Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations  
International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture

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    The Inventory

    This online version of the Inventory presents, for each measure, the title and a brief description with information on implementing organization(s), start year, objectives, core elements, key outcomes, and, if applicable, lessons learned. It thus allows users to quickly identify those examples that may be of interest to them. A hyperlink to the original submission is provided, which includes additional information, such as on the history and context of the presented measure, challenges encountered, or target groups reached. In this way, users can get a more comprehensive idea of the measure in question and the specific context for which it was developed.
     
    To facilitate navigation, the Inventory is subdivided into eleven categories. Measures or practices that fall under more than one category are listed under each one that applies. Furthermore, information is provided on the type(s) of measures that are typically involved, such as technical, administrative, legal, and/or others, and on the relevant sub-article of Article 9 that is addressed. Additional search options allow searching by country, region, free text and keyword.
     
     
     
     
     
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    Number of records: 233

    11) Farmer Field Schools, as an extension approach to transfer technology transfer with the help of farmer to farmer trainers using demonstration centers as learning points

    This practice was conducted through the project "Harnessing dryland legume and cereals genetic resource for food and nutrition security and resilient farming systems in Malawi and Zambia" which started in 2019, and implemented by ICRISAT, together with the Department of Agricultural Services (DARS) in Malawi, the Zambia Agricultural Research Institution (ZARI) and farmer associations with funding from the Benefit-sharing Fund. The main objectives are to build capacity of smallholder farmers to use improved varieties for food and nutrition security to enhance resilience in production in the face of climate variability, while realizing sustained incomes among women and youth, and to improve community dialogue/farmer research network including gender mainstreaming. Activities include: practical evaluation of best technologies through demonstrations, in addition to technology and knowledge dissemination through business planning and gender training. The main outcomes: enhanced farmers capacity of farmers to innovate and use of plant genetic resources for food and nutrition security; enhanced ownership and adoption of technologies; and enhanced equity and inclusion in the implementation of the programme. The main lesson learned is that the farmer field school approach is exemplary in the delivery of best-bet technologies whereby knowledge and skills are passed to farmers through a practical-based approach.

    Category: 9.Training, capacity development and public awareness creation

    Type of measure/practice: Technical

    12) Ethiopian Seed Law Proclamation No. 782/2013

    In 2013, the Ethiopian government adopted a new seed law, ‘Seed Proclamation 782/2013’, repealing the previous Seed Proclamation 206/2000. The Seed Proclamation 782/2013 remains the current seed legislation in Ethiopia and is implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture. This revised seed law provides for certain provisions towards the safeguarding of farmers’ rights. Article 3, which provides for the scope of application, provides the following exceptions: a) the use of farm-saved seed by any person; b) the exchange or sale of farm-saved seed among smallholder farmers of agro-pastoralists; c) seed to be used for research purposes; and d) forestry seed. In regard to the first exception, ‘use’ is not defined in the Proclamation, and the ordinary meaning of the verb use has to be ascribed here, to include; take, hold, or deploy (something) as a means of accomplishing or achieving something; to employ. The current seed law of 2013 provides for much wider safeguards for the possible realisation of farmers’ rights than its predecessor which it replaced. In this revised seed law, specific references are made to small scale farmers and agro-pastoralists, as compared with the previous legislation of 2000.

    Category: 10.Legal measures for the implementation of Farmers’ Rights, such as legislative measures related to PGRFA.

    Type of measure/practice: Legal

    13) Smallholder farmers’ capacity building on community seed banking

    Seed Savers Network-Kenya (SSN-Kenya) is a national grassroots farmers’ organization dedicated to promoting food and seed sovereignty. SSN-Kenya safeguards plant genetic materials through on-farm seed saving, community seed banks, and field genebanks for agrobiodiversity conservation. It has a network of over 50,000 farmers across five counties in Kenya, including Nakuru, Nyandarua, Kiambu, Baringo, and Kakamega in seed saving at farm level, ecological Agriculture, capacity building, community biodiversity register (CBR), open-source seed system (OSSS) and Advocacy for food sovereignty. In its12 years of existence, more than 60 000 small-scale farmers have been trained and empowered in crop diversification using locally available seeds and soil fertility amendments. SSN-Kenya has established 100 community seed banks in different villages of Kenya, where each seed bank covers at least 600 people in a village. Through their various capacity-building activities for the farmers, they saved more than 300 varieties of seeds that may have been lost. More importantly, they improved the food supply to more than 20 000 households and thus lower food insecurity cases while improving health through consumption of more nutritious diets from their farms.

    Category: 9.Training, capacity development and public awareness creation

    Type of measure/practice: Technical

    14) Training and awareness creation work shop for Community Seed Banks

    Since 1994, the Ethiopian Biodiversity Institute established over 30 community seed banks (CSBs) and organized Crop Conservator Associations (CCA) in various regional states of Ethiopia. In 2021, a new project has begun with the objectives of establishing a national CSBs platform that will support existing CSBs and networks of nearly 30 CSBs in different agro-ecological zones of Ethiopia, in addition to scaling out their activities and achievements, and contribute to strengthening the informal seed system. The key components of the project will be: (1) to support farmers sustainably use and conserve PGRFA; (2) network households in different agro-ecological zones networked and training on quality seed production from planting to storage; and exchange on technical CSB management and sustainable business model experience among different agro-ecological zones; (3) re-introduce, conserve and disseminate locally adapted varieties with farmers’ participation; (4) enhance seed systems to promote the use of adapted varieties through CSBs and Field Gene Banks (FGBs); (5) diversify local agricultural systems for enhanced resilience through the cultivation of cereals, pulses and others, and (6) characterize, phenotype, evaluate, document and pre-breed crop species of PGRFA for traits of importance to adaptation and resilience.

    Category: 9.Training, capacity development and public awareness creation

    Type of measure/practice: Technical

    15) Facilitating small-scale farmers access to diverse seeds of traditional small grains varieties and landraces, and providing support to sustainable use and conservation of local small grains resources

    In June 2020, the Institute of Field and Vegetable Crops, Serbia, and the Institute for Plant Genetic Resources, Bulgaria, in cooperation with other national and local organizations, started implementing the project " Redesigning the exploitation of small grains genetic resources towards increased sustainability of grain-value chain and improved farmers’ livelihoods in Serbia and Bulgaria - - GRAINEFIT." The project aims to increase on-farm small grains crop diversity, contribute to food security and enhance resilience to climate change by collecting, multiplying, evaluating, maintaining, and facilitating the adoption, access, and exchange of farmers’ seeds. The core components of the project include the collection of small grains genetic resources from farms, institutes’ collections, and gene banks, as well as local traditional knowledge on crop management and use; seed multiplication, characterization, and evaluation of the small grains genetic resources, among others. Key outcomes of the project include: collection, multiplication, characterization, and evaluation of 141 local landraces and traditional varieties, and the establishment of firm linkages and cooperation between farmers, researchers, and national and local community gene banks is one of the key outcomes. The main lesson learned is that the involvement of farmers conserving and using PGRFA is important in raising awareness of the importance of farm diversification, plant genetic resources, and farmers’ rights.

    Category: 6.Facilitation of farmers’ access to a diversity of PGRFA through community seed banks, seed networks and other measures improving farmers’ choices of a wider diversity of PGRFA.

    Type of measure/practice: Technical; Others