Beans and other pulse crops are central to the transition towards a more sustainable agri-food system, providing a simple, scalable and culturally resonant solution to address the converging crises of climate change, malnutrition, and food insecurity while increasing the resilience of local and global food systems. Investments in the production and consumption of beans and other pulses have the potential to address the world’s most pressing challenges, including malnutrition, the rise in diet-related non-communicable diseases, biodiversity loss, poverty and inequality, accelerating progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals.
Topline Recommendations
Integrate beans into national, regional, and global policy and financing frameworks by embedding them in agricultural investment plans, food systems strategies, and budget instruments to unlock targeted funding and scale impact.
Leverage public procurement systems such as school meals, hospitals, and safety nets to create predictable demand for beans, connect to and support smallholder and family farmers to scale up bean production for domestic and external markets, accelerating progress toward doubling global bean consumption by 2028.
Strengthen bean value chains through trade enabling investments by improving infrastructure, reducing trade barriers, and supporting small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to expand market access for beans in domestic, regional, and international markets.
Support public private partnerships that advance the use of beans as ingredients in industrial foods, food processing and value addition.
Position beans as a climate solution by promoting their role in lower-input agriculture, soil health and drought resilience, and supporting their inclusion in climate mitigation and adaptation plans that benefit farmers and the environment.
Policy Pathway 1: Embedding beans in key development and policy frameworks to create a whole of government approach
Policy Pathway 2: Embedding Beans in Public Procurement
