30 Years of improving lives and achieving milestones with beans. Beyond 30, beyond beans

For 30 years, the Pan-Africa Bean Research Alliance (PABRA), established in 1996, has been working to improve bean research and development across Africa. What started as a research network has grown into a strong food systems platform that brings together scientists, farmers, businesses, markets, and national institutions to improve food and nutrition, livelihoods, and resilience. PABRA’s demand-led approach puts farmers, consumers, and markets at the centre, helping to develop bean varieties that are productive, nutritious, wanted by consumers, and available to farmers.
Through ten stories, this publication shows what this work looks like on the ground. It highlights high-iron beans supporting school feeding in Rwanda; biofortified bean businesses helping more people access nutritious foods in Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Kenya; climate-smart innovations reaching more than one million people through the BRAINS Project; and the Beans for Women’s Empowerment initiative helping communities in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo rebuild livelihoods and create more opportunities for women. The publication also looks at the people and systems behind this progress. These include stronger seed systems, better testing facilities, mechanization, market-driven innovation, and investment in the next generation of African scientists and value-chain leaders through the PABRA Academy. Stories from Tanzania and Kenya show how technologies and bean varieties developed with farmers in mind can increase productivity, reduce the hard work involved in farming, and create new opportunities to earn income. As PABRA looks beyond 30, its story is about more than beans. It is about people, partnerships, and using science to make everyday life better. It is about better varieties reaching farmers, nutritious food reaching families, and new opportunities reaching communities.