— Healthier lives, more resilient livelihoods through greater diversity in what we grow and eat —
Our Featured Projects
Engaging women and youth in vegetable production and distribution networks to close the ‘vegetable gap’ and improve livelihoods and nutrition in Ethiopia and Kenya.
Sustainable and climate-smart agricultural and post-harvest practices to increase vegetable consumption in urban and peri-urban areas of West Africa.
Conserve and use African vegetable biodiversity to address malnutrition by increasing the production and consumption of nutritious vegetables.
The World’s Largest Public Vegetable Genebank
The World Vegetable Center genebank maintains a large collection of public domain germplasm for the current and future use of all humankind. We distribute seed samples of our germplasm accessions and advanced breeding lines worldwide.
With 65,152 accessions encompassing germplasm of 133 genera and 330 species from 155 countries, the World Vegetable Center genebank includes globally important vegetables such as tomato, onion, peppers and cabbage as well as more than 10,000 accessions of traditional vegetables.
Each year the Center distributes about 10,000 seed samples to researchers across the globe. Over the past four decades this has led to the release of hundreds of new vegetable varieties with particular impact in developing countries.
Global presence and impact
Center researchers lead and participate in projects throughout Asia and Africa. We have about 400 staff engaged in this spread of activities, and seek to partner with governments, nongovernmental organizations, universities, research institutes, and the private sector to promote prosperity for the poor and health for all.
Tomato breeding innovations
Tomato breeding innovations WorldVeg Tomato Breeder, Dr Assaf Eybishitz Tomatoes are the single most consumed vegetable, with an estimated 190 million tonnes produced each year, and are a nutritious and important [...]
Stacked for Success: Multi-trait chilies spice up breeding
Stacked for Success: Multi-trait chilies spice up breeding Derek Barchenger, senior scientist in the organization’s pepper breeding program, checks chili demonstration plots at WorldVeg in Tainan, Taiwan. Pic by Neil Palmer/WorldVeg [...]
Growth, innovation and impact: The WorldVeg Annual Report 2024 is out now
Growth, innovation and impact: The WorldVeg Annual Report 2024 is out now Download here We’re proud to launch the World Vegetable Center Annual Report 2024, capturing a year of growth, innovation, [...]
Africa
Eastern and Southern Africa
Eastern and Southern Africa in the African nightshade field - From Annual Report 2024 - Selected highlights 20 demonstration plots of 3 amaranth, 1 African eggplant and 1 tomato open pollinated [...]
SafeVeg– Local production of safe vegetables for West African consumers
SafeVeg– Local production of safe vegetables for West African consumers - From Annual Report 2024 - SafeVeg is contributing to developing a competitive vegetable sector in Benin, Burkina Faso and Mali. This is [...]
Veggies 4 Planet & People (V4P&P) – Enabling vegetable business development in East Africa
Veggies 4 Planet & People (V4P&P) – Enabling vegetable business development in East Africa - From Annual Report 2024 - V4P&P made strides towards enhancing youth employment, healthier ecosystems and better nutrition in [...]
WorldVeg’s Offices in Africa: 📍 Eastern & Southern Africa Office – 📍 West & Central Africa Office (Dry Regions) – 📍 West & Central Africa Office (Humid Regions)
Asia
East and Southeast Asia
East and Southeast Asia Home garden - From Annual Report 2024 - Selected highlights Low-cost technologies for urban gardening in Dhaka, Bangladesh were tested, with popular vegetables such as Malabar spinach, [...]
Taiwan’s newest chilies turn down the burn – without dialing back the flavor
Taiwan’s newest chilies turn down the burn - without dialing back the flavor Two new, milder chili pepper types are spicing up culinary possibilities in eastern Taiwan - without overpowering the palate. Known [...]
Accelerating Success: New tomato project puts seed companies in pole position
Accelerating Success: New tomato project puts seed companies in pole position Vibrant tomatoes ripening in the field A new tomato project launched by the Asia and Pacific Seed Association (APSA) and the [...]
WorldVeg’s Offices in Asia: 📍 Headquarters in Taiwan – 📍 South & Central Asia Office – 📍 East & Southeast Asia Office
Latin America / Caribbean
WorldVeg opens a new country office in Mexico – opening opportunities for greater impact in Latin America and the Caribbean
WorldVeg opens a new country office in Mexico – opening opportunities for greater impact in Latin America and the Caribbean For more than 50 years, the World Vegetable Center has been at the [...]
WorldVeg at a World Food Prize Foundation event – and now to begin activities in Mexico
WorldVeg at a World Food Prize Foundation event – and now to begin activities in Mexico On 10-11 July, 600 people from 55 countries attended a DialogueNext event entitled ‘Seeds of strength: nurturing farmer [...]
Growth Habit
Perspectives to expand your view of vegetables

Taller, heavier, hungrier: Can global agriculture meet our demand for more food?
As Body Mass Index (BMI) rises, expect a marked increase in global calorie requirements.
MY SUCCESS
New disease resistant and market-preferred tomato varieties are developed in Benin
New disease resistant and market-preferred tomato varieties are developed in Benin Story and photos: Mathieu Ayenan | March 2023 Tomato is the most popular vegetable in West Africa. And more could be [...]
Vegetable innovations key to unlocking potential of women farmers
In Tanzania, exposure to best farming practices opens new opportunities for enterprising farmer Pendael Paulo.
Tiny, tasty, and packed with nutrients
Ms. Adolat Berdieva produces cherry tomatoes in a low-cost greenhouse she built herself.
A young man’s vision
Plants are the inspiration and income the motivation for a young Ghanaian graduate to take up farming as a career.
RECENT RESEARCH
Visit HARVEST, the WorldVeg digital document archive:
WorldVeg’s Donors
Support for World Vegetable Center activities is provided by project donors and the following long-term strategic donors.
Thanks to UK aid from the UK government, United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), the governments of Taiwan, Germany, Thailand, the Philippines, South Korea and Japan.