"Solutions that cross frontiers" embodied in genetically improved crops, natural resource management using environmentally sound methods, and other practices for problem-solving and decision-making; transcending natural boundaries and surmounting barriers for the development of human welfare. These characterize the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT).

CIAT is based in Colombia, with outposts in a dozen other developing countries. It is part of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). It is composed of 800 staff of which 120 are from different countries, headed by Director General Joachim Voss.

The center is focused on reducing hunger and poverty while preserving natural resources in developing countries, specifically the tropics, where poverty, malnutrition, and environmental degradation seem to prevail. CIAT believes that with worldwide support, these problems can be solved.

Three intermediate destinations are set forth to be reached: competitive agriculture, healthy agroecosystems, and rural innovations. Rural families improve their lives as they work towards these goals. They increase their food supplies and contribute to extra income for their economies, creating jobs and making room for growth.

CIAT's expertise is on five areas: agrobiodiversity and genetics, ecology and management of pests and diseases, soil ecology and improvement, analysis of spatial information, and socioeconomic analysis. It is with its research on these areas that "solutions that cross frontiers" are formulated.

Among its partners are other international centers, national research institutes, universities, non-government organizations, the private sector, and rural communities from different parts of the globe. With these institutions, CIAT conducts training, conferences, specialized information and documentation services, and other communication programs.

The center, although in tropical America, also focuses on Asia and Africa. It works on key crops such as beans, cassava, forages, rice, and tropical fruits.

CIAT regularly produces publications, which can be in print, videos, CD-ROMs, and in text and database files. It also houses the Agronatura Science Park, where scientists worldwide can exchange and share ideas and technology, "inducing globalization of research."

For more information, visit http://www.ciat.cgiar.org

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