
Breeding for Tomorrow
We aim to develop and deliver a portfolio of climate-resilient, market-preferred, and nutritious crops, livestock, and aquatic species that make food systems more productive, resilient, inclusive, and sustainable.
By leveraging breeding modernization, market intelligence, and strengthened partnerships, we will improve seed systems, boost agricultural productivity and resilience, reduce hunger, and enhance sustainability, particularly in the Global South.
Our work aims to help
- Reduce chronic hunger by 29%
- Address hidden hunger by 21%
- Create an economic surplus of US$ 182 billion
Where we will work in
Central and West Asia and North Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, South and Southeast Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa
Challenges we’ll address
- Optimizing crops for mechanization, longer shelf-lives, simpler processing, and climate resilience to provide for the Global South’s growing populations
- Lowering agricultural costs without sacrificing nutrition
- Improve environmental sustainability
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Areas of Work
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Market IntelligenceWe will optimize the return on investment by driving institutional innovation in product design and investment prioritization, which will support the development and delivery of climate-resilient, nutritious, and market-preferred products.
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Accelerated BreedingWe will accelerate the development of a new generation of climate-resilient, nutritious, and market-preferred varieties. We will also steer efficient, sustainable, and fair breeding processes and collaborations.
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Inclusive DeliveryWe will accelerate the delivery of genetic gain to farmers’ fields in the Global South through robust, equitable and scalable dissemination systems resulting in strengthened food systems and improved livelihoods
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Breeding ResourcesWe will work to empower interconnected breeding programs by providing a portfolio of services, that enables breeders to access global technologies, knowledge, and innovations for maximum impact.
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EnableWe will address the complex challenge of designing an effective and efficient coordination and support system across different functions, diverse partners, and dynamic priorities within global, national, and regional breeding and product delivery pipelines.
Gender & Social Inclusion
Breeding for Tomorrow will proactively engage women and other socially disadvantaged groups – such as the youth and indigenous communities – in their multiple roles as smallholders, seed-entrepreneurs, food producers, processors, traders, and consumers.
Our Approach
Interlinked support across CGIAR’s portfolio
We will work closely with the Better Diets and Nutrition, Climate Action, Genebanks, Policy Innovations, Scaling for Impact, Sustainable Animal and Aquatic Foods, Sustainable Farming programs, and the Capacity Sharing, Digital Transformation, and Gender Equality & Inclusion accelerators.
Working to share our capacity with
- National partners
- Non-partner countries, regions, and global platforms
- Scientists
Built on CGIAR’s proven expertise
- A global research infrastructure with an improved and diverse germplasm and direct access to its genebanks
- Established advanced breeding technologies
- A growing transdisciplinary expert network of globally renown international scientists, economists, breeders. climate change experts, and agronomists
- A trusted partner for local stakeholders across regions
- A strategic edge in delivering high-level outputs aligned with market and social needs
- A global, multi-product and multi-Impact Area mandate that allows us to set global standards for market intelligence and
- market-driven design of breeding products
News
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In East and Southern Africa, PABRA pilots the first regional Product Advancement Meeting for beans
Breeding for Tomorrow08.09.25The demand for common beans is growing fast as more consumers embrace plant-based diets. Once…
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How AfricaRice transforms shared tools into impact for rice breeding
AfricaRice04.09.25-
Food security
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Poverty reduction, livelihoods & jobs
By Dr. Baboucarr Manneh, Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice) Director General In the face of urgent…
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How Fairgrounds (previously AgPile) connects data and crop breeders – with early examples
CGIAR Initiative on Breeding Resources27.08.25-
Big data
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Nutrition, health & food security
In early 2025, CGIAR received a grant from the Gates Foundation to develop AgPile, a…
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What is Enable, the new coordination engine supporting CGIAR crop breeding?
Breeding for Tomorrow25.08.25By Biswanath Das, Enable Area of Work Lead, CGIAR Breeding for Tomorrow ENABLE is the…
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Mainstreaming nutrition in CGIAR breeding: X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) services ready to scale
CGIAR Initiative on Breeding Resources25.08.25-
Nutrition, health & food security
Reducing global undernutrition remains one of CGIAR’s most pressing opportunities for impact. For …
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Inside the global effort to defend rice from major diseases
International Rice Research Institute (IRRI)18.08.25-
Food security
By Van Schepler-Luu & Myrtel Anne Valenzuela Rice diseases such as bacterial blight and blast…
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