In the context of limited interventions on the ground for on-farm conservation of genetic diversity of crop varieties, Bioversity International and partners held a workshop to learn lessons on the roles of custodian farmers for conservation, use and dissemination of agricultural biodiversity.
5 March 2013: In the context of limited interventions on the ground for on-farm conservation of genetic diversity of crop varieties, Bioversity International and partners held a workshop to learn lessons on the roles of custodian farmers for conservation, use and dissemination of agricultural biodiversity.
The workshop, held from 11-12 February 2013 in New Delhi, India, brought together tropical fruit tree farmers from across Asia to share the challenges of conserving and using on farm biodiversity.
The workshop attempted to clarify the term “custodian farmers” as farmers who actively maintain, adapt and disseminate agricultural biodiversity and knowledge at farm and community levels, and are recognized by community members for these efforts. They noted that custodian farmers help to link traditional and modern seed systems, while conserving a wide range of crop species and varieties for a range of reasons.
Draft recommendations from the workshop included: a more formal recognition of custodian farmers’ roles by the formal institutions engaged in conservation of genetic resources; the need to identify more custodian farmers; and the need to establish a network of custodian farmers to share knowledge. The workshop also recommended: that financial capital be more readily available to support custodian farmers at the local level; that farmers’ material be able to be registered without difficulty; that custodian farmers have the right to participate in decision making processes such as those of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) and the Convention on Biological Diversity; and that national on-farm/in situ conservation strategies be developed.
The workshop was hosted by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Bioversity International, in collaboration with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR) and Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Authority (PPVFRA). Bioversity International is a member of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). [Bioversity International Press Release] [Bioversity International Workshop Overview]