Received for publication: 7 October, 2014. Accepted for publication: 27 November, 2014. Doi: 10.15446/agron.colomb.v32n3.46052 1 Research Associate, International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT). Palmira (Colombia). j.j.rodriguez@cgiar.org 2 Former Agricultural Policy Economist, International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT). Palmira (Colombia). * The views expressed are the authors’ own and no official endorsement of the CIAT should be inferred. Agronomía Colombiana 32(3), 423-431, 2014 Major constraints and trends for common bean production and commercialization; establishing priorities for future research Principales restricciones y tendencias en la producción y comercialización de fríjol común; estableciendo prioridades de investigación Jesús José Rodríguez De Luque1 and Bernardo Creamer2 ABSTRACT RESUMEN In order to identify the principal constraints and trends for common bean production and commercialization and the priorities for future common bean research in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), a priority setting pro- cess was developed at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT). The results suggested that the principal research included breeding and selecting for several traits, such as drought tolerance and water use efficiency, improved yields, and consumer acceptance. Additionally, the results of the priority setting process suggested that institutional measures are needed, such as improving formal seed production and distribution channels and the development of national and re- gional seed policies. On the other hand, the identified principal constraints included diseases, pests, and market constraints. Finally, the identified principal trends were: increase in demand and production, and development of high-yield varieties and improvement in nutritional quality. Con el fin de identificar cuáles son las principales restricciones y tendencias en la producción y comercialización y las prio- ridades de investigación del fríjol común en África, América Latina y el Caribe (ALC) en el Centro Internacional de Agri- cultura Tropical (CIAT) se desarrolló un proceso de estableci- miento de prioridades de investigación. Los resultados indican que las prioridades de investigación incluyen el mejoramiento de ciertos rasgos tales como tolerancia a la sequía y eficiencia en el uso del agua, mejoramiento del rendimiento, y el mejora- miento de características que permitan una mayor aceptación por parte de los consumidores. Adicionalmente, los resultados sugieren que es necesario tomar medidas institucionales, tales como la certificación en la producción de semillas y los canales de comercialización, y el desarrollo de políticas nacionales y regionales de las mismas. Por otra parte, las principales restricciones identificadas fueron las enfermedades, plagas y algunos problemas relacionados con los mercados. Finalmente, las principales tendencias identificadas son el incremento de la demanda y la producción, y el desarrollo de variedades con mayores rendimientos y con mejoras en la calidad nutricional. Key words: research options, constraints analysis, scoring model. Palabras clave: opciones de investigación, análisis de restric- ciones, modelo de puntuación. Introduction The common bean is the most important source of proteins for nearly five hundred million people in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) (Cortés et al., 2013); in particular, for low-income earners (Rosas et al., 2000). It is also an important source of nutrition, serving as a source of iron, potassium, magnesium, zinc, and folic acid (Mederos, 2006). In 2010, global bean production was approximately 23,816,123 t, with 24.4 and 17.7% of the world production in LAC and Africa, respectively (FAO, 2014). In spite of the nutritional and economic importance of beans, it is a low-yield crop (Tab. 1). These relatively low yields can be explained mainly by the many kinds of biotic and abiotic stresses that affect the bean during its cultiva- tion (Cardona et al., 1981; Cardona et al., 1982; Schwartz et al., 1982; Morales et al., 1988; Pastor-Corrales and Schwartz, 1994; Kajumula and Muhamba, 2012). Given the importance of beans as a source of protein and nutrition, they have the potential to serve a useful role in both reducing poverty and increasing food security. Reductions in poverty and increases in food security can be realized in several ways. One critical aspect to address these issues is the development and adoption of new crop technologies. The process of advancing crop technologies must begin, however, with the identification of the research 424 Agron. Colomb. 32(3) 2014 priorities that have the highest potential for return on investment (Abdoulaye et al., 2014; Creamer et al., 2014; Kleinwechter et al., 2014; Pemsl et al., 2014). Empirical evidence shows that poverty levels would have been 0.4 and 0.1% higher in Rwanda and Uganda, respectively, in the absence of the development and adoption of improved bean varieties. With regard to food security, it was found that, in the absence of bean varietal improvement, food security would have been substantially lower in both countries (Larochelle et al., 2013). Likewise, in LAC, gains in yields associated with the adoption of improved bean varieties ranged from 100 kg ha-1 in Costa Rica to 350 kg ha-1 in Peru (Johnson et al., 2003). Determining the principal constraints that affect this crop and how these constraints vary regionally is an important step in the effort to develop technologies and knowledge to help improve yields, farmer income and food security in LAC and Africa. One of the challenges in prioritizing re- search associated with the development of new technologies and understanding specific crops is that different locations have the potential to benefit from different technologies. In order to understand if and how priorities for research would vary regionally, a cross-section of bean experts was surveyed to determine what are, in their opinion, the prin- cipal constraints and trends for common bean production and commercialization and the priorities for future com- mon bean research. Although there are quantitative approaches for doing this kind of analysis, such as economic surplus, cost-benefit, and yield gap analyses (Waddington et al., 2010), quanti- tive approaches presuppose a limited number of potenital scenarios based on a priori knowledge. In order to open the door to possible new priorities and, likewise, to gain improved understanding of the regional variation needed for bean research, we decided to use a qualitative approach both due to its simplicity and the range of opinions it is possible to gather in a short period of time. Using a quali- tative approach, a wide variety of experts can participate in the process, opening the door to valuable information that would be impossible obtain with other approaches (Fuglie, 2007). Materials and methods The foundation for this study was a survey that was pre- sented to a number of bean experts throughout the world. The list of bean experts who participated in the survey was compiled from multiple sources in order to ensure representation both in Africa and LAC. First, we received access to the Pan-Africa Bean Research Alliance (PABRA) database, provided by the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) out of their Uganda office. The database includes information regarding the partners working with PABRA and CIAT in the develop- ment of technologies and in the delivery of those technolo- gies. The data is updated annually for most countries where activities are implemented regularly. These individuals have had contact with PABRA-CIAT for a period of 5 or more years. A second list of experts was indentified in cooperation with CIAT researchers based at the CIAT headquarters in Palmira, Colombia. The CIAT bean expert database contains information regarding more than 30 years of work conducted by and in cooperation with the CIAT bean program. Additionally, the survey was also administrated to bean experts who attended the 59th meeting of the Pro- grama Cooperativo Centroamericano para el Mejoramiento de Cultivos y Animales (PCCMCA) that took place in Ni- caragua between 28 April – 3 May 2014. Finally, names of additional experts were identified through references made by CIAT researchers and, similarly, based on a literature review of experts who have worked on the topics related to the nine categories on which the research options in the survey were classified. The set of experts came from a broad set of backgrounds and included scientists, crop researchers, university teach- ers, public and private employees and extension agents. The questionnaire was divided into three sections. In sections A and B, respondents were asked to provide demographic information including their profession and areas of exper- tise, in which agro-ecological zones their work is focused and what, in their opinion, are the principal constraints in TABLE 1. Bean yield in Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean. Region Yield (kg ha-1) Eastern Africa 632 Middle Africa 605 Northern Africa 2,529 Southern Africa 837 Western Africa 587 Central America 726 The Caribbean 764 South America 954 Source: FAO (2014). 425Rodríguez De Luque and Creamer: Major constraints and trends for common bean production and commercialization; establishing priorities for future research common bean production and commercialization, and the major trend in the next ten years. Section C asked researchers for their opinions on a list of 97 research options. Those research options were classi- fied into nine categories: crop improvement; production technology, agronomy and crop management; seed sys- tems; disease management practices; pest management; genetic resource management; value chains, post-harvest utilization and other uses; and socio-economic policy and impact studies on the common bean. Survey respondents were asked to share their perspective on the importance of 97 research options for helping to reduce poverty and improve food security using a scoring system of importance (not important = 1, low importance = 2, important = 3, very important = 4, most important = 5, and don’t know). In order to make the survey available to as many bean ex- perts as possible, the questionnaire was made available in four languages: English, Spanish, French, and Portuguese. A total of 123 respondents participated in the survey. The respondents interacted with the survey in two ways; it was administered in person to bean experts at the PCCMCA meeting and it was made available online via the Survey Monkey web page (https://www.surveymonkey.com/) be- tween 19 of May 2014 and 14 of July 2014. All the answers were translated into English and were merged in a single database to facilitate analysis. Results Overview of the data A total of 123 respondents participated in the survey; most of them (88.6%) responded to the survey through the web page www.surveymonkey.com and the remainder (11.4%) responded in person at the 59th meeting of the PCCMCA. The respondents were asked to indicate where their re- search is focused. In order to geographically classify the research done by the experts, all respondents who indicated expertise associated with issues in a specific country were allocated to the respective geographical region where their country is located. Since some respondents indicated that their research was focused in several regions of the same continent, each expert was counted only once at the continental scale but could be counted multiple times at the regional level. Fi- nally, the respondents who indicated that their research was focused in several continents were assigned to the global category. Unfortunately, three experts, who indicated that they have a national expertise, didn’t indicate in what country their research was focused, so it was not possible to geographically classify them. As shown in Tab. 2, 64 experts indicated that their expertise was focused on Africa, while 30 respondents indicated that their research was focused on the Americas. TABLE 2. Geographical expertise of researchers surveyed bean. Location Total answers Global 23 Africa 64 Western and Central Africa 17 Eastern Africa 31 South Africa 26 America 30 South America 12 Central America 15 North America 4 Other 3 When the respondents were asked about the importance of bean research in their organization, 62% (76 respon- dents) answered that the common bean is among the priority crops for their organization; 20% (25 respondents) answered that, in their organization, some research on common bean is done, but it is not a priority crop; 11% (13 respondents) answered that the common bean is the highest ranking priority crop for their organization; while 4% (5 respondents) and 2% (2 respondents) answered that their organization rarely or never conducts research on the common bean and that their organization doesn’t carry out research on the common bean, respectively. Even though common bean research was not a priority crop in many instances, a majority of respondents indicated that the importance of common bean research has increased over the last five years. When asked about the trends asso- ciated with common bean research within their organiza- tion in the last five years, 50% answered that the amount of research has increased; 29% answered that it has stayed about the same, and 12% answered that it has decreased. With respect to the respondents’ backgrounds, 39% classi- fied themselves as a scientist from a national agricultural research institute, 20% as a research scientist or lecturer at a university, 7% as a research leader or manager from a national agricultural research institute, 7% as a CGIAR center scientist, 4% as a representative of a government organization, 4% as an employee of a private, for-profit 426 Agron. Colomb. 32(3) 2014 organization, 3% as a representative of a non-governmental, not-for-profit organization (NGO), and 3% as an extension agent (Tab. 3). In order to consider how the respondents’ expertise might frame their perspective (e.g., that experts in water man- agement in crop production think that the efficient use of water is the most important priority or that experts in pest management think that pest management is the most relevant priority), the respondents were asked about their disciplinary expertise for a comparison of their areas of expertise and their professional disciplinary areas (Tab. 4). TABLE 3. Number of respondents investigating bean by occupation. Profession Number of respondents Percentage Research scientist from a national agricul- tural research institute 48 39 Research scientist or lecturer at a university 25 20 Other 13 11 Research leader/manager from a national agricultural research institute 9 7 CGIAR center scientist 8 7 Representative of a government organization 5 4 Employed by a private, for-profit company 5 4 Representative of a non-governmental, not- for-profit organization (NGO) 4 3 Extension agent 4 3 No information 2 2 TABLE 4. Disciplinary expertise of respondents. Topics Number of answers Percentage Plant breeding and conventional genetics 46 16 Crop management, agronomy, and physiology 40 14 Crop disease and management 33 11 Participatory plant breeding 32 11 Crop genetic resources 24 8 Crop pests and management 22 8 Cropping/farming systems 21 7 Post-harvest crop utilization / marketing 17 6 Genomics, bioinformatics, molecular biology 13 4 Economics or policy 13 4 Other 12 4 Soils management 8 3 Water management in crop production 6 2 Climate change specialist 4 1 Transgenic research 2 1 Principal constraints and trends The respondents were asked what, in their opinion, were the three principal constraints today and the most important trend for common bean production and commercializa- tion in the regions where their research is focused for the coming decade. Approximately 16% of the respondents indicated that diseases were the principal constraint. Di- seases most mentioned include leaf spot (Pseudocercospora griseola (Sacc.) Crous & Braun), common bacterial blight (Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. phaseoli (Smith)), anthrac- nose (Colletotrichum lindemuthianum (Sacc. and Magn.) Bri. and Cavi.), and some diseases of the roots, such as bean root rot (Rhizoctonia solani AG 2-2, Pythium sp. and Fusarium solani) (Fig. 1). According to 11% of the respondents, pests are the second principal constraint; followed by market constraints (11%), such as: access to and the high cost of inputs; the low prices received by farmers, the appropriation of a large percent- age of profits by dealers, lack of credit, lack of market access, price instability. Issues related to extension and production technologies (EPT) such as low rates of tech- nology adoption, limited technical assistance to farmers, and poor agronomic practices, are also seen as important constraints (Fig. 1). Respondent opinions suggested an expectation for increas- es in demand and production over the next ten years. The expected increase in demand was attributed mainly to the expected rise in the cost of other sources of proteins and the popularization of bean-based products (such as ready-to- eat preparations). Respondents anticipated the development and greater adoption of improved bean varieties with toler- ances to the most important biotic and abiotic stresses that affect common bean production and commercialization. Likewise, the respondents expected that improvement in bean nutritional quality will be a principal trend (Fig. 2). Importance of the research options Understanding the constraints and trends associated with bean production and commercialization provides context for understanding potential research priorities. In section C of the survey, the respondents were asked to assess the importance of 97 research options on a scale of 1 (not important) to 5 (most important). Since every region has different constraints and needs, and experts from different areas may have different perceptions (i.e., perspectives based on regional need or disciplinary-specific biases), the results of the perceived research priorities (highest average perceptions) are presented by regions and disciplines in Tabs. 5 and 6, respectively. Taking into consideration the cross-section of opinions, the survey yielded several research options priorities. These options included: the development of drought tolerant varieties and water use efficiency; breading for consumer 427Rodríguez De Luque and Creamer: Major constraints and trends for common bean production and commercialization; establishing priorities for future research acceptance (improved cooking time and desired texture after cooking); and breeding for high yield. Additionally, the research suggested that institutional measures are needed, such as improving formal seed production and distribution channels and the development of national and regional seed policies (Tab. 5). As was expected, there were differences between the perceived importance of the research priorities between regions. In the case of LAC, the results indicated that the development of varieties resistant to high temperatures is one of the most important research priorities. However, when the regions were aggregated, the priority of resis- tance to high temperatures is lowered. Similar variation in priorities across regions was evidenced with respect to the management of the whitef ly as a priority in LAC and to the management of the bean stem maggot (Ophiomyia sp.) as a key priority in Africa. The experts who characterized their research as global indicated that the highest research priority is the develop- ment of varieties resistant to the common mosaic virus, followed by breading for consumer acceptance (improved cooking time and desired texture after cooking); breading for drought tolerance and water use efficiency; phenotypic molecular screening of landraces in search of high value traits for new sources of tolerance/resistance to stress; and Mechanization Weed control Sector organization Mutrional quality Post harvest Other abiotic stress HIgh temperature and heat Moisture stress Climate change Low yield Soil problems Drought Seed EPT Market constraints Pest Other Diseases 403020100 50 60 70 Number of answers FIgURE 1. Principal constraints for common bean production and commercialization. FIgURE 2. Principal trends for common bean production and commer- cialization. 19% 11% 11% 9% 8% 5% 3% 34% Biotic stress resistant varieties Drought tolerant varieties Climate change Other Increase demand Increase production High yielding varieties Improve nutritional quality 428 Agron. Colomb. 32(3) 2014 finally, breeding for high yield. Interestingly, the develop- ment of varieties resistant to the common mosaic virus was not among the top five research priorities for experts from either Africa or LAC. As with all surveys, there was a potential for introduced bias as a function of the respondents’ backgrounds. While the ranking of specific priorities varied among the experts in different areas, the overall results indicated that the experts across all of the surveyed disciplines had similar percep- tions of the principal research priorities. For instance, con- sumer acceptance (cooking time/texture after cooking) was among the most highly-valued research options, regardless of discipline. Likewise, breeding for drought tolerance and water use efficiency was among the highly-valued research priorities in seven of the eight analyzed disciplines (Tab. 6). However, in certain cases, there was evidence of biases introduced by the respondents’ backgrounds; for instance, experts in crop genetic resources and cropping farming system were the only ones who included germplasm en- hancement and pre-breeding and managing crop residues, respectively, into their research priorities. Since, in general, experts of all the disciplines had similar perceptions of most of the research priorities, it was concluded that the respondents’ expertise did not introduce any important biases into the results (Tab. 6). TABLE 5. Highest ranked common bean research option by geographic expertise. Research option Category LAC Africa global All Drought tolerance / water use efficiency BASR 4.35 4.52 4.59 4.49 Consumers acceptance (cooking time / texture after cooking) VCPHU 4.00 4.52 4.65 4.41 Breeding for high yield CP 4.27 4.39 4.46 4.39 Improving production and distribution of seeds (formal) SS 4.12 4.50 4.29 4.36 National and regional seed policies SS 4.20 4.39 4.22 4.32 Phenotypic molecular screening of landraces in search of high value traits for new sources of tolerance/resistance to stress GR 4.16 4.26 4.50 4.30 Linking farmers to markets VCPHU 4.00 4.52 4.24 4.27 Improving technologies for farmer-based production and distribution of seeds (informal) SS 3.96 4.38 4.33 4.19 Assessment of common bean technology adoption SEPI 3.96 4.40 4.05 4.14 Assessment of small farmer access to new technologies SEPI 3.79 4.33 4.19 4.13 Collection characterization and evaluation documentation (ex situ) GR 4.15 4.15 3.94 4.09 Market studies SEPI 3.65 4.44 3.82 4.05 Bean stem maggot (Ophiomyia sp.) PM 3.05 4.44 4.46 4.03 Bean common mosaic virus BBSR 3.52 3.98 4.67 3.98 Anthracnose (C. lindemthianum) DMP 3.81 4.00 3.94 3.94 High temperature BASR 4.12 3.68 4.05 3.91 Common bacterial blight (X. axonopodis) DMP 3.62 3.98 4.00 3.89 Whitefly PM 4.05 3.38 3.73 3.59 Source: Authors’ calculation. CP, crop improvement; BBSR, breeding for biotic stress resistance; BASR, breeding for abiotic stress resistance; SS, seed systems; PM, pest management; GR, genetic resource management; VCPHU, value chains, post-harvest utilization and other uses; SEPI, socio-economic, policy and impact studies on the common bean. Top ranked research option in each region in bold. The fact that breeding for drought tolerance and water use efficiency was the highest valued research option ref lects the overarching concern for drought in Latin America, the Caribbean and Africa. Specifically, it is estimated that 4 million ha are affected by this specific abiotic stress in these regions (Cortés et al., 2013). The major bean produc- ing areas where drought is a significant constraint include: the semiarid highlands of Mexico, the Central America Pacific coast, northeast Brazil, and a substantial portion of eastern and southern Africa (Rao et al., 2013). In beans, drought can lead to poor grain filling, reduction in the number of seeds per pod, and a reduction in the length of the pods, consequently lowering both yield and bean quality (López et al., 2008). Estimates for potential declines in yields due to drought range from a low value of 22% to a high of 71% (Ramirez-Vallejo and Kelly, 1998). The negative effects of drought on yields and seed quality depend on several factors, such as duration of drought, the affected genotype, the capacity of the soil to store moisture, and the atmospheric conditions that affect rates of evapo- transpiration (López et al., 2008). Conclusions The main objective of this article is to identify the principal constraints and trends in common bean production and commercialization, as well as priorities for future common 429Rodríguez De Luque and Creamer: Major constraints and trends for common bean production and commercialization; establishing priorities for future research TABLE 6. Highest ranked common bean research option by discipline expertise. Research option Category CDM CgR CMAP CPM PPB CFS PBCg PHCU Breeding for high yield CP 4.41 4.39 4.35 4.38 4.25 4.52 4.38 4.35 Improving production and distribution of seeds (formal) SS 4.19 3.95 4.52 4.38 4.25 4.53 4.35 4.64 Drought tolerance/water use efficiency BASR 4.25 4.61 4.54 4.29 4.40 4.67 4.33 4.73 Consumer acceptance (cooking time/texture after cooking) VCPHU 4.23 4.33 4.41 4.33 4.43 4.59 4.33 4.64 Phenotypic molecular screening of landraces in search of high value traits for new sources of tolerance/resistance to stress GR 4.36 4.40 4.39 4.19 4.19 4.25 4.28 4.50 National and regional seed policies SS 4.04 3.79 4.29 4.30 4.26 4.53 4.24 4.64 Assessment of common bean technology adoption SEPI 4.03 3.95 4.21 4.19 4.19 4.53 4.14 4.57 Breeding for other consumer preferred traits CP 4.00 4.00 4.14 4.00 4.19 3.95 4.11 4.06 Collection characterization evaluation documentation (ex situ) GR 4.00 4.14 4.06 4.00 4.11 4.06 4.10 4.23 Linking farmers to markets VCPHU 4.10 3.95 4.41 4.24 4.36 4.65 4.05 4.79 Assessment of small farmer access to new technologies SEPI 4.00 3.95 4.33 4.14 4.27 4.41 4.00 4.50 Improving technologies for farmer-based production and distribu- tion of seeds (informal) SS 4.10 4.05 4.27 4.43 4.36 4.59 3.98 4.43 Early harvest BGH 3.97 3.71 4.13 4.33 3.79 4.33 3.93 4.57 Anthracnose (C. lindemuthianum) BBSR 4.16 3.76 4.27 4.05 3.60 4.32 3.87 4.36 Germplasm enhancement and pre- breeding OO 3.90 4.29 4.23 4.15 4.00 4.21 3.86 4.39 Angular leaf spot (P. griseola) BBSR 4.13 3.86 4.09 4.24 4.07 4.16 3.84 4.44 Market studies SEPI 3.93 3.78 4.24 4.24 4.08 4.65 3.83 4.71 Common bacterial blight (Xanthomonas campestris pv. phaseoli) BBSR 3.87 4.00 4.16 4.05 3.60 4.17 3.71 4.38 Bean common mosaic virus BBSR 3.94 4.05 4.12 4.05 3.80 4.05 3.70 4.36 Improving soil fertility fertilizer application PTACM 3.94 3.71 4.18 4.05 3.85 4.75 3.68 4.79 Bean stem maggot Ophiomyia sp. PM 3.81 4.07 4.44 4.35 4.16 4.47 3.66 4.57 Managing crop residues PTACM 3.69 3.46 4.09 3.95 3.76 4.59 3.53 4.27 Source: Authors’ calculation. CP, crop improvement; BBSR, breeding for biotic stress resistance; BASR, breeding for abiotic stress resistance; SS, seed systems; PM, pest management; GR, genetic resource management; VCPHU, value chains, post-harvest utilization and other uses; SEPI, socio-economic, policy and impact studies on the common bean; OO, other opportunities for crop improvement; PTACM, production technology, agronomy, crop management; CMAP, crop management, agronomy, and physiology; CFS, cropping/farming systems; CGR, crop genetic resources; CPM, crop pests and their management; PBCG, plant breeding and conventional genetics; PPB, participatory plant breeding; CDM, crop diseases and their management; PHCU, post- harvest crop utilization/marketing. Top ranked research option in each category in bold. bean research in Africa and LAC. In order to do so, a survey was administered to 123 experts with diverse backgrounds and expertise. The principal constraints that face common bean produc- tion and commercialization include both diseases and pests. The diseases, including angular leaf spot (P. griseola), common bacterial blight (X. axonopodis), anthracnose (C. lindemuthianum), and some diseases of the roots such as bean root rot (R. solani, Pythium sp. and F. solani), vary widely in terms of their geography. Pests, on the other hand, tend to be much more geographically specific. For example, the whitef ly is a priority in LAC and the man- agement of the bean stem maggot (Ophiomyia sp.) is a key priority in Africa. The respondent opinions suggested a strong expectation for increases in demand and production over the next ten years. The expected increase in demand is attributed mainly to the expected rise in the cost of other sources of proteins and the popularization of bean-based products (such as ready-to-eat preparations). The respondents antici- pated the development and greater adoption of improved bean varieties with tolerances to the most important biotic and abiotic stresses that affect common bean production and commercialization. Likewise, the respondents expected that improvement in bean nutritional quality will be a principal trend. Taking into consideration the cross-section of opinions, the survey yielded several research option priorities. These op- tions include breeding and selecting for several traits such as drought tolerance and water use efficiency, improved yields, and consumer acceptance (improved cooking time and desired texture after cooking). Additionally, the re- search suggested that institutional measures are needed, such as improving formal seed production and distribution channels and the development of national and regional seed policies. As was expected, there were differences between the per- ceived importance of the research priorities between the regions. In the case of LAC, the results indicated that the development of varieties resistant to high temperatures is one of the most important research priorities. However, when the regions were aggregated, the priority of resistance 430 Agron. Colomb. 32(3) 2014 to high temperatures was lowered. Similar variation in priorities across regions was evidenced with respect to the management of the whitef ly as a priority in LAC and the management of the bean stem maggot (Ophiomyia sp.) as a key priority in Africa. In contrast to the regional perspectives, the experts who characterized their research as global indicated that the development of varieties resistant to the common mosaic virus is among the highest research priorities. Interestingly, this option was not among the top five research priorities for experts from either Africa or LAC. As with all surveys, there was a potential for introduced bias as a function of the respondents’ backgrounds. While the ranking of specific priorities varied among the experts in different areas, the overall results indicated that the experts across all of the surveyed disciplines had similar perceptions of the principal research priorities. In fact, the regional bias as evidenced above may be one of the most important findings of this effort. As the pri- oritization process is expanded to include Asia, we believe there will be additional insights to be gained in terms of understanding the overall system of bean production and consumption. The common bean remains an important crop in LAC and Africa. This crop is affected by many biotic and abiotic stresses, many of which have the potential be exacerbated by the effects of climate change. The development of a research agenda to address the constraints and trends identified in this survey can help to increase bean yields, farmer incomes and food security in many regions throughout the world. Acknowledgement This article was financed by The Global Futures and Stra- tegic Foresight project; Policies, Institutions and Markets - PIM; and Climate Change Agriculture and Food Secu- rity – CCAFS. We would like to thank Rachel Muthoni, Juan Miguel Bueno, Steve Beebe, Bodo Raatz, Idupulapati Rao, Steven Prager, Cesar Cajiao, Oluwabunmi Ajilore, and Marcela Millan for all their comments and support for this process. Literature cited Abdoulaye, T., A. Alene, J. Rusike, and A. Adebayo. 2014. 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