Field manager of an organic banana project in the Alto Beni region of Bolivia, explains to extension workers how a banana plant grows.
Credit: A. Vézina/Bioversity

For more images go to the Image Bank

Our history
Bioversity was established in 1974 by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) and remains a part of the CGIAR-system.

Originally called the International Board for Plant Genetic Resources (IBPGR), it was set up in response to growing alarm over the rapid loss of crop biodiversity and the threat this posed to agricultural growth and food security. IBPGR’s mission was to coordinate an international plant genetic resources programme. This included organizing collecting missions as well as building and expanding genebanks at national, regional and international levels.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) acted as the IBPGR secretariat. In 1991, IBPGR became the International Plant Genetic Research Institute (IPGRI), an independently managed and resourced international organization with its own headquarters in Rome. Originally, five countries signed IPGRI’s establishment agreement. Since then a further 43 countries have also signed. The Organization also has signed a Headquarters agreement with Italy.

The focus of the organization had expanded from the emergency conservation of crop genetic resources in genebanks to include promoting research on how to conserve crop biodiversity through the sustainable use of genetic resources and harness genetic diversity to reach development goals. The conservation and use of forest genetic resources also became a part of the programme of work.

In 2001, IPGRI moved to new headquarters in Maccarese just north of Rome. To find out more about our offices, read The Mulino at Maccarese: IPGRI and Plant Genetic Resources in Italy.

In 2006, IPGRI and the International Network for the Improvement of Banana and Plantain (INIBAP) became a single organization. IPGRI and INIBAP changed their name to Bioversity International. The new name reflects an expanded vision of its role in the area of biodiversity research for development.

Top

Signatory countries to Bioversity's Establishment Agreement
The international status of Bioversity is conferred under an Establishment Agreement which, by January 2008, had been signed and ratified by 54 Governments: