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

    211) Helping farmers access PGRFA from the multilateral system for climate-change adaptation

    Under the Joint Capacity Building Program for Developing Countries on Implementation of the International Treaty and its Multilateral System of Access and Benefit-sharing, Bioversity International with partners implemented several projects: ‘Genetic Resources Policy Initiative,’ ‘Mutually supportive implementation of the Plant Treaty and Nagoya Protocol in Benin and Madagascar’ and ‘Open source seeds systems for climate change adaptation’. Core components included participatory workshops with farmers to identify climate-change impacts and desirable crop traits, followed by selecting local varieties and adapted materials for crop enhancement programs suited to local conditions. Other components included technical training to identify suitable PGRFA from abroad, which were then accessed through the multilateral system. The objectives were (1) to help farmers access diverse crop germplasm whose performance they can evaluate in their own local settings; and (2) to demonstrate to national policy makers why implementing and taking advantage of the ITPGRFA’s multilateral system of access and benefit-sharing is useful. Key lessons learned include that most farmers are unaware of the ITPGRFA, but once they understand the opportunities, they become highly interested in accessing and testing PGRFA; however, connecting farmers to the multilateral system requires support from the national research system.

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

    Type of measure/practice: Technical; Administrative

    212) Author’s rights/copyrights

    Author’s rights/copyrights can be used to strengthen the position of traditional knowledge holders, viewing them as providers of knowledge just like scientists, rather than simply informants. In France, Author’s right/Copyright law is governed by Section I of the French Intellectual Property Code and the Law on Literary and Artistic Property of 11 March 1957 (modified in July 1985). All works of intellectual creation are protected based simply upon their creation, without any formal requirements. Conditions that must be satisfied in order to benefit from copyright protection are: (1) the work must be fixed in a material form; and (2) the work must be original. Every production in the literary, scientific and artistic domain, irrespective of the mode or form of expression, is eligible for copyright protection in France, including books, brochures, speeches, etc. Several tools have been developed to keep evidence of the creation, including the ‘Soleau envelop’, which can be purchased from the Institut National de la Propriété Industrielle (INPI) and used to prove that its content has been created by the applicant at a given date without the content or the date being questionable, or registration with an authors’ society.

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

    Type of measure/practice: Legal

    213) Support to farmer seed-producer groups in producing seed potatoes of native varieties

    Since 2011, the PROINPA foundation, with support of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and Bioversity International, has started supporting peasant communities in Bolivia, including in the ‘Puna de Colomi’, where peasant groups are interested in improving their seed production systems. The objective was to supply native potato varieties not only locally, but also to other potato producing areas. Key activities are (1) to organize seed producers and officially register them in the national directory of seed producers; (2) in a participatory manner, to characterize, identify and produce the most promising native potato varieties, for marketing and for consumption; and (3) to enhance the capacities and skills of farmers (both seed producers and others) for the production of high-quality native potato crops under the harsh conditions of the Puna de Colomi. Lessons learned include that seed production by farmers can contribute to their income generation as well as increase the choices and diversity of varieties available in their seed markets; in the face of a rigid political and legal seed production regime, farmers' organizations were able to organize their own seed production and quality control systems.

    Category: 3.Approaches to encourage income-generating activities to support farmers’ conservation and sustainable use of PGRFA

    Type of measure/practice: Technical

    214) Community seed registry

    Starting in 2002, the Campagao Farmers' Production and Research Association (CFPRA) of the municipality of Bilar, province of Bohol, in collaboration with Southeast Asia Regional Initiatives for Community Empowerment (SEARICE), established a community seed registry. The registry is not intended to claim property rights but aims to prevent others from doing so by placing knowledge in the public domain. The community seed registry recognizes farmers as the developers of the varieties and upholds the principle that seeds should be freely and widely accessed and exchanged. Through a municipal resolution, the community seed registry was officially recognized. Community seed registries may evolve differently in different contexts, but share common elements, including (1) a community declaration, through which the local communities publicly and collectively assert their rights over local plant genetic resources, e.g. a joint resolution or statements of communities or farmers’ organizations, public ceremonies, rituals/oral traditions, audio/video techniques, or other indigenous means of documentation; (2) legal recognition, which obliges the State to recognize the registries and to provide them with a mantle of legal protection; and (3) community protocols or procedures meant to regulate and facilitate access more systematically and to ensure that Farmers’ Rights to the accessed materials are recognized.

    Category: 4.Catalogues, registries and other forms of documentation of PGRFA and protection of traditional knowledge

    Type of measure/practice: Technical; Administrative

    215) Participatory plant variety selection

    The Malawi Plant Genetic Resources Centre (MPGRC) started working on the Participatory Variety Selection of 56 bambara nut accessions in the year 2001/02. The work involved three research stations in the Department of Agricultural Research Services namely: Chitedze in Lilongwe district, Chitala in Salima district and Mbawa in Mzimba district. Agricultural Extension Planning Areas (EPAS) and Farmers from villages surrounding the research stations were also involved in these activities. The major objective of the work was to identify high yielding and farmer-preferred accessions since the production of bambara nuts in Malawi is characterized by low yields. Core components included (1) farmer involvement, which contributed to Programme success and ensured farmer commitment in implementing the activities; (2) integration of local technical and scientific knowledge in the research process; and (3) development of readily acceptable varieties by farmers which is one of the fundamental research gaps in Malawi. The major outcome of the PVS was the official release by the Department of Agricultural Research Services through MPGRC of three farmer-preferred bambara nut varieties. Key lessons learnt included that integration of farmer preferences at an early stage in varietal development enhances adoption rates.

    Category: 7.Participatory approaches to research on PGRFA, including characterization and evaluation, participatory plant breeding and variety selection

    Type of measure/practice: Technical