Agricultural Biodiversity Weblog

November 4, 2024November 4, 2024

The World Food Prize goes to genebankers

Well, it’s all over now, and very moving it was too. You can read about the 2024 World Food Prize laureates here, and also watch edited highlights of the ceremony.

Wonderful to see Cary and Geoff — and genebanks — properly recognized.

Me? I was taking pics of the agrobiodiversity.

Brainfood: Heraclitus, Cocoyam, Pollen, Dry chain, DSI, Global Biodiversity Framework

Will a plant germplasm accession conserved in a genebank change genetically over time? Sure, change is inevitable, but it can be minimized, and some can be accepted.
Cocoyam (Xanthosoma sagittifolium (L.) Schott) genetic resources and breeding: a review of 50 years of research efforts. Conventional breeding, based on inducing flowering, is possible, but will require more international exchange of germplasm. I hope someone is saving the seeds.
Pollen banking is a critical need for conserving plant diversity. Even if it changes genetically over time.
Applications of dry chain technology to maintain high seed viability in tropical climates. You’ve got to dry your seeds fast and hard. Probably your pollen too, come to that.
Harmonize rules for digital sequence information benefit-sharing across UN frameworks. The big question is, should there be a single trigger point for monetary benefits, or separate ones for each treaty? At least the sequences do not change over time. But what about if the accessions from which they are derived do?
Involving citizens in monitoring the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. Yes, let’s get citizens to help us monitor all that change.

October 23, 2024October 23, 2024

Mind the gap between crop diversity and nutrition

With all eyes on Cali for the UN Biodiversity Conference (CBD COP16), it is timely to have a close look at National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs) from different perspectives. Do they properly address plant genetic resources for food and agriculture, for example? And if they do, do they make the link to nutrition?

That latter question is investigated in a new report from the Initiative on Climate Action and Nutrition (I-CAN), entitled “Biodiversity and Nutrition Synergies: Evaluating National Biodiversity Strategies and Actions Plans for Integration.”

Spoiler alert:

The majority of NBSAPs mention food security (74%), indigenous knowledge (73%), and genetic diversity of crops (65%) yet did not link these concepts to nutrition. This presents a foundation and opportunity for future NBSAPs to develop these linkages…

So, out of all NBSAPs analysed, 168 (65%) mention genetic diversity. But of those, 99 show “no intentional connection between biodiversity and nutrition.”

Here’s an example from the report of an NBSAP that does show a connection, to show that it’s not difficult, really:

In describing the status and trends of biodiversity in Malawi, the NBSAP covers flora species diversity. Here, the NBSAP lists 14 species (e.g., Dioscorea bulbifera or yam, Curcubita maxima or squash, and others) that have a high nutritive value but are declining in production due to being out competed by major crops. The NBSAP also considers the contribution of different sectors to the country’s total protein supply.

So, overall, lots of missed opportunities to make an even stronger case for the conservation of biodiversity, in Cali and indeed elsewhere.

October 22, 2024October 22, 2024

The latest on the Carolina African Runner Peanut

Jeremy’s latest newsletter discusses the (partial) revival of the Carolina African Runner Peanut by chefs. We have blogged about that here on before, but this is a useful update.

Believe it or not, there are other food podcasts worth listening to. One of them is Gravy, produced by the Southern Foodways Alliance. Recently I listened to the episode America’s Lost Peanut and the Price of Bringing it Back and I have no hesitation in recommending you do the same. It explores both the delight chefs have found in that Lost Peanut and the difficulties in making the peanut available at a price that non-chefs can afford.

The Carolina Runner peanut first hit modern headlines at the tail end of 2016, when it was exciting enough for me to record a little rumination casting doubt on some of the wilder claims that surrounded its resurrection. I also wrote at some length about the history of the peanut and world affairs. I did not, however, foresee how hard it would be for the Carolina Runner to compete with Virginia peanuts (which have more than a drop of African peanut in their bloodlines). The episode of Gravy explains that the nuts currently have to be shelled by hand, unlike Virginia peanuts that can be fed into huge and expensive machines. A quick look around the internet showed a few hand-operated shellers; is it really that difficult to adapt one to work with Carolina Runners?

October 21, 2024October 18, 2024

Brainfood: Food systems, Micronutrients, Animal-source foods, Dietary diversity, Opportunity crops, Traditional landscapes, Gastronomic landscapes, Opportunity crops, Biofortification, Fermentation

Global and local perspectives on food security and food systems. Six experts have their say on how to transform food systems, and dietary diversity seems to be a common (though not a universal) theme. Let’s dig a little deeper into that.
Global estimation of dietary micronutrient inadequacies: a modelling analysis. A lot of people could probably do with eating more fruits and vegetables, for example.
Plant-based diets–impacts of consumption of little or no animal-source foods on human health. Some people could probably do with eating more animal-source foods, though. Well, that’s diversity too.
The association between crop diversity and children’s dietary diversity: multi-scalar and cross-national comparisons. In some places, growing more diverse crops is associated with eating more diverse diets; in other places, not so much. Damn you, nuance!
Revive and Thrive: Forgotten Crops for Resilient Food Systems. Fortunately, there are more advantages to growing more diverse crops than its possible positive effect on diet diversity…
Why traditional rural landscapes are still important to our future. …yes indeed there are, especially if they are grown in diverse landscapes.
Nurturing gastronomic landscapes for biosphere stewardship. The hallowed craft of cooking can help realize those advantages.
NUS so fast: the social and ecological implications of a rapidly developing indigenous food economy in the Cape Town area. However, growing more diverse crops can have downsides, celebrity chefs etc. notwithstanding.
Assessing realized genetic gains in biofortified cassava breeding for over a decade: Enhanced nutritional value and agronomic performance. Breeding crops for higher nutritional value comes at a yield price. Which presumably, in some places, for some people, may be worth paying, give all the uncertainties above?
The future is fermented: Microbial biodiversity of fermented foods is a critical resource for food innovation and human health. Or, we could all ferment more. And maybe get drunk.