Cassava roots © Gustavo, Adobe Stock

Roots and tubers

Tropical starchy root crops and tubers – cassava, sweet potato, yam and dasheen –, or "RTs", play a vital role in food security for populations in tropical zones, against a backdrop of population growth and rapid urbanization, particularly in Africa. CIRAD has substantial expertise in these value chains, ranging from genomics to postharvest technology through varietal improvement, plant health, cropping systems and value chain economics. CIRAD's approach is multidisciplinary and often innovative.

Multidisciplinary, comprehensive expertise

Participatory breeding and early consideration of quality traits and specific characteristics that ensure more efficient processing and marketing make its work original compared to more conventional intensification approaches.

Strong international partnerships with major projects

That approach, implemented through a broad range of partnerships – Africa, South America, Asia, the Caribbean and the Pacific –, has enabled CIRAD's teams to be recognized on the international stage and to take part in, and in some cases coordinate, several major research initiatives:

  • CIRAD is coordinating the RTBfoods project
    Breeding RTB products for end user preferences (RTBfoods) concerns five African countries: Benin, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Nigeria and Uganda. It is supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
  • Projects to promote aroids, sweet potatoes and yams in the Pacific.