Bioversity International

What Bioversity International does

The Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT (commonly referenced as Bioversity International) is a non-profit agricultural research organization formed in 2019 through the merger of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT). Headquartered in Rome, Italy, the Alliance operates as a CGIAR research center and serves research institutions, national agricultural systems (notably Kenya's KALRO), and smallholder farmers across Africa, the Americas, and Asia. Its core scientific assets are the world's largest genebank collections for banana, beans, cassava, and tropical forages, maintained at the International Musa Germplasm Transit Centre in Belgium and the Future Seeds facility in Colombia.

The Alliance has built a portfolio of digital agricultural tools atop this scientific base, including MyFarmTrees (a blockchain-verified platform for native tree planting by smallholder farmers), NDIZI (an AI system prioritizing farmer input in crop breeding), CattleFlow (economic decision-support for cattle systems), CafeClima (climate-smart coffee cultivation), and a Digital Meteorological Bulletin. More recently, in October 2025, it launched the Rumen Digital Twin — an AI foundation model developed with BiomEdit and Yale University and backed by nearly $2 million from the Bezos Earth Fund — to identify feed interventions reducing cattle methane emissions by up to 75%. Research themes span climate action, agrobiodiversity, digital inclusion, food environments, multifunctional landscapes, and crops for nutrition and health.

Revenue is generated through institutional research funding and grants coordinated via the CGIAR system, bilateral foundation awards, and government contracts rather than commercial pricing. Outputs, tools, and innovations are made available at no cost to partner organizations and beneficiaries. The 251-500 staff support research infrastructure (genebanks, laboratories), regional offices in Kenya, Colombia, Peru, and the Philippines, and formal partnerships with academic institutions (Yale, University of Göttingen) and private-sector entities (BiomEdit). The organization recently launched its 2026-2030 Strategy, positioning itself for accelerated food and land systems transformation.

Name

Bioversity International

Legal name

Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT

Website

https://bioversityinternational.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

The Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT is a CGIAR non-profit agricultural research organization that maintains the world's largest genebanks for banana, beans, cassava, and tropical forages, and develops AI-enabled digital tools serving smallholder farmers, national research systems, and institutions across Africa, the Americas, and Asia.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Agricultural Research Services

NAICS

Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting (11)

SIC

Agricultural Services (700)

akta.pro primary industry

Sustainable Agriculture, Food Systems & Land Management (BPADALAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Agriculture & Food Security Development (BPAGABAB), Agroforestry & Perennial Cropping Systems (EUABABAD), Remote Sensing & Imagery Analytics (Satellite, Drone, Aerial) (AFABAMAB), Nature & Biodiversity Reporting (TNFD, natural capital) (EUAHAJAM)

Keywords

• Agricultural research services
• Plant genetic resources
• Genebank conservation
• Climate-smart agriculture
• Digital farming tools

Headquarters

HQ city

Rome

HQ country

Italy

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Research Funding and Grants: Funded primarily through CGIAR global research partnership and donor-funded projects. Revenue generated through international development grants, research contracts, and institutional partnerships rather than commercial product sales.

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Bioversity International operates as the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, an international non-profit agricultural research organization. It maintains the world's largest genebank collections of banana, beans, cassava, and tropical forages, and develops digital decision-support tools (MyFarmTrees, CattleFlow, CafeClima, Digital Meteorological Bulletin, NDIZI AI) for smallholder farmers, research institutions, and government agencies focused on agricultural biodiversity, climate adaptation, and food security.

Product overview

The Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT operates as a multi-product research organization focused on agricultural and environmental science. The portfolio includes digital agricultural tools (MyFarmTrees with blockchain verification, Digital Meteorological Bulletin, CafeClima for coffee systems, CattleFlow for cattle systems) and core services (Genebanks with the world's largest collections of bananas, beans, cassava and tropical forages, including the Future Seeds facility and International Musa Germplasm Transit Centre, plus research Laboratories). Research themes span climate action, agrobiodiversity, digital inclusion, food environments, multifunctional landscapes, crops for nutrition and health, and gender/youth inclusion across crops including bananas, beans, cassava, rice, and tropical forages.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Future Seeds: Genebank facility housing the world's largest collections of plant genetic resources for banana, beans, cassava, and tropical forages.
• International Musa Germplasm Transit Centre (ITC)
• MyFarmTrees
• NDIZI
• CattleFlow
• CafeClima
• Digital Meteorological Bulletin

Quantifiable outcome

• 59% yield increase with grafted fine-flavor cacao trees compared to non-grafted controls after three years

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability2 records

Feature7 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and flagship.

• University of GöttingencoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 29 July 2026Led international research team studying grafting techniques on native fine-flavor cacao variety 'Blanco de Piura' in Peru. Research demonstrates that native cacao can match productivity of commercial clones while retaining higher market prices.
• BiomEditcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 24 October 2025Partnership to develop the Rumen Digital Twin, an AI foundation model for reducing methane emissions in cattle. The project will train the model on data from more than 20,000 ruminants across 25+ countries with the goal of reducing methane emissions by up to 75% compared to untargeted approaches.
• Yale UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 24 October 2025Academic research partner in the Rumen Digital Twin project for methane reduction strategies in cattle, contributing research expertise and resources.
• CGIARflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerAlliance of Bioversity International and CIAT is part of CGIAR, a global research partnership for a food-secure future. CGIAR serves as the parent organization providing institutional framework and funding coordination.
• KALRO (Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSpatial analytics collaboration informing policymaking in Kenya through dialogue and joint research initiatives.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• CIMMYT (International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center): Sister CGIAR research center headquartered in Mexico focused on maize and wheat breeding and agronomy; directly comparable as a CGIAR system peer with similar non-profit research mandate, donor funding model, and global breeding/genebank operations.
• IRRI (International Rice Research Institute): CGIAR research center focused on rice genetic improvement, holding the world's largest rice genebank; directly comparable given shared CGIAR system membership, genebank stewardship, and smallholder-focused breeding programs.
• World Agroforestry (ICRAF): CGIAR center focused on agroforestry, trees, and landscape restoration; directly comparable given shared CGIAR system membership and overlapping agroforestry/smallholder-restoration themes with Bioversity's MyFarmTrees work.
• International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA): CGIAR center focused on tropical agriculture in Africa, including banana, cassava, yam, and maize — directly comparable as a CGIAR peer with overlapping crop mandate (especially banana and cassava) and African research footprint.
• International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI): CGIAR center focused on food policy, economics, and spatial analytics; comparable given shared CGIAR system membership and overlapping policy/analytical work such as the Alliance's KALRO spatial analytics collaboration.
• ICRISAT (International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics): CGIAR center focused on dryland crops including sorghum, millet, chickpea, pigeonpea, and groundnut; directly comparable as a CGIAR peer with similar genebank mandate and developing-country farmer focus.
• Crop Trust: International non-profit that supports the world's genebanks, including those of CGIAR centers; directly comparable as a peer in plant genetic resource conservation and the global genebank funding/coordination ecosystem.

Others

• Bezos Earth Fund: Major climate-and-nature funder that awarded nearly $2M to the Alliance; included as an adjacent ecosystem participant illustrating the donor ecosystem on which the Alliance's research funding depends.
• World Food Programme (WFP): UN food-assistance agency; adjacent peer as part of the broader UN food security ecosystem, sharing donor constituencies and food-security mandates though operating in emergency response rather than research.

Broad incumbents

• Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations: UN specialized agency coordinating international efforts to defeat hunger; broadly comparable as a larger, more established international organization with a related agricultural development mandate and CGIAR system coordination role.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/BiovIntCIAT_eng
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@bioversityciat
• Facebookfacebook.com/BiovIntCIAT.eng
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/bioversity-international
• Instagraminstagram.com/bioversityciat

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Subsidiaries4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors2 records

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Bioversity International