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

Please fix the following errors:

    Help on this page

    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.
     
     
     
     
     
    Clear search form
    Number of records: 233

    221) Recognizing farmer’s rights to freely save, use, exchange and sell farm-saved seed/propagating material of protected varieties in Plant Variety Protection laws

    Several developing countries such as Ethiopia, India, Malaysia and the Philippines have developed their own sui generis plant variety protection (PVP) systems, which comply with the demands of the TRIPS Agreement of the WTO as well as implements farmers´ right to freely save, use, exchange and sell farm-saved seed/propagating material. In 2001, India passed the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers´ Rights Act stating that a farmer shall be entitled to save, use, sow, re-sow, exchange, share or sell his farm produce including seed of a variety protected under the Act in the same manner as s/he was entitled before. Likewise, the Ethiopian Plant Breeders Right Proclamation from 2006 grants farmers the right to save, use, multiply, exchange and sell farm-saved seed or propagating material of protected varieties. The Philippine and the Malaysian law have other articles promoting the farmers’ rights to freely save, use, exchange and sell farm-saved seed/propagating material of protected varieties in plant variety protection laws. This shows that it is feasible to implement an effective PVP system that also recognizes farmers’ right to freely save, use, exchange and sell farm-saved seed/propagating materials.

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

    Type of measure/practice: Legal

    222) The ‘Golden Pea award’

    The ‘Golden Pea award’ is a recognition of those individuals that - often throughout generations - have contributed to the conservation of plant genetic resources. The award can be given to farmers, gardeners, private persons, and organizations alike. Since the first ‘Golden Pea’ was awarded in 2002, close to 50 caretakers of the green heritage have been lauded. The award is a collaboration between the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, coordinator of the national PGR Programme, and County Administrations that wish to participate. The Golden Pea award helps raise public awareness of PGR issues at the local and regional level.

    Category: 1.Recognition of local and indigenous communities’, farmers’ contributions to conservation and sustainable use of PGRFA, such as awards and recognition of custodian/guardian farmers

    Type of measure/practice: Administrative

    223) Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP)

    Administered by the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NCRS), the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program, established in 2014, provides financial and technical assistance to help conserve agricultural lands and limit non-agricultural uses of the land. Agricultural Land Easements protect the long-term viability of the nation’s food supply by preventing conversion of productive working lands to non-agricultural uses. Land protected by agricultural land easements provides additional public benefits, including environmental quality, historic preservation, wildlife habitat and protection of open space.

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

    Type of measure/practice: Technical; Administrative; Legal

    224) Rolling the National Plan of Action for the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (NAP-PGRFA) together with farmers’ organizations

    The implementation of the Swiss National Plan of Action for the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (NPA-PGRFA) started in 1999. The Ordinance on Conservation and Sustainable Use of PGRFA referring to the NPA-PGRFA entered into force in 2015. It provides a stronger legal framework for the measures for conservation of PGRFA and regulates the management of the national gene bank of PGRFA in Switzerland. NPA-PGRFA strategies and guidelines are defined and implemented based on a multi-stakeholder approach, together with a wide range of private and public institutions. Farmers and farmers’ organizations can participate and profit in many ways from the NPA-PGRFA through promoted activities such as the maintenance and marketing of landraces/farmers' varieties; participatory plant breeding/participatory varietal selection; seed-exchange networks; facilitated access to information on plant genetic diversity so as capacity building. Three hundred projects have been completed so far, with 100 on-going projects in collaboration with regional and national organizations. These projects are listed in the national genebank. Key measures for the sustainable use of PGRFA are the characterization and evaluation of plant genetic resources as well as ensuring high phytosanitary standards for propagation material and promoting PGRFA for niche production.

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

    Type of measure/practice: Technical; Administrative; Legal

    225) Community Biodiversity Register

    Establishment of Community Biodiversity Register (CBR) was piloted during the Global Agrobiodiversity Project, starting in 1998. It was implemented by Local Initiatives for Biodiversity, Research and Development (LI-BIRD) in collaboration with the Nepal Agricultural Research Council (NARC) and Bioversity International. CBR can be used as ‘information databases’ on biodiversity and associated knowledge, where¬by communities gain better understanding of their biological assets; for developing community biodiversity management plans, identifying PGRFA for conservation and sources of seed and planting material; or for protecting traditional knowledge against appropriation. LI-BIRD follows eight steps for developing a CBR: (1) selecting the community; (2) informing the community on the rationale and objectives; (3) strengthening institutional capacity; (4) defining a specific focus and initial requirements for data collection; (5) documenting, compiling and validating information; (6) analysing and sharing information; (7) designing and implementing conservation and development plans; and (8) registering and linking with a national repository. Participating farmers realized that many local landraces are vulnerable to genetic erosion and eventual loss; Community Seed Banks were established in some areas to address this issue. Information collected should be used for planning of community-based biodiversity management activities, rather than limiting the approach to documentation alone.

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

    Type of measure/practice: Technical