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

    36) Community Seed Banks: enhancing local seed conservation

    The establishment of Community Seed Banks (CSB) has been undertaken by Southeast Asia Regional Initiatives for Community Empowerment (SEARICE) in collaboration with research institutions, universities, government and non-government organizations through various projects aiming to empower communities and small-scale farmers in Southeast Asia since 1996. CSB’s are collections of seeds that are administered by the communities and play a significant role in ensuring seed security, conserving agricultural biodiversity and associated traditional knowledge, and providing options for climate-change adaptation; they can also contribute to the realization of Farmers’ Rights. The main component of the practice was capacity development through Participatory Plant Breeding, Participatory Variety Selection and ecological management through experiential learning in Farmer Field Schools. In the Philippines, the CSB’s became a model of both climate resiliency and agrobiodiversity: mitigating drought through seed distribution to affected farmers in Bohol and enriching the local ‘Dinorado’ variety in North Cotabato. In Bhutan, there was a resurgence of local crop varieties and the inclusion of conservation of PGRFA in their national policies. The impact extends further in Thailand, enabling the revival of the local cultural festival ‘Bun Kao Mai’, a Buddhist celebration of bountiful harvest, excellent seeds and diversity in rice varieties.

    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; Administrative

    37) Participatory Plant Breeding in Lao PDR

    In 2000, the Southeast Asia Regional Initiatives for Community Empowerment (SEARICE), an NGO operating at regional level, and the Agricultural Research Center (ARC) of the National Agriculture and Forestry Research Institute (NAFRI) together with the Department of Agriculture in Lao PDR launched a program called Biodiversity Use and Conservation in Asia Program (BUCAP), which later merged with another program called Community Biodiversity Development and Conservation (CBDC), and implemented from 2006-2010. Activities centred around Farmer Field Schools (FFS) on rice breeding, through which farmers co-defined breeding objectives, and together with scientists of the ARC, identified suitable parent materials. Researchers and extension agents were trained as FFS facilitators, while policy makers from local and national levels were consciously involved in all key activities to raise awareness and generate support for the work of farmers on the ground. As a result of the initiative, 55 high performing rice varieties were developed, of which some exhibit adaptation to specific conditions, including tolerance to drought or acid soils; one variety was granted official release in 2018, while others are still going through the same process.

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

    Type of measure/practice: Technical; Administrative

    38) Construction of a database for farmer varieties/landraces in Japan

    The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan, in collaboration with the National Agriculture and Food Research Organization (NARO), has started to create a database for farmer’s varieties/landraces in Japan since 2018. The database will store information on agricultural and consumption-related traits, origin, traditional usage and current conditions of farmers’ varieties/ landraces, with the aim to utilize the information for conservation, utilization and breeding purposes.

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

    Type of measure/practice: Technical

    39) Strengthening the identity of custodian farmers as a way to increase food security

    Starting in 2010, Embrapa Clima Temperado, a public research organization in Brazil, has developed strategies for strengthening the identity of custodian farmers in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Southern Brazil, in cooperation with several farmers, civil society and research organizations. The objectives were to support the work of custodian farmers and to recognize their important role for the conservation and sustainable use of PGRFA, including for food and nutrition security. Numerous individual farmers and initiatives engage in agrobiodiversity conservation in different parts of Rio Grande do Sul; in this situation, Embrapa has worked towards forming associations of such custodian farmers to strengthen their identity. Since 2010, more than 200 custodian farmers and twelve ‘nuclei’ of custodian farmers have been identified in several regions of the state; seven seminars, including one international, and more than 70 seed exchange fairs have been held. High levels of participation of custodian farmers reflected their desire to exchange and establish contacts among each other. This measure has helped to raise awareness of the important contributions’ custodian farmers can make to achieving societal goals, if they are supported by the recognition of society, especially urban people.

    Category: 5.In-situ/on farm conservation and management of PGRFA, such as social and cultural measures, community biodiversity management and conservation sites

    Type of measure/practice: Technical

    40) 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