POLICY BRIEF No. 55 Beans: A Crop to Invest In August 2021 Key message From both an economic and nutritional perspective, Staple food markets in the developing world are the common bean is under-represented in the diets currently undersupplied with legumes, resulting in high of low-income populations. This shortfall is reflected prices that place these important sources of protein in high bean prices and chronic deficiencies in protein and nutrients out of the reach of the low-income and key nutrients, seen across the developing world. populations that most need them (Figure 1). Future demand for beans, meanwhile, is projected to increase, as incomes rise and rural-urban migration Beans, in particular, are well suited to address the increases. Investment in the development of common legume shortfall. Decades of research at the Bioversity- bean varieties and value chains has the potential to CIAT Alliance and elsewhere have produced higher offer substantial food security and economic benefits yielding, iron enriched bean varieties adapted to to these populations. local conditions in Latin America and Africa. Work is ongoing to further align these successful varieties with local preferences, as well as to further improve their nutritional value and to build plant resilience in the face of climate change. The return on investments in bean research and value chains is made more attractive still when considering the high costs of inaction on this front. The current legume supply-demand imbalance has resulted in widespread protein and mineral deficiency, which, in turn, has resulted in childhood stunting and other costly, ongoing public health crises. At current levels of production, these costs will only multiply going forward, as demand for legumes is projected to grow faster than demand for starchy staples. LOW INCOME FOOD DEFICIT COUNTRIES SOUTH AMERICA SOUTHERN ASIA Yams Sweet potatoes Potatoes Cassava Lentils Cow peas, dry Chick peas Beans dry Wheat Sorghum Rice, paddy Millet Maize 0 300 600 900 0 300 600 900 0 300 600 900 SUB SAHARAN AFRICA WORLD Yams Sweet potatoes Potatoes Cassava Lentils Cereals Cow peas, dry Chick peas Pulses Beans dry Wheat Roots & tubers Sorghum Rice, paddy Millet Maize 0 300 600 900 0 300 600 900 2018 production value / metric ton (current USD) Figure 1. Production value per metric ton of main staple crops. Source: FAO Food Balance Sheets, 2018. Rationale and support From a nutritional standpoint, the legume supply shortfall is reflected in over-starchy, protein deficient diets. Optimal protein formation within the human organism requires a balance of 2.3 grams of cereals to every gram of legumes (Bressani and Elias 1974). In many parts of Africa, particularly outside of the bean production corridors, the ratio of cereals to legumes currently ranges from 3 to 5, and even higher in some areas (Figure 2). Legume deficits are especially pronounced in Malawi and the rest of southern Africa. 2 | POLICY BRIEF ETHIOPIA MALAWI 6 5 4 TANZANIA UGANDA 3 2 1 Figure 2. Cereal to legume consumption ratios in (clockwise) Ethiopia, Malawi, Uganda, and Tanzania. Source: LSMS-ISA. The adverse health effects of diets deficient in protein, The legume supply-demand imbalance will only iron, and vitamin A are well documented (Schönfeldt increase going forward, as incomes rise and starchy and Hall 2012). However, recent research indicates carbohydrate demand is increasingly supplanted by that these deficiencies are even more pronounced demand for more nutrient-dense foods1 (see Figure in low-income countries than previously anticipated. 3). Budding downstream bean processing markets Protein sufficiency has generally been overestimated and intra-Africa trade opportunities are signs that this due to a failure to adjust for protein quality and for nutrition transition is already underway. Emerging the heightened requirements of children living in markets for pre-cooked beans, for example, have conditions of chronic energy deficit and infection begun transforming diets and livelihoods in Uganda (Uauy et al. 2016). In Malawi, an area with some of the and Kenya (Ugen et al. 2017). most pronounced cereal-legume imbalances in Africa, The Bioversity-CIAT Alliance Bean Program has protein deficiency has been definitively linked with demonstrated that, given funding, it can deliver stunting in children (Semba et al. 2016). 1 In accordance with Bennett’s Law, a well documented empirical relation whereby demand for starchy staples is supplanted by demand for other foods as incomes rise. Beans: A Crop to Invest In 3 Sub-Saharan African bean exports have increased by 500% over the past 10 years, according to FAO. Bennetts Law Adj. R-squared= 0.62 Slope= 0.08 Y intercept= 4.82 4.4 4.2 Asia(excluding W. Asia) N. Africa / W. Asia 4.0 Europe / N. Amer. Australia / NZ Sub-Saharan Africa 3.8 LAC 6 GDP / capita (USD)8, logged 10 GDP / capita (USD), logged Figure 3. Bennett’s Law Source: FAO Food Balance Sheets, 2017. genetic gain trajectories of 2%-3.3% per year in research stations, while new methods of on-farm research will quantify this in the hands of farmers. This is comfortably above modern breeding standards for development-related crop breeding such as those set by the CGIAR Excellence in Breeding platform, in order to meet rising demand well into the future. 4 | POLICY BRIEF Carb share of diet (%), logged Implications Investment in beans is a high return, low risk investment opportunity. Beans consistently demonstrate value in the marketplace and bean research is routinely successful. An economic analysis of bean research conducted on the occasion of CIAT’s 50th anniversary indicated an additional benefit of $17 billion resulting from improved varieties (CIAT 2017). In East Africa the aggregate value of beans is 86% of that of maize. Bean investments target multiple SDG challenges, including climate resilience, increased jobs, improved incomes, and improved nutrition outcomes among others. Value-added bean markets and trade opportunities have come online only in the last 10 years or so, and constitute a small fraction of total bean demand. However, any Way forward uncertainty regarding these developments revolves around not whether these new markets will grow, but Approaches that emphasize demand-led rather by how much, and how fast. breeding for beans will continue to have Bean export opportunities are not limited to the widely large potential payoff, especially when put discussed intra-Africa bean trade. Just under half of in the context of a variety of solutions and investment is targeted to the best portfolio Africa’s bean exports currently go to South Asia (Figure thereof. There is little downside. 4), where legume prices are among the highest in the world. This could become an important source of revenue At the very least, the evidence indicates in the future, but can also compete with local demand if that inaction on the bean front would be a research does not continue to improve productivity. very costly, high-risk proposition. Diets are already protein and nutrient deficient in many low-income countries. Failure to close this gap may result in more costly public health crises. Sub-Saharan Africa Bean Exports (000 Metric Tons), 2013-2017 Beans are not just for the developing world. (Accounts for 95% of SSA bean exports during period) Many developed nations are in the midst FAO data of a different kind of public health crisis due to fat-heavy, nutrient-deficient diets. Investment in beans can play an important role in promoting healthier, more plant- based diets in such populations. Continued investment in improved management practices can enhance research impacts. Downstream support of emerging value chain opportunities may also act as a catalyst to facilitate new business incentives and trade. As the downstream business environment develops, economic foresight can help assess opportunities and bottlenecks, thereby guiding economic policy, institutional, and infrastructural adjustments in an optimal manner, greatly enhancing research impacts at minimal cost. Figure 4. The Africa bean trade. Beans: A Crop to Invest In 5 References Correct citation Bressani, R. & Elias, L.G. 1974. Legume foods. In A.M. Altschul, ed. Schiek, B., Bonilla-Cedrez, C., Prager, S.D. 2021. Beans: A Crop to New protein foods, Vol. I A, p. 231 297. New York, Academic Press Invest In. Policy Brief No. 55 ; International Center for Tropical Inc. Agriculture (CIAT). Cali, Colombia. 6 p. CIAT (International Center for Tropical Agriculture). (2017). The Impacts of CIAT’s Collaborative Research. https://bit.ly/37ObZK5. Schönfeldt, H. C., & Hall, N. G. (2012). Dietary protein quality and malnutrition in Africa. British Journal of Nutrition, 108(S2), S69-S76. Authors Roles Semba, R. D., Shardell, M., Ashour, F. A. S., Moaddel, R., Trehan, I., Benjamin Schiek, Economic analysis and reporting - Maleta, K. M., ... & Manary, M. J. (2016). Child stunting is associated b.schiek@cgiar.org with low circulating essential amino acids. EBioMedicine, 6, 246- Camila Bonilla-Cedrez, Agricultural Modeler Postdoctoral Fellow - 252. c.bonilla@cgiar.org Uauy, R., Suri, D. J., Ghosh, S., Kurpad, A., & Rosenberg, I. H. (2016). Steven Dean Prager, Leadership of economic modeling and analysis Low circulating amino acids and protein quality: an interesting – s.prager@cgiar.org piece in the puzzle of early childhood stunting. EBioMedicine, 8, 28-29. Ugen, M., Karanja, D., Birachi, E., Katabalwa, C., Ouma, J., & Mutuku, R. (2017). Pre-cooked beans for improving food and nutrition security Acknowledgement: and income generation in Kenya and Uganda-final technical report. Many thanks to Dr. Enid Katungi and Dr. Steve Beebe for their Wiebe, K., Sulser, T.B., Dunston, S., Rosegrant, M.W., Fuglie, K., valuable contributions. Willenbockel, D., andNelson, G.C. 2020. Modeling impacts of faster productivity growth to inform the CGIAR initiative on Crops to End Hunger. August 2021