Research areas
Agrobiodiversity
CIAT (International Center for Tropical Agriculture) develops more resilient, productive, and profitable varieties of cassava and common bean, together with improved tropical forages for livestock. In Latin America and the Caribbean, we also work to boost rice production and the competitiveness of the region’s rice sector. These crops are vital for global food and nutrition security.
The Center’s Bioscience Platform includes the largest genebank in Latin America and advanced laboratories where scientists work to accelerate crop improvement.
We also work with partners across Latin America to uphold international standards on biotechnology, and help train the next generation of scientists.
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Decision and Policy Analysis
CIAT’s cross-cutting research on decision and policy analysis is aimed at harnessing the power of new information tools and participatory methods to influence decisions, practices, and policies on three key issues: climate change, ecosystem services, and linking farmers to markets. Through the close involvement of farmers, this work contributes to the development of policies that help boost productivity, efficiency, and sustainability, enabling farmers and governments to plan for the future.
Catering to decision makers in the private and public sectors, we provide novel and accurate information in interactive forms together with easy-to-use methods for analyzing agricultural systems at all levels – from individual farms to whole continents.
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Agroecosystems and Sustainable Landscapes (ASL)
CIAT produces scientific evidence and proposes concrete and viable solutions to sustainably manage agroecosystems and landscapes through research on three themes: soils and water management, landscape restoration, and ecosystem services and environmental impacts, and on the political and economic dimensions needed to support agricultural sustainability. With these elements, CIAT works on agricultural and livestock management and landscapes arrangements for maximizing food production, provision of ecosystems services (to and from agricultural landscapes), and the efficient use of resources (capital, labor, water, land, etc.), in a viable socioeconomic and competitive manner. With this approach, CIAT is addressing the current paradigms for agricultural sustainability: sustainable intensification and landscape restoration.