Latest Publications

Since 2001 banana Xanthomonas wilt has seriously threatened East and Central African food and income security. The paper describes Bioversity’s response in coordinating regional partners to develop a novel communications strategy to raise stakeholder awareness for managing the disease across east Africa. Bioversity engaged multiple stakeholders to develop tools for disease control in a coordinated multi-media communication strategy. Communication materials included a novel blend of:...

The Polymotu concept (poly=many, motu=island) employs geographical isolation for conservation and reproduction of individual varieties of species. It is derived from coconut conservation initiatives by Polynesians and Thais. If an island is planted with a single coconut variety, breeding occurs only within this variety and certified seednuts are naturally produced. Conservation is secured by geographic isolation and availability of certified seednuts. This paper discusses the origins of the...

To improve CGIAR-wide research coherence and to enhance impact, 15 interlinked CGIAR research programs (CRPs) are being implemented. The new collaborative ethos engages with appropriate stakeholders perspectives for implementing the CRPs. The paper presents a case study of stakeholder consultation for designing the CRP Roots, Tubers, and Bananas for Food Security and Income. The paper describes how stakeholders were identified, outlines consultation and data collection methodologies,...

The use of germplasm collections depends to a large extent on the quality and quantity of data available about each accession. Collecting mission documentation provides original data, including location data, about germplasm collected and distributed to genebanks. The International Board for Plant Genetic Resources (IBPGR) and its successor, the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI, now Bioversity International) have supported the collection of over 225,000 samples of...

This Impact Brief reports on an assessment using an asset-based livelihoods approach and carried out in 2009, five years after the end of the project. Overall, about 85% of farm families in the region said their incomes had increased since the end of the project, and the community enterprise grew in terms of both sales and  membership. The project clearly initiated and catalyzed the developments that resulted in these outcomes. The impact assessment also identified elements that could...

No region in Kenya boasts of a greater variety of vegetables than the coastal area. Over 100 species are used by the nine linguistically-related groups living here, the Mijikenda. Just as rich is the knowledge associated with these vegetables as seen in the variety of mixtures that may be formed in a single preparation and the delicate art of balancing the quantities of each.

This book makes available information on this rich vegetable culture. It provides local names of the...

El “Manejo de la Biodiversidad en los Ecosistemas Agrícolas” mira cómo los agricultores manejan, mantienen, y se benefician de la biodiversidad en los sistemas de producción agrícola.

El volumen incluye las más recientes investigaciones y desarrollos en el mantenimiento de la diversidad local en los niveles de la genética de las especies y de los ecosistemas.

Los capítulos se tratan de la evaluación de la biodiversidad ecosistémica en la producción agrícola, ganadera,...

The nutritional health value of leafy vegetables has been the main message used to promote increased consumption of them. However, despite the evident importance given to a wide range of leafy vegetables across Africa, the message from the scientific community has not always been clearly positive, with critics focusing on the limited bioavailability of the iron and vitamin A present in them. The preface and several papers in this volume weigh into the debate with reviews, opinions and new...

This publication is the result of the International Conference held in Frankfurt, Germany 14-16 June 2011 organized in the framework of an International UN Project funded by IFAD “Reinforcing the resilience of poor rural communities in the face of food insecurity, poverty and climate change through on-farm conservation of local agrobiodiversity”.

Twenty seven scientists from 11 countries participated and contributed to this publication with their long-term experience and expertise...

Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) is an important winter cereal crop in mid to high-hill ecosystems of Nepal.  Chawali and Lekali are two commonly grown farmer’s barley varieties or landraces in Jumla, Nepal (2240-3000m) with small to bold grains and wide adaptation from irrigated low lands to high hills. This study was undertaken to test whether the traditional seed system can significantly influence the diversity of a crop and its conservation on-farm. In Jumla (high-hill), the barley seed...