VOA News has a great article (and some audio as well) describing how a Dutch NGO is helping Ugandan farmers exchange agricultural information using mobile phones. If any of the farmers involved has a problem with their cassava, say, or wants to take up a new crop or variety, or get the best price for their honey, the information they need is often just a phone call or sms away. Farmers have great traditional systems for sharing information, but they are often overlooked or at any rate undervalued by development workers. This approach would seem to be a great way of valuing, strengthening and allowing farmers to build on those systems.
Root crops news
Root and tuber staples get a bit of a raw deal in agricultural biodiversity circles. They’re incredibly important to many cultures and in many agricultural systems around the world, but difficult to conserve and difficult to breed. So the discourse does tend to be dominated by seed crops. Which is why it’s so great to read — in the mainstream media — of a sweet potato enthusiast in Japan and of a fascinating traditional yam ceremony in Papua New Guinea.
Namibia examines Access and Benefit Sharing
A meeting in Windhoek, Namibia, is bringing together private sector and government in an effort to develop legislation and practices governing biotrade and bioprospecting, according to an article in allAfrica.com. Namibia is currently drafting a bill on Access to Genetic Resources and Traditional Knowledge.
According to the report, the private sector is unwilling to stand up and announce a clear approach to ABS.
“They are averse to any negative publicity and believe that prior to any such event it is essential for them to have a clear position and approach to benefit sharing, and for many this is still work in progress,” said Jonathan Laundrey, New Business Manager of Phyto Trade Africa.
The focus on medicinal products, where “benefits” can indeed be very large, is not surprising as Namibia is the primary source of Devil’s Claw, Harpagophytum procumbens, a therapy for inflammation — notably arthritis — and other ailments. The value of exports is estimated at N$10 million a year. That’s “only” US $140,000, but in a country where more than a third of the people live on less than a dollar a day, a bigger share would probably help. An old press release from WHO suggests that organic, sustainable Devil’s Claw is the way forward, but enforcing that requires more than a bill on ABS.
Later … I’ve done a little more digging, and discovered a study published at the end of 2006 that has this to say on the value of Devil’s Claw:
In answer to the question of whether Devil’s Claw is fairly traded analysis of the value chain indicated that harvesters receive only 1.1% of the final consumer price of the active ingredient of Devil’s Claw. Of the final shelfÂvalue, only 7% is retained within the range states, a disappointingly low figure.
Croatian agricultural biodiversity
Conference on Croatian breeds and varieties, in Croatian though.
Documenting Amazonian crop diversity
CODESU is the Consortium for Sustainable Development in Ucayali – an Amazonian department of Peru, with Pucallpa as its administrative centre. The consortium partners really recognize the importance of agricultural biodiversity in their development efforts – perhaps an unusual situation. The latest evidence of this committment is the germplasm catalog that has just gone online. It has information on cassava, peppers, beans and maize. There are other interesting resources on the website, including publications, though mainly in Spanish. You can read more about the efforts of CODESU in the management of crop diversity in traditional agroecosystems, and place them in a wider context, in a recent Bioversity International publication of that title.