Policy

November 18, 2009

Ghaddafi pits genebanks against “satanic” multinationals

Muammar El-Gheddafi’s reference to genebanks at the Hunger Summit on Monday may not be entirely what we thought. His speech is on the FAO webcast website, starting at about the 20 minute mark. I asked an Arabic simultaneous translator friend of mine ((Thanks, Amr.)) to parse the relevant passage and this is what he had to say:

He is talking about the need to break the monopoly on seeds by “satanic multinational companies.” He urges the FAO to encourage the creation of regional and natnioal banks for “enhanced” or “improved” seeds, but not the genetically modified seeds, which he is against. So, he is definitely talking about genebanks, not grain stores.

But not your usual sort of genebank, clearly.

November 17, 2009November 18, 2009

World Food Summit calls for crop diversity conservation

The World Food Summit adopted a resolution yesterday. Some immediately called it “toothless,” but it does contain this welcome call for the conservation and use of agrobiodiversity.

Any recipe for confronting the challenges of climate change must allow for mitigation options and a firm commitment to the adaptation of agriculture, including through conservation and sustainable use of genetic resources for food and agriculture.

I wonder to what extent the delegates were swayed by Libya’s Muammar El-Gheddafi and his call on “FAO to set up improved seed banks to address food security.”

November 16, 2009November 16, 2009

Collecting germplasm for ecosystem restoration

Collecting all the native species in the United States, as well as developing restoration techniques and growing huge amounts of seed will take about 10 years and cost about $500 million, Dr. Havens said — a cost that she argues is well worth it.

That will include a nice batch of crop wild relatives… Incidentally, that $500 million is about twice the value of the endowment that is sometimes mentioned as being necessary to ensure long-term ex situ conservation of crop diversity.

November 16, 2009November 18, 2009

Input subsidies march on in Africa

Those of us who are interested in the Malawi input subsidies experiment will soon have another data point. Zimbabwe has announced its own fertilizer-plus-seeds subsidy. The inclusion of sorghum in the scheme has been welcomed. Would be nice to think that a range of landraces will be made available, along with modern varieties. But somehow I doubt it.

November 16, 2009November 16, 2009

FAO DG fasts in solidarity with billion hungry people

You’ll no doubt be aware there’s a Hunger Summit on in Rome. Jeremy is there at FAO, so I don’t have to be. ((José Manuel Barroso is presumably also in attendance. Along with a few others.)) He was going to post regular updates on Facebook, but alas connectivity is not up to it. But perhaps we’ll get a summary from him in due course. Meanwhile, you can follow the official take on proceedings on Twitter, and indeed watch the webcast. This, however, is perhaps the most interesting of the many gimmicks that will be on display during the next few days. I hope something concrete comes out of all the brouhaha, but wont be holding my breath.