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A Voice for Agriculture
in the International Year of Biodiversity
Now that agriculture is regaining its rightful place on the
international development agenda, it's time for agricultural
biodiversity to become the center of attention as well,
particularly in view of its vital importance for coping with the
intricately linked issues of global food security and climate
change.
The United Nations has designated 2010 as the International Year
of Biodiversity. The CGIAR and agriculturalists worldwide now have
an unprecedented opportunity to speak out on the urgent need to
conserve, research and use the vast genetic diversity of crops and
other species on which rural people depend.
In commenting recently about the Year, Emile Frison, director
general of Bioversity International, stressed the importance of a
deeper international discourse on biodiversity. It must go beyond
the popular preoccupation with a few charismatic mega-fauna, like
whales and panda bears, he insisted.
"Any serious discussion of biodiversity conservation must
include the diversity of crops and livestock that are absolutely
fundamental to human survival and well-being," Frison said.
"Agricultural biodiversity is not only vital for human and
animal nutrition, it is also indispensable for meeting the
challenge of climate change and for lifting people out of
poverty."
 Food security's foundations
IITA genebank. Photo: IITA.
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Over the last several decades, international biodiversity
research has dwelt heavily on the contents of 11 genebanks operated
by the international Centers.
Those collections contain more than 650,000 genetically diverse
samples of crop, forage and agroforestry species, including
traditional varieties developed through many generations of
selection by farmers, as well as wild species and modern varieties.
The crops conserved range from such major staples as maize, potato,
rice and wheat to lesser-known species like cowpea and pearl
millet.
The value of the CGIAR collections rests on the knowledge that
they contain untapped genes for value plant traits, including
disease and pest resistance, improved nutritional value and
tolerance to stresses like heat, cold and drought. Such genes are a
potentially powerful resource for strengthening food security and
for both mitigating and adapting to climate change.
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In just the last 15 years, more than a million free samples from
the CGIAR collections have been sent to plant breeders and other
researchers. Since 2007, the samples have been distributed under
the terms of a new International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources
for Food and Agriculture. Commonly referred to as the "Seed
Treaty," it is designed to enhance the sharing of plant
genetic resources and of the benefits generated from their
commercial use.
In recent years, the genebanks have also upgraded conservation
and management of the collections, with vital support from the
World Bank and Global Crop Diversity Trust. The collections have
been further secured through shipment of duplicates of more than
200,000 samples to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, built by the
Norwegian government near the Arctic Circle. This and many other
collaborative activities are coordinated by the CGIAR Systemwide
Genetic Resources Programme, or SGRP.
Building on the new strength of the global system for conserving
and using plant genetic resources, it is imperative that
researchers now step up the search for valuable genes. This
requires more intensive evaluation and genetic characterization of
the collections, a task for which the CGIAR needs much additional
support.
Biodiversity and rural livelihoods
In addition to enhancing genetic diversity within crops, the
CGIAR Centers are striving to broaden the diversity within whole
agricultural systems.
"Increased productivity so far has been based on
simplifying farming systems," Frison noted. "We need to
move toward intensification without simplification, and that
requires us to research and make better use of agricultural
biodiversity."
Research carried out by Bioversity International, for example,
has shown how neglected and underutilized species can deliver
better nutrition and health, while at the same time protecting the
environment and increasing incomes.
Research at other CGIAR Centers also highlights the benefits of
diversified agricultural systems. In the dry Sudano-Sahelian region
of West Africa, for example, researchers with the International
Crops Research Centre for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) have
devised an approach in which drought-tolerant indigenous fruits
trees and vegetables are used, along with better soil fertility
management, to restore the productivity of degraded lands,
benefiting women in particular.
To spread such benefits all across the world's drylands, the
International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas
(ICARDA) is making a major push to introduce alternative winter
crops and summer crops or forages with supplemental irrigation as
well as high-value species like vegetables, dryland fruit trees and
medicinal and aromatic plants.
Showcasing research on agrobiodiversity
Such research will be showcased at events organized by
CGIAR-supported Centers to mark the International Year of
Biodiversity.
A week-long celebration of biodiversity will take place at the
famed Auditorium in Rome on May 19-23. The Settimana della
Biodiversità (Biodiversity Week) will bring together an array
of experts and celebrities from around the world for a series of
public lectures, round table discussions, exhibits, demonstrations
and celebrations. Workshops for children will be part of this
effort to acquaint the wider public with the importance of
biodiversity - including agricultural biodiversity - in their daily
lives.
The Settimana della Biodiversità is just one element in
Diversity for Life, a global campaign by Bioversity and its
partners to familiarize the public and policy-makers alike with the
importance of agricultural biodiversity for humanity and for
environmental protection.
With more than four decades of experience researching the use
and conservation of agricultural biodiversity, the CGIAR Centers
are looking forward to other opportunities to showcase agriculture
in the context of the International Year of Biodiversity.
A year of biodiversity celebrations
Those events form part of a large program of celebrations, which
started in November 2009 under the slogan "Biodiversity is
life, biodiversity is our life." The official launch of the
Year took place on January 11, 2010, in Berlin, Germany. This was
followed by a high-profile meeting of the UN Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in Paris as well as
by launch events in various developing countries, including Brazil,
India and Thailand.
The International Day for Biological Diversity will be observed
on May 22, with the theme "Biodiversity for Development and
Poverty Alleviation. In September, the UN General Assembly will
hold a special high-level meeting on biodiversity at the start of
its 65th annual general debate in New York. The celebrations will
culminate in the 10th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to
the Convention on Biological Diversity to be held in Aichi-Nagoya,
Japan, on October 18-29, followed by the official close of the Year
in December at Kanazawa, Japan.
The Montreal-based Secretariat of the Convention on Biological
Diversity has stressed the importance of raising awareness about
the value of biodiversity and the consequences of its loss.
"Of course ensuring the survival of whales and pandas is
important," said Frison. "But in this International Year
of Biodiversity, we must realize that only agricultural
biodiversity directly enables us to survive, so we can protect and
appreciate all the other biodiversity nature has to offer.
Agricultural biodiversity is the basis of true food
security."
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