"Bean Breeding for Adaptation to a Changing Climate and Post-Conflict Colombia (BBACO)"

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In Colombia, about 3.4 million people are employed in primary agricultural production in rural areas with typical wages of less than four dollars per day. Beans are a major source of protein and mineral nutrition in the diets of the rural and urban poor. The development of improved, locally adapted bean varieties and extension of the current bean growing area is indispensable for the improvement of health and nutrition of the population, which is a prerequisite for social stability and economic growth in Colombia. This is also particularly important for regions where ex-combatants are settling and the post-conflict transition from illicit to food and cash crops. In many areas where beans are grown, or will be grown in the future, high temperatures in combination with water stress severely reduce crop yield. Stress tolerant beans are therefore urgently needed to prevent food insecurity and secure farm incomes today, and even more so in the future, when heat events will be more frequent and severe due to climate change. Applying a holistic, multidisciplinary approach and building on CIAT's previous breeding efforts and data generated in Stage I, this project will develop novel methods for the breeding, screening and adoption of heat-tolerant beans, therefore reducing breeding, delivery and adoption time. This will enable the development of climate resilient beans, as well as models and decision tools to identify suitable areas for bean cultivation and socio-economic factors relevant for adoption by farmers and consumers. This will contribute to climate resilience, poverty reduction, and nutritional outcomes in current and new (post-conflict) growing areas).This will be achieved by (i) providing a mechanistic understanding of high temperature tolerance in beans grown in current climates and simulated future climates (heat, high CO2), (ii) translating mechanistic understanding into state-of-the-art crop-climate models to identify target environments and stresses for breeding, (iii) linking mechanistic understanding of stress with genomic tools for breeding (GWAS, GS), and (iv) guide seed breeding and delivery efforts to enhance adoption of heat tolerant beans through fundamental understanding of the socio-economic dynamics of farming and non-farming (ex-combatant) communities. For this project, two pump-priming (Stage I) projects on beans have been merged to bring together cutting-edge expertise and experimental facilities and approaches in breeding and genetics, as well as in crop and molecular physiology, paired with crop-climate modelling and socio-economics. This multi-disciplinary team with complementary expertise will work closely together to ensure that the outcomes of this project are relevant and directly applicable to the targeted areas and that there is engagement for ensuring impact in the affected communities. This project thereby contributes to food security, improved nutrition for the rural and urban poor in Colombia and will help improve livelihood and perspective of poor Colombians and ex-combatants.