Another activist NGO talks about Svalbard:
The Bottom Line: The Global Seed Vault is a constructive contribution to the conservation and sustainable use of plant genetic resources.
Excuse me? Yep, you heard me. A must read.
Nibbles: Decoration, insects
- (Agro)biodiversity used as personal decoration in the Omo Valley.
- Eating bugs is good for you. No, really. FAO says so!
Project BudBurst tracks climate change
Here’s a great idea:
Project BudBurst allows people to enter their backyard spring leaf budding and bloom data into an online database that will help track the changing blooming times of specific types of plants.
It covers basically native ornamental trees and shrubs in the US, but surely it could be applied to agricultural species, and be extended worldwide?
More from the Human Flower Project.
SBSTTA [decides]
SBSTTA’s recommendations on the review of the CBD’s programme of work on agrobiodiversity are out, after last week’s smackdown. As usual, there are analyses at UKabc and IISD. The general consensus seems to be that the recommendations have been weakened, but I talked to one person familiar with the negotiations who thought the text was actually clearer and more focused now. But a lot of square brackets remain, in particular the whole section on biofuels. One thing that struck me is the invitation by SBSTTA “to evaluate and characterize germplasm potentially suitable for adaptation to climate change.” I didn’t find that in the original document, so I am assuming it was added during the negotiations. It seems unusual for a CBD document in recognizing — albeit implicitly — the importance of ex situ conservation, at least in the context of climate change. But I don’t really know how these things work. I hope someone will explain it to me.
Of spears, shields and sorghum
Africa’s farmers have been making sorghum beer for centuries, but it now looks like European brewers are getting in on the act. Heineken and Diageo have started replacing imported barley with locally-grown sorghum in their brewing operations in Ghana and Sierra Leone. It started as a social responsibility project (funded by the Common Fund for Commodities, with the European Co-operative for Rural Development as a partner), but recent increases in the price of malting barley have made it “commercially rather attractive” too.
Of course, farmers have to grow the right variety, and ensure that a consistent supply gets to the breweries, so the project has provided training, access to finance (for seed, fertilizer etc.), and assistance with organizing into groups. This is meant to lead to the establishment of a “sustainable production chain,” which is often touted as a prerequisite for the successful promotion of an underutilized crop — or a crop underutilized for a particular purpose, such as sorghum for industrial brewing: “Farmers need to build confidence that the market is there.”
What will the promotion of a single, industrial use for sorghum do to the diversity of the crop? Nothing good, probably, unless the possible consequences are recognized and appropriate steps taken. In a recent paper we have advocated a “spear and shield” approach to promotion. This means that specific incentives that support diversification should be included when promotion of a particular species, variety or use carries significant risks for (agricultural) biodiversity.
Actions which would support diversification include strengthening community germplasm exchange networks. Coincidentally, there’s an IFPRI discussion paper also out today which looks at the seed system for sorghum and millet in West Africa — Mali, in this case. It seems little certified seed is reaching farmers, though it is still unclear whether this is a demand or supply problem. One of the recommendations is that the formal seed supply systems should deal not only with improved material but also with local landraces. This should be brought to the attention of Heineken, Diageo and their sorghum-brewing partners. Their project should seek to strengthen the local seed system as a whole (the shield), not just help farmers get hold of the preferred brewing variety (the spear).