Dr. Pamela Anderson took over as the new Director-General of the International Potato Center, from 1 May, replacing Dr. Hubert Zandstra, who directed CIP from 1991.

A native of the United States, Dr. Anderson is an internationally recognized entomologist and ecologist who has worked at CIP since June 2002 as Deputy Director-General of Research.

A expert in emerging diseases of plants, Dr. Anderson has conducted research in aspects of virology, ecology, the production of food, human health and agricultural development for farmers of limited resources. She has spent more than 25 years working in various countries of Latin America, and for more than a decade has devoted herself to working in close coordination with nation al agricultural research systems.

One of her first tasks as Deputy Director of Research was to guide the development of a new vision for the Center, redefining its programs of research and development to harmonize them with the Millennium Development Goals of the United Nations.

A fruitful collaboration

The work of Dr. Zandstra as Director General for 14 tears has been highly fruitful, not only in Peru, but also in agricultural research in various areas and ecosystems of the world. One of his principal concerns was the conservation and use of genetic resources, so the construction at CIP of the Biodiversity Complex was a major accomplishment. The Complex contains buildings with the most advanced technology and biotechnology that house unique collections of potato, sweet potato and Andean roots and tubers endemic in Latin America.

Furthermore, Dr. Zandstra turned the work of CIP to include the sustainable management of natural resources, especially of the mountain areas of the world, and expand research on the environmental impact of agriculture. It was in that context that CIP created CONDESAN, a consortium of institutions that work for the development of the Andean ecoregion, and launched the Global Mountain Program initiative, to coordinate efforts for the development of the Andes, the Himalayas and mountain chains of the East Africa.

Dr. Zandstra also directed institutional efforts to the restoration of the rich biological diversity of the Andean region and, specifically, to the rescue of nine Andean roots and tubers that were found at the verge of the extinction and which were fundamental to the diet and income generation of the rural people of the Andes.

Peru has benefited from much of this work.  For example, work in conserving genetic resources has allowed 2,700 samples of virus-free native potatoes to be restored to 35 high Andean communities. Two Andean food species, yacon and maca, have been saved from extinction and are now known and valued internationally. Other research on Andean crops with a market-driven approach has brought benefit to the poor producers who have conserved them from generation to generation.

The future

"The major directions of CIP’s work will continue to deepen and widen in the future", said Dr. Anderson on receiving a traditional staff symbolizing the handing over of power from her predecessor during an internal ceremony at CIP, in presence of more that 300 workers.

CIP was funded in 1971 by Dr. Richard Sawyer, another eminent international scientist and recognized expert in the culture of potato, who was its first director. CIP is currently one of the 15 international centers of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). CIP works to reduce poverty and achieve the sustainable food security in developing countries through scientific research and other activities related to potato, sweet potato and other Andean roots and tubers, together with better management of the natural resources of the Andes and other mountain areas.