Roots and Tubers: Tapping Ancient Crops to Meet 21st Century Challenges


CIP is hosting more than 250 scientists from 41 countries, 2-6 November 2009, for the 15th Triennial Symposium of the International Society for Tropical Root Crops. The symposium will address issues regarding the potential of roots and tubers to help meet growing food security needs and improve livelihoods in a sustainable way in a time of climate change. The meeting features world-renowned scientists and experts, hands-on demonstrations, and examples of successful initiatives to help indigenous farmers by boosting the marketing and commercialization of tropical roots and tubers. It also includes the participation of Peru’s Minister of Agriculture, Adolfo de Cordova, along with the European Union Ambassador, Antonio Cardoso Melo, and other high level representatives.

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Press Release:

Lima, Peru. November 2, 2009.  Humans have been eating potatoes for over 8,000 years. Cassava and sweetpotato have been on the menu at least 5,000 years. This week, hundreds of scientists from 41 countries are gathering in Lima, Peru to talk about how these crops, along with other lesser-know roots and tubers, can play a major role in meeting growing food needs and challenges of the 21st century.

The venue is the 15th Triennial Symposium of the International Society for Tropical Root Crops, which is being hosted by the Lima-based International Potato Center (known by its Spanish acronym, CIP) with the International Society for Tropical Root Crops and Peruvian National Agrarian University at La Molina. The timing of the meeting is particularly appropriate. In the past year, a world economic recession has been added to the pre-existing pressures of climate change and a crisis in grain prices. Lower incomes, higher unemployment, and rising food prices have combined to roll back the progress of past decades. The result: more people are going hungry today, 1.02 billion worldwide, than at any time since 1970, according to the recently released Global Hunger Index.

What is to be done? One positive response is to strengthen local food production and consumption with foods like tropical roots and tubers, which can meet nutritional needs and adapt to shifting conditions imposed by climate change. Sweetpotato, cassava, potato, yams, and lesser-known roots and tubers are the third most important food crops in the world in terms of consumption, and they make significant contribution to income generation, sustainable development, and household food security and nutrition.

For example, Andean roots and tubers, such as maca, yacon, achira, and ulluco, are mostly grown by poor farmers in their native range, but offer great potential due to their natural resistance to pest and disease, high nutrient levels, and ability to grown in marginal environments. Similarly, orange-fleshed sweetpotato is emerging as an effective food-based method for combating vitamin A deficiency in Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. As it produces better yields in marginal conditions with lower labor and input requirements than other staples, sweetpotato is particularly suitable in places facing stresses such as drought, civil disorder, or high rates of AIDS. The challenge is to find ways to help small farmers gain access to quality planting materials and tap into the market potential for products based on these crops.

The purpose of the symposium is to address key issues in productivity, resource management, nutritional value, and opportunities for marketing and commercialization, so that the role of tropical roots in ensuring sustainable development can be enhanced. Presentations will highlight strategies that have been successfully adapted to bring together the interests of small, indigenous farmers and large corporations to develop and commercialize products based on native roots and tubers. Other topics range from conserving genetic diversity and boosting the nutritional content of crops to improved breeding and increasing resistance to pests, disease, or climate change.

On Wednesday, November 4, participants will be invited to take part in a Field Day on the CIP campus, where they will have the chance to interact more directly with colleagues and researchers in the fields and laboratories where they work. They will also enjoy the gastronomic benefits of native roots and tubers, during a lunch based on these foods, prepared by two Lima-based culinary schools.

Among the important speakers taking part in the symposium will be Adolfo de Cordova, Peruvian Minister of Agriculture; Antonio Cardoso Melo, Ambassador from the European Union; and high level representatives from the International Potato Center, UN Food and Agriculture Organization, World Bank, InterAmerican Development Bank, National Agrarian University of La Molina, Peruvian National Service of Agrarian Health (SENASA), Swiss Agency for Cooperation and Development (COSUDE), FINCyT, and the Peruvian National Institute for Agrarian Research.

For more information, contact:
Valerie Gwinner
Head, Communications and Public Awareness Department
International Potato Center (CIP)
Tel: +51 1 317 5334
v.gwinner@cgiar.org
www.cipotato.org

Our vision is roots and tubers improving the lives of the poor