Annual Report 2018
Agricultural biodiversity nourishes people and sustains the planet
From our Board Chair
Julia Marton-Lefèvre serves up good news
2018 was a tough year. Seemingly every day another headline appeared in the international news media on the increasing urgency of the climate change or biodiversity loss emergencies. When the newspapers were not talking about the planet’s increasingly fragile health, human health came under the spotlight, in particular the rise of diet-related illnesses and premature deaths. It’s easy to get despondent at what appears to be a lack of policies and action to tackle these problems.
So I am going to buck the trend and serve up some good news – a hero of the hour has arrived to save the day! Biodiversity can provide the tools and pathways to get us out of trouble, to a safe operating space for humanity. By eating it and planting it, we not only improve dietary diversity for people, but also the health of the farming systems that provide food and income security for millions of people around the world. The even better news? By using more of it in diets, markets and production systems, we will safeguard it for the future.
The Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT
Today’s global challenges of poverty, malnutrition, climate change, land degradation, and biodiversity loss call for new solutions, innovations, and stronger partnerships that can deliver higher impact.
To respond to these challenges, and building on their complementary mandates and long collaboration, in 2018, Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) committed to joining forces to create an Alliance.
Why agricultural biodiversity matters
2018 research highlights
Healthy diets from sustainable food systems
Local foods – a strategic asset for healthy diets
A new tool helps communities identify local fruits and vegetables that can improve their diets. But a disquieting review reveals that research is still ignoring most vegetables, a situation affecting many nutrient-dense foods.
Bringing forgotten crops back to the table
The Biodiversity for Food and Nutrition Initiative promotes indigenous agrobiodiversity for more sustainable and resilient food systems. This approach is summarized in a user-friendly toolkit for policymakers and is making an impact in four countries.
Adding nutrition to the food chain in Indonesia
A case study from Indonesia applies a five-step approach to incorporate nutrition considerations into food value chains and so diversify diets, improve diet quality and increase smallholder incomes.
Productive and resilient farms, forests and landscapes
Banana split: Equitable benefits in banana farming
Men's and women's capacity to benefit from agricultural innovations is influenced by social and gender norms. Bioversity International and partners are shedding light on these hidden norms to design more effective banana disease-control strategies in sub-Saharan Africa.
Agriculture: From villain to hero
The IPBES Assessments on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services call for swift collective action to reverse the threat to our food systems from the biodiversity loss emergency. Two of the authors discuss why agriculture must become part of the solution, and not the problem.
Bringing our forests back to life
There are currently more than two billion hectares of degraded land in the world. Find out how Bioversity International and partners are guiding resilient forest restoration efforts by collecting lessons learned and developing decision-support tools, in Latin America and beyond.
Effective genetic resources conservation and use
Papua New Guinea's amazing banana diversity
More than 60 samples of wild and cultivated bananas were added to the Papua New Guinea national collection thanks to an expedition in Bougainville. Many of the collected samples were new to researchers, who analyzed them with molecular techniques.
Decision-making tool helps adapt to climate change
Distilled from eight years of working with countries to implement the Plant Treaty, a new decision-making tool will help all countries craft suitable instruments to let them take full advantage of the multilateral system of access and benefit sharing.
![Rajivkilanashrestha [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)]](/fileadmin/_processed_/0/7/csm_Landscape_Himalayas_Nepal_Wikimedia_1600x600_9075cb1a16.jpg)
The race to save threatened crops in Nepal
Find out how after two devastating earthquakes in Nepal, Bioversity International and partners worked with farmers in mountainous, remote regions to rescue, conserve and repatriate 284 rare and endangered traditional crops.
Scientific publications
In the research highlights section of the Annual Report, you will find stories based on scientific papers and tools produced by Bioversity International scientists working with partners.
These highlights represent just a small selection of the 145 papers produced in 2018.
Click here for the full list
Funding and research partners
Bioversity International works with partners around the world including a wide range of funders and research partners who share our vision and mission to deliver scientific evidence, management practices and policy options to use and safeguard agricultural and tree biodiversity to attain sustainable global food and nutrition security.
Bioversity International is proud to be a CGIAR Research Centre. Supported by CGIAR Trust Fund members and in close collaboration with the other 14 CGIAR Centres and hundreds of partner organizations, including national and regional research institutes, civil society organizations, academia and the private sector, in 2018 Bioversity International participated in:
- Three Agri-Food System CGIAR Research Programs (Forests, Trees and Agroforestry; Grains, Legumes and Dryland Cereals; and Roots, Tubers and Bananas)
- Four Global Integrating Programs (Agriculture for Nutrition and Health; Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security; Policies, Institutions and Markets; and Water, Land and Ecosystems)
- Two Research Support Platforms (Genebank Platform; and Platform for Big Data in Agriculture)
We thank all of our partners for their critical and continued support.
Financial information
In 2018, total revenue was US$30.5 million and expenditure $32.3 million, resulting in a deficit of $1.6 million. This deficit was purposefully incurred as part of the 3-year development plan for the period 2017–2019, which applied reserves to invest in the growth of Bioversity International by incurring operational deficits in those three years. 2020 will be planned and managed to result in a breakeven position. Despite the deficit recorded, operational reserves remain at a healthy level, equivalent of 127 days of average expenditure, well above the minimum target of 90 days set by the Board of Trustees. This application of reserves has allowed strategic maintenance or increase in staff capacity in key areas, and to shift the income portfolio to increase financial resilience.
For more information, download our 2018 Financial Statements
Board of Trustees
Bioversity International Board of Trustees
Chair
Julia Marton-Lefèvre
Vice Chair
Braulio Ferreira de Souza Dias
Carl Hausmann
Christina Frankopan
Marion Guillou
Agnes Kalibata
Claudio Lenoci
Trilochan Mohapatra
Brent Swallow
M. Ann Tutwiler
Douglas van den Aardweg
Bioversity International UK Trustees
Bioversity International created a UK registered charity (no. 1131854) in October 2008 to increase awareness and support for its research agenda and activities. Bioversity International UK is governed by an independent Board of Trustees:
Chair
Trish Malloch Brown
Christina Frankopan
Gillian Kettaneh
M. Ann Tutwiler
Doug van den Aardweg
Bioversity International USA, Inc Trustees
Bioversity International USA, Inc aims to engage and inspire a wide range of partners and donors to ensure that agricultural biodiversity nourishes people and sustains the planet. It is led by a committed and highly regarded Board of Trustees:
Chair
M. Ann Tutwiler
Richard China
Jessica Fanzo
John Hamer
Trish Malloch Brown
Javier Mateo-Vega
Sara Scherr
Dan Silverstein
Credits
Writing: Carlo Angelico, Nora Capozio, Jeremy Cherfas, Samantha Collins, with contributions from many of our scientists
Contributors: Maria Garruccio, Annie Huie, Allison Poulos, Consuelo Tenente
Design: Pablo Gallo
Project Manager: Nora Capozio
From our Board Chair
Julia Marton-Lefèvre
Serving up good news
2018 was a tough year. Seemingly every day another headline appeared in the international news media on the increasing urgency of the climate change or biodiversity loss emergencies. When the newspapers were not talking about the planet’s increasingly fragile health, human health came under the spotlight, in particular the rise of diet-related illnesses and premature deaths. It’s easy to get despondent at what appears to be a lack of policies and action to tackle these problems.
So I am going to buck the trend and serve up some good news – a hero of the hour has arrived to save the day! Biodiversity can provide the tools and pathways to get us out of trouble, to a safe operating space for humanity.
By eating it and planting it, we not only improve dietary diversity for people, but also the health of the farming systems that provide food and income security for millions of people around the world. The even better news? By using more of it in diets, markets and production systems, we will safeguard it for the future.
Biodiversity causes a stir in our food systems
In this Annual Report, we have put together a diverse menu of freshly prepared scientific evidence, management practices, tools and policy options to show the superpowers of biodiversity to provide healthy diets from healthy food systems. We also dish up innovative solutions to conserve and use biodiversity so we always have the ingredients we need to secure the future of food. These examples are just a taster menu – find the full selection here.
A recipe for success – transformative partnerships
Transformative solutions were only made possible because of the staunch support of our many like-minded research and funding partners around the world – thank you for your continued passion and commitment to using and safeguarding biodiversity to achieve sustainable food systems around the world.
One transformative partnership in particular deserves a special mention. In 2018 we forged an Alliance between Bioversity International and our sister CGIAR Research Centre – the International Center for Tropical Agriculture. The Alliance was described as “more than historic, and more than heroic” by Juergen Voegele, Senior Director, Agriculture Global Practice, World Bank Group and Chair of the System Council of CGIAR.
Changing the guard
In November, Bioversity International was thrilled to announce the appointment of Juan Lucas Restrepo as the Director General of Bioversity International and CEO-Designate of the Alliance. We know he will be a dedicated leader, continuing to connect with colleagues and our partners, ready to mobilize biodiversity efforts globally to nourish people and sustain the planet.
As well as welcoming Juan Lucas Restrepo, on behalf of everyone at Bioversity International, I would like to extend my sincere appreciation to the former Director General, Ann Tutwiler, for her hard work and achievements during her tenure.
I hope you enjoy reading our 2018 Annual Report and learning more about the extraordinary powers of the new food superhero – biodiversity.