Bioversity International is a global research-for-development organization that delivers scientific evidence, management practices and policy options to use and safeguard agricultural biodiversity to attain global food- and nutrition security, working with partners in low-income countries in different regions where agricultural biodiversity can contribute to improved nutrition, resilience, productivity and

climate change adaptation Climate change adaptation is the process of adjusting to the effects of climate change, both current and anticipated.IPCC, 2022Annex II: Glossary[Möller, V., R. van Diemen, J.B.R. Matthews, C. Méndez, S. Semenov, J.S. Fuglestvedt, A. Reisinger ...

. In 2019, Bioversity International joined with the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (as the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT) to "deliver research-based solutions that harness agricultural biodiversity and sustainably transform food systems to improve people's lives". Both institutions are members of the

CGIAR CGIAR (formerly the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research) is a global partnership that unites international organizations engaged in research about food security. CGIAR research aims to reduce rural poverty, increase food ...

, a global research partnership for a food-secure future. The organization is highly decentralized, with about 300 staff working around the world with regional offices located in Central and South America, West and Central Africa, East and Southern Africa, Central and South Asia, and South-east Asia. In the summer of 2021 Bioversity International's office in

Maccarese Maccarese is a locality in Lazio, Italy, in the Metropolitan City of Rome Capital, Metropolitan City of Rome. Its administration is divided between the Municipalities of Rome (Maccarese Nord (zone of Rome), Maccarese Nord) and Fiumicino, of which ...

was moved to the Aventine Hill near the

FAO The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations; . (FAO) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger and improve nutrition ...

in Rome, Italy and serves as the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT's global headquarters.

Background

Bioversity International is a research-for-development organization focused on safeguarding and using agricultural biodiversity to help meet challenges such as adaptation to

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

and increased

sustainable production Sustainability is a social goal for people to co-exist on Earth over a long period of time. Definitions of this term are disputed and have varied with literature, context, and time. Sustainability usually has three dimensions (or pillars): env ...

. The organization takes the view that diversity offers opportunities not only through breeding ( of plants and of animals) but also by delivering many other benefits. Some are direct, such as the better nutrition and greater sustainability that come with locally adapted crops. Others are indirect, like the

ecosystem services Ecosystem services are the various benefits that humans derive from Ecosystem, ecosystems. The interconnected Biotic_material, living and Abiotic, non-living components of the natural environment offer benefits such as pollination of crops, clean ...

delivered by healthy populations of

pollinator A pollinator is an animal that moves pollen from the male anther of a flower to the female carpel, stigma of a flower. This helps to bring about fertilization of the ovules in the flower by the male gametes from the pollen grains. Insects are ...

biological control Biological control or biocontrol is a method of controlling pests, whether pest animals such as insects and mites, weeds, or pathogens affecting animals or plants by using other organisms. It relies on predation, parasitism, herbivory, or o ...

agents, and soil microbes. Agricultural biodiversity will also be absolutely essential to cope with the predicted impacts of climate change, not simply as a source of traits but as the underpinnings of more resilient farm ecosystems.

Governance

Bioversity International is governed by a Board of Trustees, including one Trustee nominated by the host country (Italy) and one nominated by

. The Board also appoints the Director General who manages the operation of the various programs. The current Director General is Juan Lucas Restrepo.

History

In 2014, Bioversity International marked 40 years of operations. Bioversity International was originally established by the

as the International Board for Plant Genetic Resources (IBPGR) in 1974. In October 1993, IBPGR became the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI) and in 1994 IPGRI began independent operation as one of the centers of the CGIAR. At the request of the CGIAR, in 1994 IPGRI took over the governance and administration of the International Network for the Improvement of Banana and Plantain (INIBAP). In 2006, IPGRI and INIBAP became a single organization and subsequently changed their operating name to Bioversity International. Bioversity International still maintains the world's largest banana

gene bank A gene bank is a type of biorepository that is used across the world to store the genetic material of animals, plants, and other organisms. It preserves their genetic information in the form of reproductive material like seeds, sperm, eggs, emb ...

, the Bioversity International ''Musa'' Germplasm Transit Centre, that is hosted at the

Katholieke Universiteit Leuven KU Leuven (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven) is a Catholic research university in the city of Leuven, Belgium. Founded in 1425, it is the oldest university in Belgium and the oldest university in the Low Countries. In addition to its main camp ...

(KU Leuven) in Leuven, Belgium, and manages ProMusa - a platform that shares knowledge about

banana A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large treelike herbaceous flowering plants in the genus '' Musa''. In some countries, cooking bananas are called plantains, distinguishing the ...

s and plantains. In 2002, the

Global Crop Diversity Trust The Crop Trust, officially known as the Global Crop Diversity Trust, is an international organization, international nonprofit organization with a secretariat in Bonn, Bonn, Germany. Its mission is to conserve and make available the world's crop d ...

was established by Bioversity International on behalf of the CGIAR and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, through a Crop Diversity Endowment Fund.

Publications

Bioversity International and its predecessors have published occasional papers under the title ''Issues in Genetic Resources''. In 2017, the organization published ''Mainstreaming Agrobiodiversity In Sustainable Food Systems - Scientific Foundations for an Agrobiodiversity Index'', a book that put the spotlight on the importance of agrobiodiversity as the foundation of our food supplies.

Notable former member Board of Trustees

* Prof. Emeritus

Chin Hoong Fong Chin Hoong Fong (22 February 1935 - 19 March 2018) was a seed scientist who pioneered the storage of recalcitrant seeds in the 1970s. He was the Honorary Research Fellow of Bioversity International and Professor Emeritus at the Department of C ...

, IBGR (1987-1992), Honorary Fellow (1997-2018)

Notes

External links

Global Crop Diversity Trust

European Cooperative Programme for Plant Genetic Resources
* * {{authority control Agricultural research institutes International research institutes International environmental organizations Biodiversity Plant genetics Sustainable agriculture Environmental organizations established in 1974 Agricultural organisations based in Italy Organisations based in Rome