National Strategy for Conservation and Sustainable use of Plant Genetic Resources for Food And Agriculture in Zambia

This docuent contains the National Strategy for Conservation and Sustainable Use of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture in Zambia and was developed in a participatory approach involving key national stakeholders with initial support through the TCP/SFS/3402 Project, “Support for the development of national strategies for plant genetic resources for food and agriculture” complemented by support from the project PR-231-Malawi, funded in the 4th cycle of the Benefit Sharing Fund (BSF) of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

This strategy aims to promote and ensure the rationalized conservation and management of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture in Zambia. It presents a succinct review of the status of plant genetic resources management in the country, identifies the emerging challenges and formulates a National Plan of Action for the coming 5 years with a set of key actions covering conservation and utilization, enabling legal environment, strengthening capacities for PGRFA research and development and of local communities, technical staff and decision makers in a comprehensive integrated approach.

It also serves as a tool and strategy for policy guidance in the conservation and sustainable use of PGRFA and calls for aligning the activities relevant to the International Treaty of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture with other long term national development plans relevant to , for example, the Convention on Biological Diversity.