It can also play a role in conserving biodiversity, improving family health, and expanding income options for women with children. Research under the initiative will focus not just on productivity, but on a range of environmental, health, economic, and public policy issues. Concerns include the quality of food produced in polluted water, health risks of urban livestock production, and difficulties in regulating informal markets. The International Potato Center is a nonprofit scientific institution that seeks to increase consumption and utilization of potato, sweetpotato, and other roots and tubers in developing countries. It was founded in 1971 and currently conducts projects in more than 30 countries.
Funding comes from governments, international agencies, and foundations.
The group is cosponsored by the World Bank, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the UN Development Programme, and the UN Environment Programme.