Planting Seeds of Agrobiodiversity Conservation in Young Minds

The paintings show flowing rivers, lush crops, and smiling farmers. These expressions of creativity, by a small group of school children aged 10–14, from Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and West Bank and Gaza show that young children fully understand that agrobiodiversity is essential to life, and that its conservation lies in their hands.

ICARDA’s Dryland Agrobiodiversity Project, funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) through the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) worked with the Ministries of Education in three countries and West Bank and Gaza to introduce the concept of agrobiodiversity conservation and its value to society in school curricula. Lectures, field visits to project sites, documentary films, brochures and posters were all aimed at increasing awareness among children—the future policy makers and custodians of agrobiodiversity.

School children participated in a painting contest to assess their understanding of various aspects such as crop diversity, the role of agrobiodiversity in human nutrition, in diversifying incomes, major factors responsible for agrobiodiversity degradation, the role of farmers and local communities in conservation, and the need for law enforcement.

Project managers from Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and West Bank and Gaza, as well as ICARDA and IPGRI, selected the winning entries from among the 1,000 paintings sent by children. To demonstrate the practical uses of agrobiodiversity to children, a fair was held in Sweida, Syria in April 2005, followed by a tour of project areas in Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria.

ICARDA’s Dryland Agrobiodiversity Project is all about creating the holistic approaches necessary for conservation efforts to succeed.

For more information visit www.icarda.org