Abstract
The government of Nicaragua has favored export crops in agricultural research. Although an improvement in the production technology of staples eaten by the poor could produce large and equitable benefits in society, the government of Nicaragua has underinvested in agricultural research on staples. In this article we review Nicaragua's bean research and show how it has paled relative to export crops. Even during the Sandinista years, bean research stagnated and showed urban biases. In the conclusion we explain why research on beans did not produce good results. © 1992.