About Us

Women farmers sell their local produce at the floating market in Indonesia. Photo: Bioversity International/F. de la Cruz

What is Bioversity International?

Bioversity is a world leading research-for-development non-profit organization, working towards a world in which smallholder farming communities in developing countries are thriving and sustainable.

Our Main Areas of Work

Bioversity's purpose is to investigate the conservation and use [1] of agricultural biodiversity in order to achieve better nutrition [2], improve smallholders’ livelihoods and enhance agricultural sustainability [3].

Our vision and purpose underpin our commitment to play a vital role in addressing the pressing global challenges of hunger, malnutrition, poverty and environmental degradation.

We have approximately 350 staff operating around the world, and work with partners [4] in over 100 countries worldwide.

Bioversity International is a CGIAR Consortium Research Centre. CGIAR [5] is a global research partnership for a food secure future. In addition, we host some system-wide activities [6] on behalf of the CGIAR.

Main funders

Donors include around 30 governments (from both developed and developing countries), the World Bank, the European Union, the United Nations Environment Programme, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, major private philanthropic foundations, such as the Christensen Fund, McKnight Foundation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and also corporate bodies, such as Mars Inc, and Pioneer Hi-Bred International Inc. [Read more and find out how you can support us] [7]

History

Bioversity was originally established by the CGIAR [5] as the International Board for Plant Genetic Resources (IBPGR) in 1974. In October 1991, IBPGR became the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI) and in 1994 IPGRI began independent operation as one of the centers of the CGIAR.

[Read more about our history] [8]

Further reading
Bioversity International 2012 - 2021 Strategic Priorities [9]
Bioversity International 2012 - 2021 Research Agenda [10]
Bioversity International Annual Report 2010 [11]
Bioversity International Governance [12]
Bioversity International Key Facts (268 KB) [13]
Bioversity International Introduction (189 KB) [14]

Privacy Policy

Bioversity International will not display your email address or make it available to any third party. You will not be sent any correspondence from Bioversity International beyond your chosen subscriptions.
You may opt out of email alerts at any time by following the link embedded in the email.

Submission and Moderation Guidelines

Bioversity International welcomes your comments as we wish to promote intelligent and lively debates on the topics and issues which are central to our work.
We only ask that comments are relevant and are submitted with the express purpose of contributing to the discussion. Comments which are obviously commercial, ‘off topic’ or discriminatory, e.g. on the basis of race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability or age, will not be posted.
Whilst we welcome conflicting views that promote discussion, comments that contain personal attacks or that use offensive language will not be published.
All comments are subject to moderation before posting but if you feel a published comment does not follow our guidelines, click here to contact the moderator.

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Administration Area

Web Address of the page:

http://www.bioversityinternational.org/about_us.html

Links in this page

[1] http://www.bioversityinternational.org/research/conservation.html
[2] http://www.bioversityinternational.org/research/nutrition.html
[3] http://www.bioversityinternational.org/research/sustainable_agriculture.html
[4] http://www.bioversityinternational.org/about_us/partners.html
[5] http://www.cgiar.org/
[6] http://www.bioversityinternational.org/about_us/hosted_activities.html
[7] http://www.bioversityinternational.org/about_us/supporting_us.html
[8] http://www.bioversityinternational.org/about_us/history_of_bioversity.html
[9] http://www.bioversityinternational.org/index.php?id=19&user_bioversitypublications_pi1[showUid]=6549
[10] http://www.bioversityinternational.org/index.php?id=19&user_bioversitypublications_pi1[showUid]=6551
[11] http://www.bioversityinternational.org/index.php?id=19&user_bioversitypublications_pi1[showUid]=5361
[12] http://www.bioversityinternational.org/about_us/governance.html
[13] http://www.bioversityinternational.org/fileadmin/bioversityDocs/About_Us/key_facts/BIOVERSITY_key_facts.pdf
[14] http://www.bioversityinternational.org/fileadmin/bioversityDocs/About_Us/key_facts/Bioversity_introduction.pdf
[15] http://www.bioversityinternational.org/announcements/bioversity_international_agrees_to_join_cgiar_consortium.html
[16] http://www.bioversityinternational.org/browse_by/category/about us
[17] http://www.bioversityinternational.org/browse_by/category/governance
[18] http://www.bioversityinternational.org/browse_by/tag/cgiar
[19] http://www.bioversityinternational.org/browse_by/tag/ibpgr
[20] http://www.bioversityinternational.org/browse_by/tag/ipgri