beans

This factsheet discusses the Kiziba seedbank in Uganda, established in June 2010. The seedbank was part of a project to improve the productivity and resilience of seeds for farmers through enhanced use of crop varietal diversity, focusing on common bean and banana. The project aimed to fill the gap in seed diversity and good seed quality. The project built on the intraspecific diversity that was available on farm to reduce the pressure of pests and diseases, and on farmers’ knowledge to develop new low-cost and sustainable methods and management practices to increase diversity. »

This article scrutinizes the urban consumer demand for nutritious foods in the context of bio-fortified iron beans as a public health intervention in Africa. The increasing urbanization process in developing countries creates current and future challenges for the global food system to deliver high quality nutritious foods and provide equitable access for the urban poor. This paper examines the role of habit, poverty and information for urban consumer demand of nutritious foods. »

This document (PDF) by CIAT/CGAIR, reports findings from research conducted over the last year on heat tolerance in selected bean lines and show their potential for adapting bean production in Africa and Latin America to future climate change impacts. The paper highlights that high temperatures will become limiting for common bean, especially Latin America is »