ABSTRACT

The International Center for Tropical Agriculture, CIAT, with headquarters in Cali, is one of the 15 International Centers dedicated worldwide to generate agricultural improved technologies. CIAT works with cassava, beans, rice and pastures and has also a working agenda for natural resources management. In Cassava, CIAT has a global mandate for Latin America and the Caribbean region. CIAT’s work with cassava started in the 1970’s and throughout the last three decades diverse technologies were generated and transferred to national agricultural research systems in the region. In 1999, CIAT and some collaborating countries, established an innovative approach named CLAYUCA (Latin American and Caribbean Consortium to Support Cassava Research and Development) as a planning and financing mechanism for the cassava crop in the region. The consortium has been acting on the basis of four key principles: integration of efforts between public and private sector, autonomy and self-financing, regional presence and competitiveness.

Clayuca’s agenda include pre-harvest activities (germplasm, crop management, mechanization, pest and disease control, soil fertility management) and post-harvest activities (processing, product and market development). CLAYUCA also works actively in training activities for the technical personnel working with cassava in their member countries.

After its first five years, the Consortium has now a set of technologies that are helping cassava farmers in the region to add value to the crop and to transform it into a sustainable and profitable agricultural activity. CLAYUCA has established recently contacts and exchange activities with research centers and networks in Africa that are trying to use similar approaches with cassava in this Continent.

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