www.potatogrower.com 29
While it's certainly true that
public skepticism and criticism in recent
years has dulled a bit of the romance that
once accompanied a profession in produc-
tion agriculture, it's probably safe to say
that most, if not all, growers hold on to the
notion that what they are doing serves a
noble cause: that of feeding the world.
The Lima, Peru-based International
Potato Center (CIP) is dedicated to keeping
that idealistic yet entirely reasonable vi-
sion a reality now and well into the future.
Per the Center's website, its vision "is
roots and tubers improving the lives of the
poor," and its vision "to work with partners
to achieve food security, well-being and
gender equity for poor people in root and
tuber farming and food systems in the
developing world. We do this through re-
search and innovation in science, technol-
ogy, and capacity strengthening."
CIP's conceptual origins can be traced
as far back as the 1940s, when the New
York-based Rockefeller Foundation began
funding a potato program in Mexico. In
The International Potato
Center's work to improve lives
BY TYRELL MARCHANT
PHOTOS COURTESY INTERNATIONAL POTATO CENTER
In charge. As CIP's director general, it is Dr. Barbara Wells's responsibility to oversee all the center's projects
aimed at expanding the potato's reach worldwide.
Far and wide. Bangladeshi women harvest seed potatoes in Bangladesh's Jessore District.
Photo by Mohammad Hossain
