Meet the innovator: This scientist is building the beans of the future

Like many Ugandans, Dr. Clare Mukankusi grew up eating beans.

They were served every day at school and grew in her family’s small garden in Entebbe. But while most Ugandans enjoy beans as a nutritious and hearty meal, Dr. Mukankusi, even as a young girl, wanted to understand how they worked. 

“Beans are very nutritious both for people and the soil. Just being able to get all of that out of one seed,” she recalls of tending her family’s garden. “It was always so exciting to see the product of your efforts.” 

Her passion for the science of beans drove her to become a plant researcher. Today, as the Global Breeding Lead at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), she develops new varieties of beans for farmers in Uganda and beyond. 

Her passion for the science of beans drove her to become a plant researcher. Today, as the Global Breeding Lead at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) one of thirteen global centers within CGIAR, a global agriculture research network, she develops new varieties of beans for farmers in Uganda and beyond. 

Beans are a protein-rich staple that nourish hundreds of millions of people around the world. When rotated with other crops, they also help soil stay healthy as they fix nitrogen in the soil. But as weather patterns shift, growing beans isn’t as simple as it was in her grandparents’ day.