How to better embed crop diversity for resilient sustainable food systems? On April 11th, the DIVERSIFOOD Forum with policy makers and stakeholders addressed this and other fundamental questions to promote cultivated biodiversity. The event was hosted by the European Committee of the Regions in Brussels and involved different stakeholders: from policy makers to researchers, from NGOs to Farmer Organisations and Value chain actors. This talk "From on-farm conservation to Community biodiversity management" was given by Riccardo Bocci, Rete semi rurali (DIVERSIFOOD Project Partner)

1. From on farm conservation to
Community biodiversity
management
Riccardo Bocci, RSR
Bruxelles Diversifood Forum, April 11, 2018

2. At the beginning
• Why is agrobiodiversity conservation
important?
• How is conserved?
• Who is conserving?
• What is conserved?
• Which are the rules governing the
systems?
2

3. DIVERSIFOOD activities
3
Seed
production
and quality
Social aspects
Tools for
managing
seeds
Legal
framework
Recommendations
what
how
who
rules

4. 4
Reseau Semences
Paysannes (France)
Rete Semi Rurali
(Italy)
Red de Semillas
(Spain)
Pro Specie Rara
(Switzerland)
Arche Noah (Austria)
Multi-actor approach Transdisciplinarity
Scientific partners
Advisor partners
CAPSELLA
ITPGRFA
ECPGR
Bioversity
International

5. 85 answers
to CSB survey

6. SUMMARY: CSB Initiatives in Europe are….
…. Diverse!
• In their numbers per region
• In their geographic and thematic scope of activities
• In their age - from 1 to 35
• In their social structures:
• 25% still informal, others associations, foundations, cooperatives and limiteds;
• Most non-profit, some to minor extent for profit
• 10-10.000 persons involved in the communities
• Big variations with regards to available resources
• variations in stakeholder group numbers and priorities
• variations in crop species and numbers – not all deal with seeds
• different methods and infastructure – not all have seedbanks
• Different aims, triggers, role-models and approaches

7. 7
Side-event at the Seventh Session of the
Governing Body of the International
Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for
Food and Agriculture (Plant Treaty):
• Community Seed Banks: Sharing
Experiences from North and South
• Around 45 participants + panel
• Rich exchange of experiences, in particular
with the DIVERSIFOOD-study and a study
from developing countries (mainly)
• Report on the proceedings is finalized,
to be distributed widely (44 pages)
CSB survey by FAO in April 2018

8. 8
DIVERSIFOOD analysed five
different national crop diversity management
systems, to identify the types of actors involved and
assess the links between formal and informal seed
sectors. The objective was to identify how the actor
constellations, the interaction between and among
actors and the legal environment affect the
prospects for maintaining the diversity of plant
genetic resources for food and agriculture (PGRFA) at the national level. The analyses
of the five national crop diversity management systems were conducted from the point
of view of the relevant national DIVERSIFOOD partners: Rete Semi Rurali (Italy), Arche
Noah (Austria), Red Andaluza de Semillas (Spain), ProSpecieRara (Switzerland) and
Réseau Semences Paysannes (France).
Comparing the five organisations
Although the five organizations share a similar vision of a dynamic seed system and have
similar core activities revolving around the community-based conservation and
management of crop genetic diversity, they differ quite consistently in governance,
financing and membership structures. Whereas some depend up to 99% on public
funds (national or European) others are publicly financed only up to 6%. The latter are
mostly supported by private membership fees or donations, and sponsors, contributing
to up to 70% of their overall annual income, and sometimes more. In terms of
membership, some organizations have collective members (associations and
organisations) while others have individual members. The organizations’ size also varies
greatly, with smaller ones totalling around 50 members (usually collective) and a small
staff (average 6 people) and larger ones having more than 10'000 members and up to 39
employees. A geographical pattern can also be described, by which member-supported
seed saver-organizations are dominant in Northern Europe (mostly composed of
amateur gardeners and citizen seed savers), while networks of collective farmers’
organizations (with a small proportion of amateurs or hobby gardeners) supported by
public funds are prevalent in the South.
Understanding the legal environment
Most organizations contribute to national and international political and legal debates, to
influence the development of the legal framework in a more conducive direction for the
management of PGRFA in their countries. DIVERSIFOOD is studying the impact of
legislation on seed system diversity. The EU-directives on conservation varieties are a
very relevant legal framework in this context. The directives are implemented differently
in each country.
AT FIRST GLANCE
Civil society organizations engaged in
seed and propagating material
contribute to the sustainable use of
crop genetic diversity. However, they
normally operate in the informal
sector with many challenges and little
interaction with formal seed
and food system.
NATIONAL CROP
DIVERSITY MANAGEMENT
SYSTEMS
DIVERSIFOOD INNOVATION FACTSHEET #10, February 2018
Farmers’ contribution to agrobiodiversity
Since the dawn of agriculture, farmers all over the
world have sown, harvested and selected seed and
planting material, actively exchanging these
resources among each other. In so doing they have
developed an incredible abundance of crops, their
knowledge and skills paving the way for the food
plants that we use in agriculture and breeding
today. This indispensable contribution to shaping
the world’s agrobiodiversity has been largely unnoticed and unrewarded. Moreover, the
global transformation of agricultural systems worldwide is increasingly threatening their
important role in this respect.
That is why an entire article of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for
Food and Agriculture (www.planttreaty.org), a legally binding international agreement
adopted in 2001, is devoted to Farmers’ Rights (Art. 9). The key objectives of the Plant
Treaty are the conservation and sustainable use of plant genetic resources for food and
agriculture, facilitated access to these for research, breeding and training purposes, and
the equitable sharing of the benefits derived from their use. Protecting and enhancing
Farmers’ Rights is crucial to achieving the Treaty’s objectives.
The Plant Treaty and Farmers’ Rights
The more than 140 countries that are parties to the Plant Treaty recognise that the past,
present and future contribution of farmers in all regions of the world in conserving,
improving and making available crop genetic resources constitutes the basis of all food
and agriculture production, and of Farmers’ Rights. The Plant Treaty provides some
general directions and recommendations on how to implement Farmers’ Rights: the
protection of traditional knowledge; the right to equitable benefit sharing; the right to
participate in relevant decision making at the national level; the rights to save, use,
exchange and sell farm-saved seed and propagules. However, the responsibility for
defining and implementing Farmers’ Rights is placed with national governments.
While the Plant Treaty does not oblige member countries to adopt any specific norm
for Farmers’ Rights, its provisions, however, provide an important framework for the
development of relevant national policy measures. The DIVERSIFOOD project aims at
contributing to the development of meaningful policy frameworks.
Contributing to shaping international norms on Farmers’ Rights
DIVERSIFOOD evaluates and enriches the diversity of cultivated plants within diverse
agro-ecosystems to improve their performance, resilience and quality. As such, the
project can be seen as a direct contribution to the implementation of the Plant Treaty.
AT FIRST GLANCE
Realising Farmers’ Rights
means enabling farmers
to maintain and develop
crop genetic resources, and
rewarding them for their
indispensable contribution
to agrobiodiversity
worldwide
FARMERS’ RIGHTS
DIVERSIFOOD INNOVATION FACTSHEET #9, September 2017

9. 9
DIVERSIFOOD outcomes

10. 10
• From conservation to collective
management of agrobiodiversity
• Right based approach to AB
• Integrated seed systems
• Social rules/norms

11. Changing paradigms…
From on farm conservation To community diversity management
G*E
interaction
G*E*S
interaction

12. G*E*S
interaction
environment
Decentralised breeding
Involving farmers in breeding
Research in target environments
Social
Collective action
Social practices affecting diversity
Enlarging participation to different actors
and citizens
Role of communities
Cultural values

13. 13

14. 14

15. Challenges
• New governance, recognition and
redistribution
• Science, decentralised and participatory
research
• AG policy, no more direct payments?
• From niche approach to agriculture,
farming and food systems
15

16. 2007-2010
2010-2014 2014-2018
conservation diversity community
Society
New food/seed
chains
Community seed
banks
PPB programmes