Strengthening Bean Breeding To Meet Ethiopia's Needs

Over several days in Addis Ababa, Melkassa, and Kulumsa, Enable, the partnership coordination engine of CGIAR Breeding for Tomorrow Science Program, worked closely with the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR) to strengthen bean breeding efforts in Ethiopia. Through a series of technical discussions and field-based assessments, the teams reviewed breeding pipelines, aligned target product profiles, and explored how programs can evolve to deliver bean varieties that better meet the needs of Ethiopian farmers, processors, and consumers.

Bean: a crop at the heart of Ethiopia’s diet and economy
In Ethiopia, common bean is far more than a crop. It is a dietary staple nourishing millions of people, a vital source of income for farmers, and a key ingredient in many traditional foods, including nifro, shiro wot, kik wot, shorba, sambusa, and fossese. Rich in protein, fiber, iron, and zinc, beans play an essential role in nutrition, particularly for low-income households.

Given their importance to food security, nutrition, and livelihoods, strengthening bean breeding systems in Ethiopia is key.

Refining national target product profiles for beans
During the recent Beans Product Design Team (PDT) meeting convened by Enable, EIAR scientists worked with the team to review the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT’s regional Target Product Profiles (TPPs) and adapt them to Ethiopia’s diverse production systems and consumer preferences.

Together, the group identified eight bean market segments in the country and prioritized two that dominate national production: small red bush beans, which cover approximately 45% of the national area, and small white beans, grown on about 30%.

For each segment, the team developed a dedicated national TPP that clearly defines the priority traits, acceptable thresholds, and measurement scales of the variety that will serve that given segment. These profiles capture critical characteristics such as grain color and size, cooking time, resistance to major diseases, drought tolerance, and suitability for both household consumption and industrial processing.

This sharper definition of market demand will help breeders refine trait prioritization and focus investment and selection on varieties with the greatest likelihood of adoption and impact.

Assessing the bean breeding program in Melkassa
At EIAR’s Melkassa breeding station, Enable conducted a comprehensive assessment of the national bean breeding program, examining breeding pipelines, technical capacity, infrastructure, and data systems.

The assessment highlighted important strengths across the program, while also identifying operational gaps that currently limit efficiency and slow genetic gains. These insights are now directly informing the development of the EIAR Beans Improvement Plan, which will guide efforts to modernize workflows, strengthen capacity, and better align breeding investments with Ethiopia’s market needs.

System-level impacts for Ethiopia’s breeding programs
Together, the Product Design Team process and program assessments delivered four key system-level outcomes.

1. Alignment of regional and national product profiles
Regional bean TPPs developed by the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT are now harmonized with Ethiopia’s specific market needs, ensuring breeding programs remain both demand-driven and globally connected.

2. Clearer product profiles for breeders
Ethiopia-specific market segmentation and TPPs provide breeders with sharper trait priorities and performance targets, supporting more accurate selection decisions and better allocation of resources.

3. Pathways to improved efficiency and modernization
The assessments identified opportunities to strengthen trial design, breeding optimization, data management, infrastructure, and workflow organization – critical steps for accelerating genetic gains.

4. A foundation for crop-specific EIAR Improvement Plans
Findings from the process are directly feeding into crop-specific improvement plans that will guide breeding modernization and variety delivery in Ethiopia for years to come.

By combining CGIAR Breeding for Tomorrow product design methodology with strong national partnerships, The Alliance of Bioversity and CIAT, ENABLE and EIAR are laying the groundwork for a more responsive, efficient, and impactful bean breeding system – one that delivers the varieties Ethiopian farmers and markets truly need.