Insufficient iron in diets is a leading cause of anemia, a condition that particularly affects pregnant and breastfeeding women, as well as children under the age of five. Through collaborative plant breeding efforts with farmers and other partners, CGIAR scientists have developed and scaled up hundreds of varieties of iron-biofortified beans in an effort to address the problem.
Many varieties are developed through the Pan Africa Bean Research Alliance (PABRA), a bean research network established in 1996 as a uniquely collaborative, multi-stakeholder platform of research for rural transformation that develops climate-resilient and high-yielding nutritious bean varieties and complementary technologies. PABRA aims to enhance food and nutrition security, incomes, resilience to climate change, and gender equality for improved rural and urban livelihoods in 32 African countries.