Roots, Tubers and Bananas Breeding

What Roots, Tubers and Bananas Breeding does

Roots, Tubers and Bananas Breeding (RTB Breeding) is a non-profit CGIAR research program that develops improved varieties of banana, cassava, potato, sweetpotato, and yam for smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa. The program is led by the International Potato Center (CIP) headquartered in Lima, Peru, in partnership with two other CGIAR centers — the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and the Alliance of Bioversity-CIAT — and operates through a formal network of 18 National Agricultural Research and Extension Systems (NARES) and universities. Its primary beneficiaries are more than 300 million people in developing countries who depend on RTB crops for food and income, with RTB crops providing up to 50% of caloric intake in countries such as DR Congo, Ghana, Tanzania, and Rwanda.

The program's technology stack centers on modernized breeding approaches including genomic selection, marker-assisted selection, 3rd Generation Hapmap resources, and digital phenotyping. Core digital infrastructure includes the BreedBase database management system, the bioflow breeding analytics pipeline, the Fieldbook App for field data collection, and crop-specific databases (YamBase, BananaBase, SweetpotatoBase, CassavaBase, PotatoBase). Computer vision tools such as CassavaLens support offline phenotyping for cassava post-harvest deterioration. The program reports 90% digital data collection in CIP breeding operations and has accumulated 20 million SNPs and over 42,000 genotyped cassava accessions. Outputs include improved variety releases — 24+ yam varieties, 7+ cassava varieties, 10+ potato varieties across multiple African countries, and NARITA banana hybrids — alongside the open-access Sweetpotato Digital Catalogue presenting 118 elite germplasm varieties.

RTB Breeding is funded primarily by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation through a portfolio of breeding investment programs including (Accelerated) Breeding Better Bananas, GT4SP, NextGen Cassava, RTBFoods, SASHA, SweetGAINS, Africa Yam, and Excellence in Breeding, with additional support from CGIAR core funding and USAID. As a non-profit research program, it does not generate commercial revenue; improved varieties are distributed at no direct cost to farmers through national seed systems and NARES extension networks in Ghana, Mozambique, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Uganda, with results extending to Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Zambia, DR Congo, Burundi, and other countries.

Name

Roots, Tubers and Bananas Breeding

Legal name

CGIAR Research Program on Roots, Tubers and Bananas (RTB)

Website

https://rtbbreeding.cgiar.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2023

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Roots, Tubers and Bananas Breeding is a CGIAR non-profit research program that develops improved banana, cassava, potato, sweetpotato, and yam varieties for over 300 million smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa through a network of 18 NARES, CIP, IITA, and CIAT, funded primarily by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Agricultural Research and Plant Breeding Services

SIC

Agricultural Services (700)

akta.pro primary industry

Plant Breeding & Variety Development (Conventional) (AFAGAIAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

Biotechnology & Gene-Edited Trait Development (AFAGAIAG), Digital Breeding & Bioinformatics Software (Breeding informatics, decision tools) (AFABALAL), Phenotyping Technologies & Services (Field/Controlled Environment) (AFABALAF)

Keywords

• Crop genetic improvement
• Plant breeding research
• Agricultural biotechnology
• Variety development
• Germplasm distribution

Headquarters

HQ city

Lima

HQ country

Peru

HQ region

Latin America

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Grant Funding: Funded primarily by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation through various breeding investment programs including (Accelerated) Breeding Better Bananas, GT4SP, NextGen Cassava, RTBFoods, SASHA, SweetGAINS, Africa Yam, and Excellence in Breeding.
2. CGIAR Core Funding: Support from CGIAR system and One CGIAR centers including CIP, IITA, and CIAT working as one team united by common vision.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

RTB Breeding is a CGIAR research program that develops and delivers market-preferred, gender-sensitive, climate-resilient improved varieties of roots, tubers, and bananas (banana, cassava, potato, sweetpotato, yam) for smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa. The program operates through collaborative breeding networks with 18 national agricultural research systems and CGIAR centers, using genomic selection, modernized breeding pipelines, and digital phenotyping tools. Improved varieties are distributed at no direct cost through public-sector partnership networks rather than commercial channels.

Product overview

RTB Breeding is a CGIAR research program (2023-2024 phase) that develops improved varieties of roots, tubers, and bananas (yam, potato, banana, sweetpotato, cassava) for smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa. The portfolio includes several integrated breeding projects: AfricaYam, Breeding Better Bananas, SweetGAINS Africa, and NextGen Cassava. These are supported by genomic databases (YamBase, BananaBase, SweetpotatoBase, CassavaBase, PotatoBase), the BreedBase data management system, and the bioflow breeding analytics pipeline. Digital tools include CassavaLens for phenotyping, Fieldbook App for field data collection, and a Sweet Potato Digital Catalogue for germplasm information. The program operates through regional networks including the East Africa Potato Network and the RTB Breeding Network (18 NARES organizations).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• AfricaYam: Project focused on breeding for high yielding and robust varieties of white yams and water yams preferred by farmers and suited to market demands.
• Breeding Better Bananas
• SweetGAINS

Products and services

• AfricaYam Project Breeding project focused on developing high-yielding and robust varieties of white yams (D. rotundata) and water yams (D. alata) preferred by farmers and suited to market demands in West Africa.
• Breeding Better Bananas Project applying advanced genomic technologies and novel breeding methods to improve banana breeding and deliver better hybrid varieties in Africa, including NARITA hybrids and TARIBAN 1-4 released in Tanzania in 2021.
• SweetGAINS Africa Sweetpotato Genetic Advances and Innovative Seed Systems project aimed at modernizing Africa's sweetpotato breeding systems and early generation seed production, developing orange-fleshed, white-fleshed, and purple-fleshed sweetpotato varieties.
• NextGen Cassava Predecessor project developing improved cassava varieties with resistance to cassava mosaic disease and cassava brown streak disease, including large-scale genomic resources (1,273 cassava clones resequenced, 20 million SNPs, 42,000+ accessions genotyped).
• East Africa Potato Network Collaborative network including Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and Nigeria with total potato cultivation area of 1.1M hectares, focused on improving potato yields, enhancing resilience, and promoting food security.
• RTB Breeding Network Formal collaboration network of 18 NARES, universities, and 2 CGIAR centers (CIP, IITA) enabling pooling of resources, adoption of common breeding standards, and sharing of data and genetic materials across Sub-Saharan Africa.
• YamBase Database Open access database containing yam genome browser, yam ontology tools, phenotyping tools, and social networking features for the global yam breeding and research community.
• CassavaBase Database Database for cassava breeding data and genomic resources, part of the genomic tools suite including the Cassavabreed R package.
• SweetpotatoBase Database Database for sweetpotato breeding data and genomic resources, including the SweetpotatoBreed R Package, supporting the global sweetpotato breeding community.
• BreedBase Centralized database management system for potato and sweetpotato breeding data, used for performing advanced breeding analytics including state-of-the-art genetic evaluations.
• bioflow Analytics Pipeline CGIAR Breeding Analytics Pipeline facilitating automated breeding analytics and enhancing precision and efficiency of decision-making in plant breeding.
• CassavaLens PPD Phenotyping Tool Offline-capable image processing tool for cassava post-harvest physiological deterioration phenotyping, supporting batch image processing as part of high-throughput image analysis.
• Sweet Potato Digital Catalogue Online catalogue at sweetpotato-catalogue.cipotato.org presenting 118 elite germplasm varieties (106 from Africa, 7 from Latin America, 3 from North America) with morphological characteristics, root attributes, and consumer/processing qualities.

Quantifiable outcome

• 300 million+ people benefit from RTB crops for food and income
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability7 records

Feature8 records

Partnerships

32 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• CIP (International Potato Center)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 13 October 2024CIP is one of the three CGIAR centers leading RTB Breeding. Works with IITA and CIAT as one team united by common vision. Hosts the RTB breeding program website and coordinates potato and sweetpotato breeding programs for Africa from Nairobi.
• IITA (International Institute of Tropical Agriculture)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 13 October 2024IITA is one of the three CGIAR centers leading RTB Breeding. Coordinates banana and yam breeding programs. Hosted IITA-CIP alignment meeting to address challenges faced by 300+ million people depending on RTB crops.
• CIAT (Alliance of Bioversity-CIAT)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThird CGIAR center in the RTB Breeding partnership. Dominique Dufour is out-posted to Fruits & Cassava Programs at CIAT in Cali, Colombia.
• CIRAD (France)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFrench agricultural research institution collaborating on RTB breeding. Partner logo displayed on RTB website.
• NARO (National Agricultural Research Organisation) UgandacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational partner in Uganda leading banana breeding program. Alex Barekye serves as Banana Program Leader. 8 new banana cooking varieties released in Uganda through NARO.
• TARI (Tanzania Agricultural Research Institute)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational partner in Tanzania. Mpoki Shimwela serves as Center Manager of TARI-Maruku and National Coordinator of Banana Research. Released TARIBAN 1-4 banana hybrids in 2021.
• KALRO (Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational partner in Kenya. Charity Gathambiri is Senior Research Scientist. Co-hosted CGIAR Science Week 2025. KEPHIS hosts RTB East Africa Germplasm Exchange Laboratory.
• NRCRI (National Root Crops Research Institute) NigeriacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational partner in Nigeria. Collaborated with IITA to develop two new cassava genotypes nominated for release (TMS14F1036P0007 and TMS17F1387P0008).
• RAB (Rwanda Agricultural Board)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational partner in Rwanda. Immaculee Nishimwe is Research Scientist in Banana Program. Rwanda is one of the countries where RTB crops provide 50% of caloric intake.
• Cornell University (USA)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic partner. Part of Next Generation Cassava Breeding initiative involving Cornell, IITA, and Nigerian and Ugandan National Breeding Programs.
• North Carolina State University (USA)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic partner contributing expertise in drone imaging and digital phenotyping. Collaboration across institutions for sweetpotato, potato, and cassava breeding.
• Wageningen University (Netherlands)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic partner. Asrat Amele obtained PhD in Plant Breeding at Wageningen University.
• Makerere UniversityminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic partner in Uganda. Michael Batte obtained degrees from Makerere University. Collaboration on banana breeding research.
• Excellence in Breeding (EiB)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCGIAR initiative that worked with RTB Breeding to reduce yam breeding cycle from four to three years and increase accuracy of selection.
• Accelerated Breeding InitiativecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCGIAR Initiative that supports RTB Breeding through TRANSFORM Work Package. Facilitated establishment of RTB Breeding Network and Product Design Teams.
• INRAE (France)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFrench national research institute. Partner logo displayed on RTB website.
• CSIR (Council for Scientific and Industrial Research) GhanaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational research institute in Ghana. Prof. Marian D. Quain serves as Deputy Director General. Ghana is main implementation country for RTB Breeding.
• ZARI (Zambia Agricultural Research Institute)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerReleased Kashiba and Chilengwa cassava varieties in Zambia in 2025.
• IIAM (Instituto de Investigação Agrária de Moçambique)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAgricultural research institute in Mozambique. Mozambique is one of the main implementation countries for RTB Breeding.
• INERA (Institut National pour l'Etude et la Recherche Agronomiques) DR CongominorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAgricultural research institute in DR Congo. Jules Ntamwira Bagula leads Banana Program at INERA/Mulungu. DR Congo has 50% caloric intake from RTB crops.
• ISABU (Institut des Sciences Agronomiques du Burundi)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAgricultural research institute in Burundi. Niko Nicolas is researcher in Crop Protection Unit since 2004.
• EIAR (Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational research institute in Ethiopia. Ethiopia has highest potato cultivation area (335K ha) among East Africa Potato Network countries.
• ENSAI (Cameroon)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAgricultural institute in Cameroon. Partner logo displayed on RTB website.
• BTI (Boyce Thompson Institute)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch institute. Partner logo displayed on RTB website.
• CARBAP (African Plantain and Banana Research Center)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerRegional research center for plantain and banana in Africa. Partner logo displayed on RTB website.
• NSIP (National Sweetpotato Improvement Program) USAminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSweetpotato improvement program in USA. Partner logo displayed on RTB website.
• AIR Lab (African Innovation Research Lab) UgandaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerInnovation research lab in Uganda. Partner logo displayed on RTB website.
• IBRC (Japan)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational Bio-Resource Research Center in Japan. Partner logo displayed on RTB website.
• UAC (University of Abomey-Calavi) BeninminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerUniversity in Benin. Partner logo displayed on RTB website.
• Stellenbosch University South AfricaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerUniversity in South Africa. Partner logo displayed on RTB website.
• CNRA (National Center for Agronomic Research) Côte d'IvoireminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational agronomic research center in Côte d'Ivoire. Côte d'Ivoire is part of the yam belt producing region.
• UEA (University of Enlightenment for Agriculture) DR CongominorStrategic or Co-development PartnerUniversity in DR Congo. Partner logo displayed on RTB website.

Scale indicators21 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture: The Syngenta Foundation supports smallholder-focused seed systems and breeding in Africa and Asia. It is comparable as an emerging player with similar donor-backed, smallholder-targeted crop improvement activities, though it operates at a smaller scale than CGIAR centers and focuses on seed system delivery rather than upstream breeding.

Direct peers

• World Vegetable Center: The World Vegetable Center is an international R&D organization breeding vegetable crops for developing countries in Africa and Asia. It shares RTB Breeding's mission of delivering improved varieties to smallholders using public-good funding and partnerships with national programs.
• CIMMYT (International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center): CIMMYT is a CGIAR research center focused on maize and wheat breeding for developing countries. It is the most direct peer because, like RTB Breeding, it operates as a CGIAR-led, multi-NARES breeding network delivering improved varieties to smallholder farmers with BMGF and public funding.
• IRRI (International Rice Research Institute): IRRI is a CGIAR center leading global rice breeding with a similar collaborative network model across Asia and Africa. It is comparable in mission (staple crop genetic improvement for food security), funding structure (BMGF and CGIAR donors), and breeding pipeline approach (genomic selection, NARES partnerships).
• CIP (International Potato Center): CIP is the lead CGIAR center for RTB Breeding and runs potato and sweetpotato breeding programs from Lima. It is the parent/lead institution of RTB Breeding and shares the same crop focus, genomics tools, and smallholder-oriented variety development model.
• IITA (International Institute of Tropical Agriculture): IITA is the CGIAR center leading cassava, yam, and banana breeding programs within RTB Breeding. It is a core peer because it shares crop mandates, operates across the same Sub-Saharan African geographies, and is one of the two CGIAR lead centers for the RTB program.
• ICRISAT (International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics): ICRISAT is a CGIAR center breeding dryland crops (sorghum, millet, pigeonpea, groundnut) for smallholders in Africa and Asia. It is comparable as a CGIAR crop breeding program targeting similar geographies and smallholder segments, using modern breeding methods and donor-funded research delivery.
• Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT: The Alliance is a CGIAR research center (and one of the three leading RTB Breeding, alongside CIP and IITA) focused on agricultural biodiversity and crop improvement including cassava. It is a core peer because it is itself part of the RTB Breeding partnership and shares the CGIAR breeding mandate and donor base.

Broad incumbents

• Bayer Crop Science: Bayer Crop Science is a global agricultural input company with extensive seed and trait development capabilities, including for vegetable and field crops in Africa. It is comparable as a broad incumbent in plant breeding and agricultural innovation, though its commercial orientation contrasts with RTB Breeding's non-profit smallholder focus.
• Corteva Agriscience: Corteva is a large global seed and crop protection company with a Pioneer brand that runs breeding programs including for African smallholder markets. It is a broad incumbent in the seed/breeding industry that overlaps with RTB Breeding's crop improvement mission but operates as a commercial entity rather than a public-good research program.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/RTB_CGIAR
• YouTubeyoutube.com/c/CIPotato
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/rtbcgiar
• Facebookfacebook.com/rtbcgiar

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Roots, Tubers and Bananas Breeding