We Manage What We Measure: An Agrobiodiversity Index to Help Deliver SDGs
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Presentation delivered by M. Ann Tutwiler at the International Agrobiodiversity Congress 2016, held in Delhi, India, 6-9 November. The presentation outlined a new Agrobiodiversity Index that will enable governments, private sector and other decision-makers to assess and track agrobiodiversity in food systems. Currently there is no consistent way to do this. Find out more about the India Agrobiodiversity Congress: http://www.bioversityinternational.org/iac2016/ IAC 2016 gathered 850 delegates from over 40 countries across the world who presented the results and stories of progress of agrobiodiversity research they are involved in.
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We Manage What We Measure: An Agrobiodiversity Index to Help Deliver SDGs
- 1. We Manage What We Measure: an Agrobiodiversity Index to Help Deliver the Sustainable Development Goals M. Ann Tutwiler, Director General, Bioversity International International Agrobiodiversity Congress, New Delhi, India 6 November 2016 #IAC_2016 @AnnTutwiler Photo:KrishnasisGhosh
- 2. The 20th Century Challenge Over the past century, farmers and breeders have used genetic diversity to breed high-yielding varieties. The Green Revolution brought new varieties and production methods to developing countries, with significant results. FAO Save and Grow, 2011 FAO Save and Grow, 2011
- 3. Cost 1: Planetary Boundaries are Exceeded Steffen et al., 2016
- 4. Cost 2: Global Malnutrition Once considered a high income problem, overweight and obesity are on the rise in low and middle-income countries, especially in urban settings. At the same time, 1 billion people suffer from ‘hidden hunger’.
- 5. Cost 3: Production Systems Losing Diversity Data source: RBG Kew, 2016; FAO, 1997 3 12
- 6. 21st Century Goals More Complex and Interconnected
- 7. If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got! Food systems are a critical agent of a world transition to global sustainability: • Diverse highly nutritious and resilient species and varieties integrated into our diets and value chains. • Diverse, highly nutritious and resilient varieties and species integrated into our food production systems. Credit:BioversityInternational/S.MannCredit:BioversityInternational/Y.Morimoto
- 8. The Old Model Yield per hectare Sufficiency in dietary energy Proportion of children receiving a vitamin A capsule Number of accessions in genebanks Photos: Flickr/G. San Martin, Moss; CIAT/N. Palmer, CIFOR/R. Martin Quantity of seed produced’ or ‘seed replacement rates’
- 9. Nutritious & diverse diets Productive, low-input and resilient farms and landscapes Farmers’ access to quality, diverse seeds Conservation of agrobiodiversity for future options and today’s needs New Improved Model Photos: Bioversity International/A. Camacho, P.Lepoint, A. Sidhu, N.Capozio
- 10. We Need New Metrics! A consistent long-term monitoring system for agrobiodiversity to be applied across four sustainable food system components: Nutritious, diverse diets Productive and resilient farms and landscapes Farmers’ access to quality, diverse seeds Conservation of agrobiodiversity for future options Photos: Bioversity International/A. Camacho, P.Lepoint, A. Sidhu, N.Capozio
- 11. Counting More Than Calories – Nutritional Yield
- 12. What are the Linkages Between Producing and Consuming Agricultural Biodiversity? Photo: Kenyan farmer in her home garden. Credit: E. Demartis
- 13. Links Between Nutrition and Production Systems Source: Kehlenbeck K, McMullin S. 2015. Fruit tree portfolios for improved diets and nutrition in Machakos County, Kenya. ICRAF
- 14. Supportive Policies are Essential Example - Millets in India Nutritious & drought resistant millets once part of traditional diets. Working with partners for 15 years to promote millet use resulting in: • 2013 India’s food security act adds millets into public distribution system • Millets on menu in restaurants, sold on streets • Inclusion of millets in school lunches in 12 districts in Central & Southern India. Photos: The Hindu newspaper clipping; Minor millet products. Credit: Bioversity International/S. Padulosi
- 15. The Links Between Resilient, Productive Farms and Biodiversity – Not Just Yield of Commodities Photo: Ecosystem services in a rice system in Java. Credit: CIFOR/A. Erlangga
- 16. ↑ Soil stability ↓ Soil erosion Agricultural biodiversity and complex vegetation structure Soil structure Diversity at Field and Farm Level ↑ Ecosystem services Above-ground biodiversity + Below-ground biodiversity Soil function and nutrient cycling
- 17. Diversity in Landscapes Stops Pests in Their Tracks Photos: Coffee landscape and damage of a coffee borer beetle. Credit: Bioversity Internationl/F. De Clerck and C. Zanzanaini
- 18. Genetic Diversity in Beans in Uganda Reduces Food LossesHouseholdweighteddamageindexWDI Number of varieties grown per household Angular Leave Spot Anthracnose Number of varieties grown per household Photo:Researchersanalyzedamageonbeanplants.Credit:BioversityInternational/P.deSantis
- 19. How Seed Systems Contribute to Diversity • Innovation • Seed production and distribution • Regulation • Seed access support • Conservation Photo: Women in a seedbank, India. Credit: Bioversity International/P. Bordoni
- 20. Seed Systems and Diversity - How Innovation Drives Diversity in Food Systems Photo: Farmers score wheat varieties according to their preferred phenotypical traits in a field trail in Northern Ethiopia. Credit: Bioversity Internationl/J. van de Gevel
- 21. Seed Systems and Diversity: How Seed Regulation and Quality Control Influence Diversity Photo: Stephan Weise and Surya Adhikari, a Nepalese innovator and farmer. Credit: Bioversity Internationl/B. Sthapit
- 22. How Does Farmers’Access to Seed Diversity Influence the Sustainability of Food Production and the Quality of Diets? Photo: A farm on the side of Mount Kenya. Credit: CIAT/N. Palmer
- 23. Seed Systems and Diversity: How Seed Production Influences Diversity Photo: A seedbank manager at the Jogimara Community Seedbank, Dhading, Nepal. Credit: Bioversity International/R. Vernooy
- 24. Farmers select and use local materials Policies, institutions and information systems are in place Genetic materials continue to evolve Farmers continue to use genetic materials in diets and farming systems Materials are adequately characterized and evaluated Favourable dynamic evolutionary forces persist Ex situ conservation On-farm conservation In situ conservation Germplasm of high value (better adapted, nutrient-dense, resistant to pests and diseases) is available to farmers and breeders Conserving genetic resources for sustainable food systems Maintain genetic materials unchanged for perpetuity
- 25. On-farm Conservation for Farmers’ Strategies Photo: A home garden in Nepal. Credit: Bioversity International/B. Sthapit
- 26. In Situ Conservation for Evolution in the Wild Photo: Bioversity International and Indonesian national partners survey wild mango diversity. Credit: Bioversity International/B. Sthapit
- 27. Ex Situ Conservation Photos (L-R): Coconut field bank. Banana seedlings in test tubes. Kenyan woman demonstrates seed diversity conserved in gourds. Credit: Bioversity International/P. Batugal, N. Capozio, Y. Wachira
- 28. Conservation - Enabling Environment Photos (L-R): Community biodiversity register of mango. Custodian farmers of ragpur lime and rough lemon rootstocks, India. Credit: Bioversity International/B. Sthapit
- 29. The Agrobiodiversity Index A consistent long-term monitoring system for agrobiodiversity to be applied across four sustainable food system components: Nutritious, diverse diets Productive and resilient farms and landscapes Farmers’ access to quality, diverse seeds Conservation of agrobiodiversity for future options
- 30. Next Steps • Mainstreaming Agrobiodiversity in Sustainable Food Systems: Scientific foundations for an Agrobiodiversity Index book coming out in early 2017 on expert and stakeholder consultations • Initial design of ABD Index • Verification of the feasibility of measuring bond and corporate performance using an ABD Index • Pilot in two countries (Ethiopia and Peru) • ICT infrastructure development.
Hinweis der Redaktion
- Thank you to co-chairs Swaminathan and CIMMYT’s Martin Kropff. Agrobiodiversity is critical to the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals: zero hunger, healthy lives and wellbeing for all, sustainable consumption and production patterns, combatting climate change and halting biodiversity loss. Up to now, there has been no consistent way to assess agrobiodiversity in food systems, track change, or measure the influence that it has on other issues and sectors. Such knowledge gaps also extend to Sustainable Development Goals and the Aichi Targets. Bioversity is developing the Agrobiodiversity Index for this reason
- The world has been remarkable in delivering food to a growing population. But it has come at a cost. This approach worked at the time delivering food to feed the world and considered a strategy for rural transformation in developing countries, where hunger levels were very high – very focused on fewer staple grains (the start of monoculture production with high chemical industrial inputs). You can see from the chart huge drops in the number of people hungry and the volume of crops produced over this period. ENERGY PRIORITISED OVER OTHER GOALS
- 19-29% of total greenhouse gas emissions Single largest user of freshwater in the world, with 70% of the totally withdrawn water being diverted for agriculture (Kabat 2013), which has resulted in approximately 25 % of the world’s major river basins no longer reaching the ocean (Comprehensive Assessment of Water Management in Agriculture 2007). -
- While food has been produced, nutrition has largely been left out of the equation. Diet drives the global burden of disease. 6/top 11 risk factors (such as child and maternal malnutrition, high blood pressure, high body mass index and high cholesterol) driving the global burden of disease are related to diet. The risks that poor diets pose to mortality and morbidity is now greater than the combined risks of unsafe sex, alcohol, drug and tobacco use (27% v 16%)
- For decades agriculture has been focused on increasing yields of commodity staple crops - often energy rich but micronutrient poor Narrowing of our global diet people currently get 90% of their calories, protein and fat from the same 50 crops Other challenges: climate change, population growth, land degradation, etc CG 2012 270 m on three crops 40 m on 10 crops – sorghum, legumes, millets, sorghum, barley, etc
- We no longer have one goal, but many goals that are inter-related
- We need to do things differently. Decisions about consumption and production are mutually reinforcing, and increasingly demand is driving supply rather than the contrary. But we need to shape demand so that it is consumers demand + affordable, sustainably-sourced and nutritious products coinciding with producer needs for more productive, sustainable and resilient management strategies on farms and across agro-ecological landscapes. The world’s food system puts neither production or consumption first. Instead it considers production and consumption together.
- So where do we start? At the moment we are ‘locked in’ to a vicious cycle: Ag increasingly homogenized, responding to and creating homogenization of diets, leading to reduced interest in researching, improving and conserving the vast diversity available 4. Leading to less variety of seed and other planting materials – fewer options to provide resilient, productive farms 1 reason for this: how we measure success – without consideration of other sectors These are perfectly good measures for certain aspects of production, nutrition, conservation and seed systems BUT they do not take the other sectors into account. Take NUTRITION: sufficiency in dietary energy was how things were measured. The nutritionist then took care of the inevitable micronutrient deficiencies One of the most common measures of success in tackling vitamin A deficiency is the proportion of children receiving a vitamin A capsule in the past six months (rather than the percent of children consuming a vitamin A rich food, for example). STILL IN BOXES and not looking across
- What if we could identify measures for the outcomes that we want? Would that help drive the changes that we need in the system?
- Together can make progress against multiple SDGs at once. Indicators based on EVIDENCE about the linkages between the various aspects. Let me take you through some of that evidence…
- Remember previous slide? 50% of world’s plant derived calories come from rice, wheat and maize Globally land area devoted to cereals > over last 50 years increased between 66-79% Between 1961 and 2013 - rice, wheat and maize responsible for increase in ag area used for their farming. This is at expense of other cereals – sorghum, barley, oats and rye and millet declined from 33% to 19% - the ones that generally have the higher micronutrient content. FIGURE: Nutritional yields (number of adults who can obtain 100% of annual Daily Recommended Intake (DRI) from 1 ha per year) of eight cereals for energy, protein, iron, and zinc for global supply in 2013 India In 2013, for example, on average one hectare of rice produced 4.5 metric tons/year, which is the equivalent of providing the annual energy requirement for 19.9 adults. Millet produced only 0.9 metric tons/ha per year, the annual energy requirement for 4.0 adults. However, a hectare of rice fulfills the annual iron requirement for only 7.6 adults, compared with 15.3 for millet.
- Recent study found that in 14 out of 15 studies, household level agricultural biodiversity was positively associated with household or individual level dietary diversity or quality, independent of household wealth or market access. [Source Andrew Jones 2016] Ag interventions on nutritional status review focusing on South Asia shows that the production of targeted nutrition-rich crops, homestead gardens, and diversification of the agricultural production system towards fruits and vegetables and aquaculture can potentially improve nutrient intake and nutritional outcomes. The studies indicate strong evidence that the dietary intake of agricultural households largely depends on food supplies from their own farm because subsistence farming is common in this region. Interventions for increasing productivity and production of specific nutritious food crops such as vegetables and pulses showed positive implications for an increased intake of targeted food and child nutrition Home gardens were found to play a crucial role in the consumption of fruits and vegetables. [Source: Laxmi Pandey 2016]
- You can PLAN for year-round nutrient-dense foods Planning for year-round nutrient-dense foods. Research into nutrient composition of fruit species and research into when fruits are available in or to plan. In April, May and June in Kenya food security is high and fruit availability is also high, but in the months of November, December and January availability is low right at the same time as food insecurity is high. Planning integrated farming systems with fruits high in vitamin A and C is one strategy for nutritious diets. The same can be done for indigenous vegetables, small animals or fish. Figure 2: Fruit tree portfolios provide for year round availability of fruits (Kehlenbeck and McMullin, 2015). Source: Stepha McMullin and Ramni Jamnadass , World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF)
- We have been working on linking agrobiodiversity value chains and climate adaptation to empower the poor and improve food and nutrition security and resilience in Bolivia, Guatemala, India, Mali and Nepal. For example, working with national partners in India, Bioversity promoted conservation and use of millets, a forgotten crop after the popularization of rice, wheat and maize. INDIA EXAMPLE HERE
- ECOSYSTEM SERVICES IN RICE SYSTEMS From a sustainable food system approach, we have to look at agricultural landscapes in terms of more than just yield. Many ecosystem services are provided by agricultural landscapes – but despite the potential powerful contributions, they are under researched. For example a systematic review of sustainable intensification articles found that only 2% mentioned nutrition or crop diversity – while 92% mentioned yield All countries – no matter how industrialized – have a proportion of farms farmed in ways use agroecological approaches and principles – with rather than against natural processes. We have options in how we choose to farm.
- Soil management highly under-researched but there is gathering evidence that crop diversity at field and farm level plays an important role. Tiemann and colleagues (2015) set up a novel experiment showed that as crop diversity increased from 1 to 5 species, distinct soil microbial communities were related to increases in soil aggregation, organic carbon, total nitrogen, microbial activity, and decreases in the carbon-to-nitrogen acquiring enzyme activity ratio. Related stats: For the entire biosphere, the value (most of which is outside the market) is estimated to be in the range of US$16–54 trillion per year, with an average of US$33 trillion per year ($44 trillion in 2012 values). Because of the nature of the uncertainties, this must be considered a minimum estimate. Global gross national product total is around US$18 trillion per year ($24 trillion in 2012 values) (Costanza et al, 1997). A survey conducted in Central American hillsides after Hurricane Mitch showed that farmers using diversification practices such as cover crops, intercropping and agroforestry suffered less damage than their conventional monoculture neighbors. These farms had 20 to 40% more topsoil, greater soil moisture and less erosion and experienced lower economic losses than their conventional neighbors (Holt-Gimenez 2000).
- Fragmenting agricultural landscapes by increasing the diversity of cropping systems increases distance between crops and acts as a physical barrier. It takes > 400 linear meters of sugar cane to stop the borer, 400 m of pasture, and less than 150 m of forest to serve as a barrier. Bioversity International work with CIRAD and CATIE demonstrates that maintaining forest adjacent to coffee reduced by 86% the movement of coffee berry borer between fields. TREES ALSO ATTRACT WILDLIFE SUCH AS BIRDS WHO ARE PEST PREDATORS Source: Avelino, J., Romero-Gurdian, A., Cruz-Cuellar, H.F., DeClerck, F.A.J., 2012. Landscape context and scale differentially impact coffee leaf rust, coffee berry borer, and coffee root-knot nematodes. Ecological Applications 22, 584-596.
- Biodiversity provides ecosystem services from genetic through to landscape levels – we can use these levels to develop indicators for healthy farming systems Genetic level Common bean is also the most important plant-based protein source for the people of Uganda (Buah, 2010; Kimani et al., 2005). Net production of both common bean and bananas within Uganda remains below their full potential, mainly due to losses from diseases and insect pests At community level planting different numbers of varieties resulted in less damage AND less severe maximum damage. A risk management strategy NOTE TO SELF : Here not about planting mixtures but about at household and community level there being more bean varieties planted in separate plots. The more bean varieties the less damage.
- As I said before, we need diversity in the seed systems and other planting materials (like the fruit trees) to provide those nutrient-dense foods and ecosystem services. Seed systems integrate 5 basic functions – in slide list above These 5 functions can be found in any type of seed system - from farmers who rely on their own seed with occasional seed exchanges with family, neighbours and in open markets - to access seeds as well as to a fully-developed commercial seed sector. We can use these functions to devise indicators that assess how well those functions are delivering diversity. Bioversity International’s interest in seed systems is their role in delivering diversity for nutrition and productive farms.
- 2 main kinds of innovation: 1. breeding new crops and 2. selecting fit-for-purpose crops and varieties from existing genetic pools for use in new situations. Little private funding goes to research into breeding subsistence cereal crops like sorghum, barley and millet, legumes like beans, chick pea, peas, pigeon peas, lentils, Bambara beans, and vetches, and roots and tubers such as potatoes, sweet potatoes, yams, and cassava and food tree crops in general. [Sources: Naseem et al., 2010; Gruere, Giuliani, & Smale, 2006; Padulosi et al., 2002] Not only a question of which crops to focus on – also what are the aims of breeding programmes? Several studies have demonstrated that the almost exclusive focus on yield improvement that defined breeding efforts during several decades reduced considerably the nutrient density of crops (Davis et al., 2004; Murphy, 2008) as well as taste and other organoleptic characteristics (Klee and Tieman, 2013). A study comparing the nutrient content of 43 crops in 1950 and 1999 concluded that there was a statistically reliable decline of the contents of protein, calcium, phosphorus, iron, riboflavin and ascorbic acid (Davis et al. 2004) Seeds for Needs type activities can address farmers and consumers’ needs. Different needs.
- 1. On the one hand, farmers NEED good quality seed. 2. But they also need diversity. Sometimes efforts to ensure good quality are so stringent that they end up reducing the diversity available. The rigidity of variety release standards represent an obstacle for landraces, local cultivars and varieties resulting from participatory plant breeding to enter into the formal channels of seed production, limiting in this way their potential to contribute to sustainable and diverse food systems (Tripp, 1997; Louwaars, 2002). A simplification of variety release procedures, involving simple evaluations done by farmers can take away the hurdles to make a larger range of varieties available. For Nepal, Joshi and Witcombe (2014) show how a new variety release procedure that permitted the use of data from participatory variety selection trials helped to fast-track the release or registration of new varieties of mungbean that are resistant to Mungbean Yellow Mosaic Virus. This disease had limited the use of mungbean, an important legume crop, so overcoming this constraint effectively added the crop back to local farming systems. A number of alternative mechanisms to seed quality certification are being tested around the world, including the FAO Quality Declared Seed System, which relies on simplified, sometimes community managed processes. Pictured Surya -- Nepalese breeder who wasn't allowed to register his breeds becuase he didn't have an MSc
- Supporting access to diversity is vital for farmers – right kind of diversity for their needs E.G. comparative study of 2 communities occupying similar environments on Mount Kenya and both dealing with effects of climate change. One was more adaptive b/c it was able to obtain seeds from drought-prone lowlands due to good social connections. [Source: Mwongera et al., 2014] Information also is vital to support access. For example in cotton cultivation in India, a study of 11 years of data found farmers eager to try new seeds but having access to little information on which to base choices in an objective way. As a result, engaged in herd behaviour – imitating others. Despite the availability of a large set of varieties, herd behaviour prevented a contribution from diverse seed access to sustainable production. Initiatives like the Access to Seeds Index are a great way to highlight the role that commercial seed companies can play in supporting access to diiversity including native crops: it found that global seed companies tend to focus on major staple crops while some regional companies cover local crops, such as amaranth or cowpea (Access to Seeds Foundation 2016).
- Often the bottleneck for seed being used in sustainable food systems is production Limited seed volumes and species and varietal diversity available. Difficult to find viable business models for seed production of crops that are mainly used for household consumption or have low profitability Often commercial sector is limited to hybrid seeds only or – as we saw in Access to Seeds – staple crops. Community seedbanks also support production Often not relying on sales so much as barter or delayed payback in the form of grain or seeds They have been found to increase the # of varieties grown by each household. Providing new mechanisms to stimulate the production of a broader range of landraces can lead to better access to diversity. [Sources: Meinzen-Dick and Eyzaguirre 2008, Vernooy et al. 2015, Vernooy et al. 2014] (One notable exception the vibrant rice seed sector in Andhra Pradesh in which private companies and farmer cooperatives produce non-hybrid varieties of rice bred by the public sector)
- 5th function of a healthy seed system for delivering diversity but also an important focus in its own right in order to have the wide genetic base we need to face current and future challenges and wants. To support sustainable food systems we need the widest possible genepools – On-farm, in situ and ex situ – are all necessary but none is sufficient on its own It’s not just 3 physically different places but depends on why you are conserving it. For example, you might aim to conserve diversity of 1 crop in all 3 – for example mango – maintain without changes in field genebank – like in Bengaluru AND support its use by communities who benefit from the diversity in different ways AND support the identification of CWRs in the wild where they continue to evolve under natural pressures To strengthen the system we must strengthen the links b/w in situ, ex situ and on farm: Ex situ to on farm and in situ – increasing and maintaining broad genetic pools in natural and production systems On-farm to in situ – does this happen and is it important? In situ to on-farm – domestication and cross breeding that can increase resistance In situ and on-farm to ex situ – long-term back up. MICHAEL HALEWOOD paper – India biggest recipient and donor to international systems
- Diversity on farms is amazingly wide. Similarly, single home gardens around the world often harbour 20 to 50 different plants and several small livestock species. On-farm conservation Result of networks of different farmers doing different things over large areas What farmers choose to plant on farm and across landscapes – and the risk strategies they employ -- leads to on-farm conservation This leads to the inadvertent end result across a region that a wide range of diversity is conserved and that continues to evolve in response to natural and human selection pressures. Need to look at community level – community richness can be 8-fold that of farm richness, a result that underscores the importance of the divergence between farms within the local community. VIETNAM The mean number of varieties per community ranged from 4 durum wheat to 60 cassava or even 74 rice varieties in one community in Vietnam. [Jarvis et al., 2008] BENIN Where households grew and collected 65 species over a year.
- Crop wild relatives serve as a large repository of genetic diversity of value for crop and animal improvement, which for crops is valued at more than US$120 billion per year. They are potential sources of traits beneficial to crops such as pest or disease resistance, yield improvement or stability. For example, in the 1970s the US maize crop was severely threatened by corn blight, which destroyed almost US$1000 million worth of maize and reduced yields by as much as 50% in 1978 . The problem was resolved through the use of blight-resistant genes from wild varieties of Mexican maize.
- conserves agricultural biodiversity unchanged widens access to that diversity far beyond the limited site where it grew or was cultivated. Typically, chosen because of the biology of the species conserved and on the facilities available for storage Key issues are to characterize and evaluate and have good information systems so that the potential widening of access actually happens Types: 1. seedbanks (for seeds), 2. field genebanks (for live plants), 3. in vitro genebanks (for plant tissues and cells), 4. pollen banks and 5. DNA banks, and 6. cryobanks Varanas low energy genebank Inaugurated this February 2016 and established by Bioversity International in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Vegetables Research (ICAR) Will adopt new technique using zeolite drying beads to absorb the moisture contained in the seeds which is an effective way to store them. Nearly 5000 germplasm accessions of 34 vegetable crops will be stored at the genebank. It also has the capacity to upscale storage by five times. Bengalaru Ex-situ Genetic Diversity Park Established in 2016, at HORTICULTURECOLLEGE, for neglected and underutilized fruit species. Already collected germplasm from all over India – 152 accessions representing 95 species and 52 genera – from custard apples, to acid lime, jackfruit and guava. AND linking with traditional knowledge, views and aspirations of custodian farmers International Transit Centre – ITC Banana diversity safeguarded for the future in world's largest collection holds more than 1,400 samples of edible and wild species of banana in trust for the benefit of future generations Results: Between 1985 and 2007, the ITC distributed 8353 samples of accessions to external users in 103 countries. 75% of the samples go to people and institutions in the main banana growing regions – Africa (27%) the Americas (25%) and Asia and Pacific (23%) with the remainder going to universities and research centres in Europe.
- Policy environment comprises the combined effects of policies at different levels and in different sectors: Regional – The Strategic Action Plan for Mesoamerica Within country - Diverse policies – e.g. trade, agriculture, biodiversity conservation—act as forces that affect agricultural biodiversity conservation. In Mexico, interdepartmental crosscutting commissions have been established for biodiversity and sustainable development [Lapena 2016]. Deliberate support for on-farm conservation as part of the national conservation system, for instance by custodian farmers as happened in Bolivia in 2014. Through PACS – payments for agrobiodiversity conservation services. Relies on the availability of and access to information on the extent of genetic diversity present in ex situ, on-farm and in situ. At global level, there are a number of important databases documenting plant genetic resources held by the major genebanks. National level tends not to be so strong. At local level There are local efforts to document biodiversity community by community through Community Biodiversity Registers and catalogues. They have potential to be digitalized and linked into powerful country databases of on-farm diversity.
- TO MANAGE DIVERSITY WE NEED TO MEASURE IT. The Agrobiodiversity Index is being conceived and designed to find ways of measuring the key issues around nutritious diverse diets, productive and resilient farms, quality diverse seeds, and integrated conservation of agrobiodiversity. It will help decision-makers – governments, investors and companies – ensure that their agrobiodiversity decisions contribute to global commitments.
- I would like to offer my congratulations to the organizers of the International Agrobiodiversity Congress and wish all participants of the Congress fruitful deliberations and a successful meeting.