The Center’s African regional programs began in 1992 in East Africa, out of Arusha, Tanzania, with work commencing in West Africa in 2003 from Bamako, Mali. Today WorldVeg has professional research and development staff working across Africa on important vegetable crops such as tomato, pepper, onion and cabbage, as well as a range of African traditional vegetables, and partners with more than 40 national institutions and many international organizations.

The Center operates three regional bases in Africa: in Benin for West and Central Africa –
Coastal and Humid Regions (established in 2017), in Mali for West and Central Africa – Dry
Regions (2009) and in Tanzania for Eastern and Southern Africa (1992). There are several
country offices across the African continent focused on improved vegetable varieties and
production technologies, including locations in Burkina Faso, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Ghana,
Kenya, and Nigeria.

The vegetable sector in sub-Saharan Africa is severely underdeveloped and vegetable consumption is extremely low. In Africa’s diverse agroclimatic zones, there is enormous potential for smallholder farmers to produce numerous vegetable crops for domestic and international markets.

Vegetables are often the most important source of cash income for smallholder farmers, and indigenous vegetables provide an important source of nutrition, particularly for poor people. New varieties and improved management methods have been developed and extended through training programs for research and extension workers and smallholder farmers.