Marking the occasion of the International Day of Biological Diversity (22 May), the Government of Italy has announced the provision of €1.2 million in additional funding for long-term research on global food security, in a move that strengthens its partnership with Bioversity International.
20 May 2014: Marking the occasion of the International Day of Biological Diversity (22 May), the Government of Italy has announced the provision of €1.2 million in additional funding for long-term research on global food security, in a move that strengthens its partnership with Bioversity International.
The contribution will enhance research that supports rural people in their efforts to conserve agricultural biodiversity; boosts the measuring, monitoring and prioritizing of crop biodiversity conservation; and identifies wild crop relatives for breeding varieties that are adapted to drought and other impacts of climate change.
The partnership, which will be realized through the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Directorate General for Development Cooperation (DGCS), will also support integrated and collaborative approaches towards addressing food and nutrition insecurity and facilitate debates and exchanges of ideas on innovation, science and technology for food safety, agriculture and biodiversity.
Bioversity International is a part of the CGIAR consortium. Its headquarters are in Rome, Italy. [Bioversity International Press Release]