The document summarizes the launch of a new digital hub called the Tropical Legumes Hub. The hub was developed to consolidate resources and learnings from three Tropical Legumes projects over 12 years, funded by $67 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. It contains over 250 resources like scientific articles and policy briefs. The hub preserves the legacy of the projects and makes their knowledge and findings accessible to researchers and policymakers. It covers topics like climate-smart legumes, breeding techniques, seed systems, and more to continue strengthening food security in Africa and Asia.

1. NewsletterHappenings
In-house version 1 October 2020, No.1874
To enable crop researchers and
policymakers access information
on the three Tropical Legumes
projects under one roof, a digital hub
has been developed to capture
learnings and impacts of crop varietal
development and distribution
initiatives taken up under the
projects. Developed by Scriptoria, the
hub has a resource center with over
250 vital resources, from scientific
articles to policy briefs, and
interactive country maps. The
projects’ impacts are brought to life
in an engaging, highly visual digital
story.
Implemented over a 12-year period
with US$ 67 million in funding from
the Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation, ICRISAT worked with
two other CGIAR research
organizations – Alliance of Bioversity
International and CIAT and
International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA)
– and national and regional partners across 15 countries.
Principal Investigator of TL II phase II and TL phase III,
Dr Rajeev K Varshney, says, “Together, we made
significant achievements during a decade of Tropical
Legumes projects, from the development and adoption
of improved varieties, creation of market‐demand to
benefit smallholder farmers to the empowerment of
national programs in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.
This could only be achieved in collaboration with our
partners and funders”.
He added, “I am sure the newly launched Tropical
Legumes hub will serve as one-stop destination for
knowledge and resources generated over the course of
TL projects and now made available as International
Public Good (IPG) in the service of smallholder farmers
and rural economies.”
“The hub will help to preserve the legacy of the Tropical
Legumes initiatives,” says Dr Chris Ojiewo, Principal
Scientist at ICRISAT who coordinated the final phase of
the projects. “It captures vital knowledge and learnings
that we have accumulated over the past 12 years and
makes them fully accessible so that researchers and
policymakers can consolidate our efforts, build on our
work and continue to strengthen climate resilience and
productivity of African and Asian farmers.”
Resources in the hub contain vital information covering
a wide range of related topics, including climate-smart
benefits of food legumes, molecular breeding
techniques, investments in breeding programs, and the
development of effective seed systems to ensure
improved varieties are efficiently delivered at scale.
The gains of the Tropical Legumes initiatives are now
being consolidated by the Accelerated Varietal
Improvement and Seed Delivery of Legumes and Cereals
in Africa (AVISA) project, which is building on the
experience of the TL projects to continue enhancing
efficiency and effectiveness of breeding programs and
seed systems.
Visit the Tropical Legumes Hub to find out more: https://
tropicallegumeshub.com/
The Bakukus on their farm in Tanzania. The farmer couple are beneficiaries of
the TL projects. They increased their family income with seed production and
improved bean grain has enabled them to rear cattle and pigs, grow avocado
and invest in a bio-gas plant.
Just launched
A new digital hub to consolidate learnings from global
food legume initiatives
Photo: Tropical Legumes Hub