Agrobiodiversity is crops, livestock, foodways, microbes, pollinators, wild relatives …
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.
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.
Our friend Ehsan Dulloo of Bioversity International is the frontman for a project that has just been selected as one of the winners of this year’s Development Marketplace awards.
A DM grant will enable Biodiversity International to protect the livelihoods of some 200 vulnerable women farmers, by providing access to seeds for locally-adapted varieties of crops. The project draws from gene banks, indigenous knowledge and farmer know-how, as well as traditional ways of adapting to climate variability.
There are several other agrobiodiversity projects among the winners. For example, “Peru’s Associación ANDES will support plant-breeding to increase diversity and production of nutritious potatoes and other tubers, improving health, incomes and quality of life for the community’s people.” And in the Philippines the “Trowel Development Foundation will replant mangroves and set up a value-chain system to fatten and market tie-crabs.” Well worth exploring the whole list. Congratulations to all.
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. 1 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.
Robert asks Andre the questions on almost everyone’s lips:
Is there is a real & significant risk that allowing non-certified seed exchange would undermine the certification system? To the extent that it could imperil agricultural production (and hence our society)? A risk grave enough to infringe on the free exchange of seeds (an overlooked, but fundamental, (post-neolithic) human right)?