Climbing Beans
The introduction of improved varieties with a climbing growth habit has significantly transformed production in highland areas of central and eastern Africa. Yielding three times more than the familiar bush type beans and offering disease resistance as well, climbing beans provide an especially eco-efficient solution for densely populated, land-scarce places like Rwanda, Burundi, and western Kenya.
In recent years, CIAT has concentrated on adapting these varieties to the higher temperatures and different market preferences of Africa’s extensive mid-altitude areas, thus opening up new pathways to impact.