Sweetpotato agri-food systems

Enabling at least 15 million resource‐poor households in Africa and Asia to improve the quality of their diets and raise their crop incomes by 15% by 2023.

In developing countries, vitamin A deficiency (VAD) is one of the most harmful forms of undernourishment. It weakens immunity, leads to stunting and blindness in children, and increases mortality. Almost 165 million children under 5 years suffer from VAD, primarily in Africa and Asia.

In 2016, three CIP scientists received the World Food Prize in recognition of their role in using biofortified crop to enhance nutritional outcomes. By 2019, CIP and partners had developed and disseminated more than 130 biofortified, vitamin A-rich OFSP varieties in Africa and Asia, helping to raise the nutritional status and, to a lesser extent, the incomes of more than five million households. Biofortification has focused on increasing the pro-vitamin A content through conventional breeding, boosting the availability of vitamin A for farm families and consumers. By promoting OFSP nutrition education at the community level, CIP-led work has made it a cost-effective and sustainable source of vitamin A for vulnerable populations, especially women and young children. By working with large food processors and fresh root traders in Africa, we have also facilitated the development of new value chains for OFSP, and income generating opportunities for women and young people.

Potato agri-food systems

Improving productivity and farm incomes of more than 7 million households in Africa, Asia and Latin America with early-maturing, market-preferred and biofortified potatoes and high-quality seed potato by 2023.

In response to the need for healthier, more resilient, potatoes, CIP breeders are developing early-maturing, stress-tolerant and disease-resistant potato varieties desired by consumers and processors alike. Early maturing potatoes provide more flexibility for cultivation, allowing the crop to be grown during fallow periods of cereal-based systems, which, relieves pressure on scarce land and water resources, and improves farm incomes. CIP has also made significant advances in developing biofortified potatoes with elevated levels of iron and zinc to contribute to global efforts to end malnutrition.

For these potatoes to improve nutrition and livelihoods, more efficient seed systems are needed to deploy quality seed tubers for farmers to plant. Smallholder farmers in developing countries primarily plant seed they saved from earlier harvests which facilitates the spread of viruses and reduces yields. CIP scientists have developed rapid seed multiplication techniques  to speed up production of high-quality seed potatoes for improved varieties and leveraged private sector investment to supply that seed to a growing number of farmers. Working closely with local R&D partners, CIP conducts adaptive research on best practices for on-farm seed quality management, integrated crop and postharvest management, and value chain approaches. More than two million farmers in Africa and Asia who have planted quality seed, improved varieties and adopted good practices—provided directly or indirectly by CIP—have seen their yields and market prices rise significantly. In China alone, a CIP-bred late blight disease resistant potato variety, Cooperation 88, has, between 1996 and 2015, brought an estimated USD 2.8–3.7 billion in extra income to farmers and consumers in Yunnan province.

Biodiversity for the future

Ex situ and in situ conservation of genetic diversity is critical for preserving and monitoring changes in the world’s plant genetic resources for food and agriculture. Lost genetic diversity—particularly of crop wild relatives—would hinder crop breeders and researchers from developing varieties that enhance farmers’ resilience and ability to produce enough nutritious food for the world.

The CIP genebank conserves in vitro the world’s most extensive collections of potato, sweetpotato and their wild relatives, as well as the only secure global collection of Andean root and tuber crops—the genetic, physiological and biochemical attributes of which scientists have just begun to explore. CIP safeguards that biodiversity in trust for humanity to ensure its availability for breeding and other uses now and in the future. We also work closely with Andean communities on in situ conservation of potato diversity and have repatriated thousands of accessions previously lost to them due to disease or climate change.

The genebank serves as a model through its advanced research, public database and interactive use of collections. CIP works with other genebanks to ensure that clean material from its collections is backed-up, preventing the loss of diversity.
Safeguarding crop biodiversity plays a critical role in facilitating the development and release of new varieties for farmers and consumers across the globe. For instance, the genebank shares 5,000–6,000 germplasm samples each year with scientists around the world, contributing to the development of more nutritious, productive and climate resilient varieties.