production back to the shop for a profit. “I come here because I know these seeds are all the same variety,” she says. “If I go to the market, the beans are mixed.”

One bag, one variety

If the farmer plants beans from the market, she gets only four or five kilograms, and she doesn’t know what varieties could be in the bag she is sold. If she buys a sack of climbing beans from Ibisubizo, her yield is around ten kilograms per harvest – that usually puts twice as much money in her pocket.

In Rwanda, farm sizes are declining, as population increases: By 2100, the country’s population of 12 million is projected to reach more than 40 million. Agriculture is the backbone of the economy, and beans are the leading staple grain legume, accounting for 25 percent of crop land use.

Beans are also among Rwanda’s top commercial crops, constituting 78 percent of total pulse production and contributing importantly to diets, nutrition, and income security. High-yield climbing bean varieties – like those sold by Ibisubizo – are two to three times more productive than other varieties.

Today, improved climbing beans are planted on more than half of the country’s bean production area, representing a 45 percent increase since 1985.

In the last decade, the country has been transformed from a net importer to an exporter – with exports valued at US$12- 20 million – and increased yields from 0.7 to 1.1 tons per hectare.

Through information-sharing platforms set up by the Rwanda Agricultural Board (RAB) – where groups like Ibisubizo are at the table – women’s participation in decision-making has increased by 38 percent.

“In Rwanda, everybody consumes beans on a daily basis – even at every meal,” says Augustine Musoni, head of RAB’s Legume and Oil Crops Program. Beans contribute 13,200-22,000 tons of protein per year to local diets.

“Rwanda has made a breakthrough with climbing beans in terms of the number of farmers growing them. Partnerships make the system strong: with development and research partners as well as farmers.”

Being at the table

RAB fosters collaboration between farmers, cooperative groups, the small but growing private sector, research organizations, universities, traders, and international agencies – supported by the Pan African Bean Research Alliance (PABRA).

It is through RAB – and PABRA – that Tuyisenge first heard about “innovation platforms.” These involve regular meetings, in which key decision-makers across bean processors at all levels, discuss improvements or challenges in delivering better beans to farmers.

In these meetings, Tuyisenge has a place at the table to influence the future development of Rwanda’s bean seed system. She now also has Musoni in her phone book. She contacts him for updates on the best varieties available and improved techniques to boost agricultural production.

The PABRA network connects, seed multiplication companies with national breeders. Since both are network members, multiplication companies have access to high-quality, high-yielding bean varieties from RAB without investing in costly and long-term breeding programs.

Rwanda’s national bean program can multiply breeder seed on a scale that would not otherwise be possible. And, Ibisubizo remains stocked full of quality-assured RAB beans.

Given that few farmers have access to certified seed – only 3-5 percent in some regions of Africa. Providing farmers with high-yielding, disease-resistant beans is a high priority for researchers.

Through stronger partnerships forged by PABRA members, farmers – like those supplied by Ibisubizo – get both higher quality beans and better access to them.

Download the case study on Rwanda: Climbing to new heights

The Pan-Africa Bean Research Alliance (PABRA) is coordinated by CIAT, bringing together those who trade, grow, and are involved at all stages of bean production. Partners in this research work include Catholic Relief Services (CRS), Win Win Agritech Ltd and the CGIAR HarvestPlus Program. 

Photo credits: Georgina Smith / CIAT

Full photo album here 

The International Year of Pulses (IYP 2016) – which is being formally launched on 10 November at the headquarters of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) in Rome – is no exception. Despite pulses’ nutritional and other virtues, and their enormous potential for helping confront the most daunting dietary and environmental challenges of our time, vital efforts to improve and promote these food grain legumes are often overlooked.

Such has decidedly not been the case, however, at CIAT and several other CGIAR centers. Even though the big three cereals – rice, wheat, and maize – continue to have pride of place in CGIAR’s global crop research, center “mandates” also give precedence to the six most important pulses: common bean, chickpea, cowpea, faba bean, lentil, and pigeonpea. Moreover, in the last 4 years, our longstanding commitment to improve these crops has been reinforced by the CGIAR global research program on grain legumes.

For us, IYP 2016 thus offers a welcome opportunity to celebrate the major impacts that our research has registered so far, and also to call on donors and partners for renewed support. Their commitment is critical for translating the remarkable achievements of recent years into new rounds of improvement in global pulse performance, and in the food and nutritional security of the approximately 300 million people who depend on these crops.

So, be prepared, readers, for a steady stream of CIAT blog posts, publications, images, tweets, and other products over the next year – all singing the praises of the common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris). Every month, we’ll treat you to a unique bean type, bean scientist, bean-growing country, bean recipe, and bean fact.

Common bean is the most important of CGIAR’s six mandate pulses, in terms of global production and area planted, and donors’ investment in research on this crop has yielded especially high returns. According to a 2008 study, bean improvement had an estimated economic value of US$200 million – more than 12 times the cost.

Recent breakthroughs in the Center’s bean research respond to one of the crop’s greatest strengths –superior nutritional value – and also to one of its main weaknesses – poor performance under stress in comparison with other pulses.

Sometimes referred to as the “meat of the poor,” beans provide a low-cost source of protein, complex carbohydrates, and valuable micronutrients. Yet, even a nearly perfect food may still have room for improvement. To this end, CIAT researchers and their national partners used a breeding approach called crop “biofortification” – under the auspices of CGIAR’s HarvestPlus Program – to develop bean varieties possessing much-increased levels of iron. Offering a practical solution to widespread deficiencies of this key micronutrient among women and children, the biofortified beans have been adopted by more than a half million rural households in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda.

In addition to its princely nutritional traits, the bean has a privileged evolutionary background, which has unfortunately given rise to a serious hereditary flaw. The crop was domesticated in a mid-altitude forested environment of tropical America, characterized by moderate temperatures and nutrient-rich organic soils. As a consequence, it isn’t really cut out for the warm, dry climate and poor soils of the areas in Latin America and eastern, central, and southern Africa where beans are widely grown today.

Nonetheless, through years of genetic improvement, CIAT scientists have succeeded in making beans far more resilient in the face of drought by changing the plant’s ancestral habit of delaying seed production when faced with water shortage. Two keys to success were the rich genetic diversity of beans safeguarded in the CIAT genebank, and skillful exploitation of certain root and shoot traits that contribute to drought tolerance.

Now, Center bean breeders are trying to marry increased drought tolerance to bean traits associated with higher yield under low soil fertility, another major constraint of production. The idea is to create a new generation of bean varieties that are highly robust under conditions that are typical of smallholder production.

A few years ago, our researchers discovered that many drought-resilient lines offer the added advantage of tolerance to temperatures 4 degrees Celsius above the crop’s normal “comfort zone.” Most of these heat-beater beans resulted from crosses made about a decade ago between common and tepary bean. The latter is a little-known “sister” species – another of the high-value assets tucked away in our genebank – that was domesticated in the arid climate of the southwestern USA and northern Mexico, and is more heat tolerant than any other grain legume.

In a further priceless coincidence of bean improvement, it turns out that some of the heat beaters have also been biofortified for high iron.

Even before these recent developments, modern bean varieties with improved yields and disease resistance were already widely adopted in Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa. In the latter region alone – thanks to the efforts of the national programs belonging to the Pan-Africa Bean Research Alliance (PABRA), which CIAT coordinates – the new varieties have reached more than 5 million rural households over the last decade or so. They have not only helped farmers strengthen food and nutrition security but also improve household income through the sale of surplus grain.

The groundwork is thus in place for a powerful bean-based response to two closely intertwined challenges that many developing countries now face. These are the impacts of climate change (including higher temperatures and more frequent drought) and a nutritional triple whammy that includes (1) continued prevalence of chronic hunger, (2) the larger but more subtle scourge of micronutrient malnutrition, and (3) rising incidence of overeating and diet-related diseases, such as diabetes and cancer.

To fully mobilize bean science against these challenges requires a major push to both consolidate the research that has made possible recent breakthroughs in bean improvement and also to accelerate the dissemination of new varieties through more concerted efforts to strengthen seed systems, as is being done in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Rwanda. We will highlight advances in those and other countries throughout IYP 2016.

Related links:

• Emerging Ag Inc.
• Global Pulses Confederation (GPC)
• ICARDA
• ICRISAT
• IITA