International Center for Tropical Agriculture - Bean Program Leader & PABRA Director - Jobs in Kenya

International Center for Tropical Agriculture - Bean Program Leader & PABRA Director - Jobs in Kenya

Beans provide a highly nutritious food, containing protein, fiber, complex carbohydrates, vitamins, and micronutrients; about 400 million people in the tropics eat beans as part of their daily diet.

Beans also provide income for millions of people, particularly in Africa and Latin America. Farmers struggle to satisfy consumer demand, producing around 12 million tons of common beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) every year worldwide.

With our partners, CIAT develops improved beans that show resilience under harsh growing conditions, which are worsening as a result of climate change impacts.

Decades of CIAT research on bean have led to massive uptake of improved varieties, with significant impacts on food security in major bean-producing countries.

CIAT preserves the world’s largest and most diverse collection of beans.

Most of the germplasm originates in the Neotropics where beans where domesticated thousands of years ago. Mexico, Peru, Colombia, and Guatemala are particularly well represented.

The collection also contains important diversity from Europe and Africa and, to a lesser extent, Asia.

Responsibilities: