Platform for Agrobiodiversity Research

Press release: Edible aroids network – a successful first year

Nicole Demers — Mon, 14 May 2012 14:04:11 +0000

Press release, 9 May 2012: Edible aroids network – a successful first year

The International Network for Edible Aroids (INEA) is a consortium of scientists and growers from all over the world who are using edible aroids (taros) as a model to improve clonally propagated crops of the tropics. Supported by the European Union the INEA project began in April 2011 with participants from 13 countries, as well as two regional organizations and two international research centres .

To know more about the project and the results of the first year of work, download the press release here.

Crop Wild Relative Newsletter – Conserving plant genetic resources for use now and in the future

Nicole Demers — Wed, 09 May 2012 07:52:34 +0000

Crop wild relative serves to highlight the importance of crop wild relatives (CWR) as critical resources for the improvement of crops. It provides a medium to publicize information about the conservation and use of CWR, including updates on CWR conservation project activities, national CWR conservation strategies, and the use of CWR in crop improvement. Anyone with an interest in CWR – whether conservationist, breeder, taxonomist, policy-maker or educator – will benefit from this publication, both by spreading news about their activities and by learning about other initiatives.

The current issue has been published with EU funding and is a product of the EU Seventh Framework Programme PGR Secure project and is available here:

Crop wild relative Issue 8

Past issues are available here:

Sustainability issues in agro-ecology: Socio-ecological perspective

Paul — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 12:59:53 +0000

An open access article by S. Kumaraswamy in “Agricultural Sciences” journal

From the online Abstract

In the recent past there has been concern to address the declining trends and deteriorating ecological elements and their functions in productive agricultural landscapes. The efforts to revive the ecological functions needs multiple scale approach, which include scientific understanding, time dependent restorative activities and incorporation of wisdom of the stakeholders. Conservation initiatives linked to precision farming is an apt mechanism to minimize the loss of natural resources of agricultural landscapes to maintain the complex stabilizers of ecological functions. Such an effort must address the scientific evaluation of the farm as “ecologically sustainable unit” with due consideration to social construct at local to regional level. Sustainability indices can be useful tools for evaluating the farms to isolate degradative factors and identify ecologically conservative practices. This review will analyze certain inter-linked concepts relevant to address the sustainability issues in agro-ecology at the interface of socio-ecological perspective.

Download the full Text (PDF, 1339KB)

High level policy dialogue between West African small scale farmers and the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA)

Nicole Demers — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 09:13:34 +0000

High level policy dialogue between the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) and small scale farmers on the priorities and governance of agricultural research for development in West Africa

IIED, APPG on Agroecology, CNOP, Kene conseils, Centre Djoliba, IRPAD

This photo story highlights key moments in a policy dialogue on agricultural research for development that involved small scale farmers and representatives of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA). Over one hundred people participated in the policy dialogue. This unprecedented event was chaired by the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food and took place on 1^st to 3^rd February 2012 in Accra, Ghana.

To download the photo story, click here.

The more detailed outcomes of this policy dialogue will be made available in a separate document validated by all participants.

Bioversity International 2012-2021 Strategic Priorities and Research Agenda

Nicole Demers — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 10:24:45 +0000

Bioversity International has recently published its strategic priorities and research agenda for the decade 2012 to 2021.

Bioversity International is the only global non-profit research organization that places the use and conservation of agricultural biodiversity in smallholder farming systems at the centre of its work. Agricultural biodiversity is essential to help achieve global food and nutrition security. Agricultural systems rich in biodiversity are inherently more sustainable and resilient than uniform systems that rely on external inputs. It is also a vital source of food and livelihoods for the many smallholder farmers who live in rural poverty.

The Strategic Priorities introductory booklet explains the role of Bioversity International’s research in promoting the use and conservation of agricultural biodiversity to achieve better nutrition, improve smallholders’ livelihoods and enhance agricultural sustainability.

To download and read the Strategic Priorities booklet, click here.

The Research Agenda booklet sets out Bioversity International’s research agenda for the next ten years focusing on two strategic priorities:

to improve the use of biodiversity by smallholder farmers
to improve the conservation and availability of plant diversity

To download and read the Research Agenda booklet, click here.

Farming Matters March 2012: Insects on Farm

Nicole Demers — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 09:02:17 +0000

The March 2012 Issue of the Farming Matters Magazine “Small-scale agriculture for a sustainable society” focuses on insects on farms: “Friends or foes? Our love/hate relationship with insects”

Insects pollinate crops and work as natural predators in the field. Yet insects often have a negative reputation in agriculture, and billions of dollars are spent every year fighting them.

The use of pesticides, a loss of habitats, the cultivation of exogenous species, all provide potential threats for insect populations: their effect is seen in, for example, the decline of bee populations. What are the implications of this for family farmers? Can they contribute to efforts restore insect populations?

Issue 28.1 looks at these issues, focusing on the many ways in which small-scale farmers benefit from insects, and on the steps they take in order to increase these benefits.

To read the Theme overview, click here.

To read Issue 28.1 of the magazine click here.

To download a PDF of the magazine click here.

Professor to speak on agrobiodiversity and indigenous knowledge

Paul — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 11:42:33 +0000

On March 21 Karl Zimmerer, head of the Geography Department at Penn State, presented “Indigenous Knowledge and Human-Environmental Change: The Farming and Potential Sustainability of High-Agrobiodiversity Food Plant Complexes amid Intensifying Global Trends” at the University Park campus of Penn State, USA.

Zimmerer is a geographer and an environmental and earth-systems scientist, whose research, teaching and outreach are centered on global human-environmental change.

Read more about this seminar from the article on The Pennsylvania State University web site

Click for more information about the Interinstitutional Consortium of Indigenous Knowledge (ICIK) Seminar Series, or to view past presentations online

World Water Day 2012: CBD Executive Secretary recognizes importance of agricultural biodiversity in meeting challenging water situation

Nicole Demers — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 10:18:32 +0000

World Water Day: 22 March 2012. In his message on the occasion of World Water Day 2012 “Water and Food Security”, the Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity, Mr. Braulio Ferreira De Souza Dias, recognizes the importance of the different roles agricultural biodiversity can play in water-use efficiency, water retention in soils and the role of healthier ecosystems for securing water for food production in the face of increasing water scarcity and extremes in its availability.

Mr. Ferreira De Souza Dias maintains that biodiversity is increasingly being viewed as a solution to problems and not anymore as requiring “trade-offs” between biodiversity, water and food production. Only with full recognition that those are mutually supporting objectives at play, with significant win-win opportunities, and with enhanced implementation of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020, and it’s Aichi Biodiversity Targets, backed by strong political will, the goal of achieving a food- and water-secure world by 2050 will be realized.

To read the full message from the Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity, Mr. Braulio Ferreira De Souza Dias, click here.

To know more about the World Water Day, visit the UN Website on World Water day 2012 here.

Chepang Food Culture: Contribution of Wild Edible and Neglected Plant Species

Paul — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 16:11:32 +0000

Chepangs are an indigenous ethnic group living in central and southern Nepal.
Amongst the agricultural systems practiced, shifting cultivation. Chepangs live in the proximity of forests, depending upon it for food and other livelihood needs.

This publication brings together the traditional knowledge of the Chepang people regarding the wild edible and neglected plant species. Similarly,
the proximate nutrient analysis of these plant species could be of great importance to demonstrate the value addition feasibility of these species.
Description, uses, distribution and availability of wild edible plants gathered by this community is a first step towards the understanding and appreciation of the value of these neglected and underutilised forest resources

Click here to downlaod Chepang Food Culture

Postgraduate study in Sustainable Agriculture at CSU, Australia

Paul — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 14:35:58 +0000

Australia’s Charles Sturt University postgraduate programme is keen to expand its numbers of international students and global reach of its courses.

Masters of Sustainable Agriculture programme. This MSA programme is eligible for the AusAID Development Scholarship whereby courses on agriculture and rural development are priority sectors for a number of Asian countries included in this list of eligible countries.

The scholarship covers both Master and PhD courses. The closing date also varies for different countries, with the earliest being the 30th of April 2012.

Interested postgraduate students can contact Senior Scientist at Bioversity International Danny Hunter directly at d.hunterATcgiar.org for further details, or click on the links below to find out more: