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Bioversity International

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Bioversity International
Merged intoThe Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT[1]
Formation1974
TypeGlobal non-profit research-for-development organization[2]
Legal statusInternational organization
PurposeResearch for development
HeadquartersRome
Location
  • Italy
Region served
18 offices worldwide
Director General
Juan Lucas Restrepo[3]
Staff
Around 300
Websitealliancebioversityciat.org

Bioversity Internationalis a global research-for-development organization that delivers scientific evidence, management practices and policy options to use and safeguardagricultural biodiversityto attain globalfood-and nutrition security, working with partners in low-income countries in different regions where agricultural biodiversity can contribute to improved nutrition, resilience, productivity andclimate change adaptation.[2]In 2019, Bioversity International joined with theInternational Center for Tropical Agriculture(as theAlliance of Bioversity International and CIAT) to "deliver research-based solutions that harness agricultural biodiversity and sustainably transform food systems to improve people's lives".[4]Both institutions are members of theCGIAR,a global research partnership for a food-secure future.[5]

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.[6]In the summer of 2021 Bioversity International's office inMaccaresewas moved to the Aventine Hill near theFAOin Rome, Italy and serves as the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT's global headquarters.[7]

Background

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Bioversity International is a research-for-development organization focused on safeguarding and using agricultural biodiversity to help meet challenges such as adaptation toclimate changeand increasedsustainable production.[8]

The organization takes the view that diversity offers opportunities not only through breeding (of plantsandof 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 theecosystem servicesdelivered by healthy populations ofpollinators,biological controlagents, andsoil 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.[9]

Governance

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Bioversity International is governed by a Board of Trustees, including one Trustee nominated by the host country (Italy) and one nominated byFAO.The Board also appoints the Director General who manages the operation of the various programs. The current Director General isJuan Lucas Restrepo.[10]

History

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In 2014, Bioversity International marked 40 years of operations. Bioversity International was originally established by theCGIARas theInternational Board forPlant Genetic Resources(IBPGR) in 1974. In October 1993, IBPGR became theInternational 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 theInternational 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 bananagene bank,the Bioversity InternationalMusaGermplasm Transit Centre, that is hosted at theKatholieke Universiteit Leuven(KU Leuven) in Leuven, Belgium, and managesProMusa- a platform that shares knowledge aboutbananasandplantains.[11]In 2002, theGlobal Crop Diversity Trustwas established by Bioversity International on behalf of the CGIAR and theUN Food and Agriculture Organization,through a Crop Diversity Endowment Fund.[12]

Publications

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Bioversity International and its predecessors have published occasional papers under the titleIssues in Genetic Resources.In 2017, the organization publishedMainstreaming 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.[13]

Notable former member Board of Trustees

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Notes

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  1. ^[1]The Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT
  2. ^ab"Bioversity International".www.croptrust.org.Retrieved2023-05-23.
  3. ^[2]Juan Lucas Restrepo
  4. ^"History Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT".Retrieved2024-07-10.
  5. ^"The Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) - CGIAR".CGIAR.Retrieved2024-07-10.
  6. ^Offices
  7. ^ "A Global Overview".Alliance Bioversity International- CIAT.Retrieved2023-05-12.
  8. ^Bioversity International 10-year Strategy 2014-2024
  9. ^Frison, E.A.; Cherfas, J.; Hodgkin, T. Agricultural Biodiversity Is Essential for a Sustainable Improvement in Food and Nutrition Security. Sustainability 2011, 3, 238-253.
  10. ^"New Director General for Bioversity International and Alliance CEO announced".CGIAR.Retrieved2020-02-06.
  11. ^Bioversity International history
  12. ^"Inside the 'Doomsday' Vault".Time.Retrieved26 January2018.
  13. ^Carrington, Damian (26 September 2017)."Sixth mass extinction of wildlife also threatens global food supplies".The Guardian.
  14. ^"The legacy of a life devoted to seed conservation".Alliance Bioversity International - CIAT.Retrieved2023-07-04.
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