24 November 2014: Bioversity International and the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa) signed a five-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen cooperation on the role of agricultural biodiversity in developing sustainable food systems.

“Science-based agriculture that incorporates greater biodiversity can do much to increase welfare in society,” said Embrapa President Mauricio Lopes. “Given current and future global demand, we must stimulate even further productivity gains and the development and/or adaptation of resource-saving (land, water, nutrients) technologies that, while boosting production growth, will also help protect the environment and use resources more efficiently.” Lopes said Embrapa’s collaboration with Bioversity International “puts those objectives within reach.”

“By working together, Embrapa and Bioversity International come closer to realizing the vision that agricultural biodiversity nourishes people and sustains the planet,” Bioversity International Director General, M. Ann Tutwiler, said. Noting Embrapa’s key role in transforming Brazil from a food importer into a leading food exporter, Tutwiler emphasized the organizations will work “to make tomorrow’s agriculture not only more productive, but more sustainable and nutrition-sensitive by making best use of its biodiversity.”

Through the MoU, the two organizations will cooperate on projects and research to increase knowledge on agricultural biodiversity and sustainable food systems, with the aim of addressing challenges such as the need to produce sufficient food to feed a growing population and the effects of climate change on agricultural production. Projects are expected to address: biodiversity for food security and nutrition; crop and tree genetic resources, including safeguarding biodiversity in nature reserves and in gene and seed banks; natural resource stewardship; research on markets and policy; rural development; and sustainable agricultural production. Bioversity International and Embrapa will also collaborate on national and international biodiversity policy and promote researcher exchange between their organizations.

Bioversity International and Embrapa have previously collaborated on projects, including research on and sustainable management of neglected and nutritious indigenous species and the development of information system standards. Bioversity International is part of the CGIAR consortium. [Bioversity Press Release] [Embrapa Press Release]