CIP Marks 45 Years in Potato Research

International Potato Center (CIP) has recently marked its 45th anniversary. Nearly half a century ago, when CIP was founded, potato collectors in remote regions of Central America traveled for “weeks on end” with dwindling tanks of gas to find new specimens, as General Director Barbara Wells said during her speech at CIP’s anniversary celebration September 16.

CIP’s first Director General Dr. Richard Sawyer envisioned a regional research and collaboration with researchers around the world to develop new technologies and innovations to improve food security. “He probably never dreamt that one day farmers in the high Andes, the rainforests of Sub-Saharan Africa or the upper Ganges in India would be connected to the world by smart phones or researchers would video conference into scientific meetings,” Wells said.

Keynote speaker and sweetpotato advocate Nane Annan noted another critical CIP accomplishment of 2016: being awarded the World Food Prize (WFP). Three CIP scientists – Maria Andrade, Jan Low and Robert Mwanga – were named WFP Laureates. “I am certain that the recognition by the World Food Prize Foundation of the benefits of orange-fleshed sweet potatoes for food and nutrition security will help extend its reach into the regions where it is most needed,” she said.