CIAT is dedicated to using science to help the rural poor improve their livelihoods. To achieve these objectives, CIAT is reorganizing its research under two major themes—Sharing the Benefits of Agrobiodiversity and People and Agroecosystems. Each theme addresses global challenges and presents important opportunities to improve rural livelihoods.

The People and Agroecosystems program will provide an institutional focus on integrated management of ecosystems in the tropics to attain food security, economic productivity, and agroecosystem stability. It will address the challenges related to land and crop degradation caused by economic pressures and the lack of appropriate knowledge and technical solutions. Its objectives are to improve local decision-making, work with rural communities to develop improved farming practices that can be implemented on a wider scale, and jointly exploit new market opportunities that foster income generation and make technologies and markets work to benefit the poor.

This is the project portfolio for this initiative:

• Crop and Agroecosystem Health Management
• Tropical Soil Biology and Fertility (TSBF)
• Rural Agroenterprise Development
• Participatory Research Approaches
• Spatial and Economic Analysis for Decision and Policy Support in
  Agriculture and the Environment
  - Land Use
  - Impact Assessment