For generations, smallholder farmers across Africa have cultivated diverse sweetpotato landraces—locally adapted varieties that are essential for food security and resilience.
But this diversity is under threat. Climate change, shifting farming practices, and the buildup of plant diseases are causing many traditional varieties to disappear.
Unlike many crops, sweetpotato cannot be stored as seed. It must be conserved as living plant material—making collection, transport, and long-term preservation more complex.
Through the Clean & and Share initiative, partners including CIP, the Zambia Agricultural Research Institute (ZARI), and FIFAMANOR in Madagascar worked directly with farming communities to rescue endangered varieties.
Despite droughts, a cyclone, and strict transport regulations, teams successfully collected 336 local landraces from Zambia and Madagascar.
From Field to Genebank
At CIP’s Nairobi and CIP’s Lima laboratories, scientists removed viruses from the collected plants using thermotherapy, restoring their health and productivity.
The cleaned, disease-free plants were then transferred to the CIP global genebank in Lima, Peru. Following a rigorous quarantine overseen by Peru’s National Agrarian Health Service (SENASA), the plants underwent DNA fingerprinting. The analysis confirmed that over 100 of the collected varieties were genetically distinct, contributing valuable new diversity to the global sweetpotato collection.
These varieties are now being secured for the long term through cryopreservation.
CLEAN VINES
DISTRIBUTED
FARMERS REACHED
LANDRACES
SUCCESSFULLY
REPATRIATED
FARMERS REPORTED
higher yields,
healthier plants,
and greater diversity —and
many began sharing planting
material with their neighbors.
A Model for Conservation
and Community
The Darwin Clean and Share project demonstrates a practical model for crop conservation and repatriation. By uniting international research centers, national agricultural institutes, and local farming communities, the project successfully conserved an endangered crop while directly strengthening the agricultural productivity of the farmers who rely on it.
