Global Food Security Research Strategy: Climate Resilience, Nutrition, and Policy - Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Climate Resilience in Beans

The project is part of the Global Hunger and Food Security Research Strategy, which aims to address climate resilience, nutrition, and policy issues in developing countries. The project is led by Jonathan L. Latham, Pennsylvania State University, and is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) under the award AID-OAA-A-13-00077. The project's goal is to develop and disseminate climate-resilient bean varieties that are tolerant to multiple stresses, including drought, heat, and low fertility. The project has made significant progress in breeding and testing new bean varieties. In Southern Africa, extreme heat and drought from December to February reduced irrigation capacity in Chokwe, but the project team is pushing for the release of new cultivars. The promotional campaign is ready for pilot testing, and the project team is working to transport personnel to remote sites in Mozambique. The project has also made progress in breeding for low fertility, heat tolerance, and drought tolerance. In Honduras, Juan Carlos Rosas and his team have evaluated and selected materials under low fertility, heat, and drought conditions, leading to the identification of superior lines with multiple abiotic and biotic stress tolerances. The team has also released an improved cultivar in El Salvador, which has resistance to bean golden yellow mosaic virus, tolerance to drought, and excellent commercial grain value. In addition to breeding, the project has made progress in developing and testing breeding populations. Single, double, and triple crosses between drought and low fertility tolerant small red and black lines from CIAT and EAP programs were made at Zamorano greenhouses. The breeding populations are being tested and advanced under abiotic limiting conditions, while new potential breeding parents are identified from the BASE and other advanced breeding lines trials. The project has also made progress in analyzing and using remote sensing data, and has conducted on-farm trials of promising lines in Tanzania. The project's goal is to develop and disseminate climate-resilient bean varieties that are tolerant to multiple stresses, and to improve the livelihoods of smallholder farmers in developing countries. The project has established relations with private seed companies in Malawi and Mozambique, which have increased seed production and distribution of certified seed of highly marketable bean varieties. The project has also established community seed banks in Mozambique to enhance smallholder farmers' access to seed of the bean variety, NUA 45. The project has also engaged with the larger grain-legume community through presentations at the Joint PanAfrican Grain-Legume and World Cowpea Conference in Livingstone, Zambia. The project team has also taken advantage of the opportunity to discuss amongst themselves and share knowledge and expertise. The project has made significant progress in its first year, and has laid the foundation for future research and development of climate-resilient bean varieties. The project's goal is to improve the livelihoods of smallholder farmers in developing countries, and to contribute to the global effort to address climate change and food insecurity.