Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations  
International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture

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    The Inventory

    This online version of the Inventory presents, for each measure, the title and a brief description with information on implementing organization(s), start year, objectives, core elements, key outcomes, and, if applicable, lessons learned. It thus allows users to quickly identify those examples that may be of interest to them. A hyperlink to the original submission is provided, which includes additional information, such as on the history and context of the presented measure, challenges encountered, or target groups reached. In this way, users can get a more comprehensive idea of the measure in question and the specific context for which it was developed.
     
    To facilitate navigation, the Inventory is subdivided into eleven categories. Measures or practices that fall under more than one category are listed under each one that applies. Furthermore, information is provided on the type(s) of measures that are typically involved, such as technical, administrative, legal, and/or others, and on the relevant sub-article of Article 9 that is addressed. Additional search options allow searching by country, region, free text and keyword.
     
     
     
     
     
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    Number of records: 233

    116) Food Forever Initiative

    In 2017, the Global Crop Diversity Trust (Crop Trust) launched the ‘Food Forever Initiative’ in cooperation with several ‘champions’ from public and private sector. The aim of the initiative is to rally the support necessary from all stakeholders, ranging from politicians, farmers, chefs, businesses, to individuals, to drive positive change in the way we conserve, grow, sell and consume crop and livestock diversity. Specific attention is given to the role of smallholder farmers and how their access to quality seeds and to markets can be improved. ‘Food Forever Champions’ have agreed to join as advocates for this important cause. They are experts and leaders from all walks of life who are driven to speak out about the importance of food diversity. Partners of the initiative contribute, with their work, to implementing SDG Target 2.5, which specifically addresses the need for maintaining genetic diversity of seeds, cultivated plants, farmed and domesticated animals and their related wild species, including through the implementation of related international agreements. Together, the Crop Trust and the Government of the Netherlands provide for the initiative’s secretariat functions. Financial support is provided by the Governments of Germany, Norway, Switzerland and the Netherlands.

    Category: 3.Approaches to encourage income-generating activities to support farmers’ conservation and sustainable use of PGRFA

    Type of measure/practice: Technical

    117) Access and benefit sharing: capacity building / support multilateral system

    The Governments of the Netherlands and Iran are co-chairing a dedicated working group under the Treaty (ITPGRFA), to enhance the functioning of the Multilateral System. The group took up its work in 2014; negotiations are focused on increasing user-based payments and contributions to the Treaty’s Benefit-sharing Fund, with the overall objective to enhance the functioning of the Treaty’s Multilateral System of Access and Benefit-sharing for food security and sustainable agriculture. The Working Group currently works on text-based negotiations for the revision of the Standard Material Transfer Agreement (SMTA) for exchanges of crops within the Treaty’s Multilateral System (MLS) (Annex I). At the same time, criteria and options are identified and considered for expansion of the coverage of the scope of the MLS. To reach compromise between the partners (Contracting Parties, private sector, NGO’s and academia), these two processes will need come into force at the same time. A detailed implementation plan to attain the enhanced MLS is under development and will take into account issues related to digital (sequence) information arising from PGRFA and Farmers Rights.

    Category: 2.Financial contributions to support farmers conservation and sustainable use of PGRFA such as contributions to benefit-sharing funds

    Type of measure/practice: Others

    118) Resilient seed system for climate change adaptation and sustainable livelihoods

    Since 2018, an initiative of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) has been addressing the unprecedented challenges faced by farmers to deal with changing and variable climates and related crop management problems caused by (new) biotic and abiotic stresses. It builds on previous work of Bioversity International and partners in various countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America and aims to combine and scale, from the local to the global level, successful strategies, methods and tools that increase farmers’ and their communities’ timely availability, affordability and improved access to good-quality seed of a portfolio of crops and crop varieties, including novel ones that are better adapted to climate change. Structured seed legislation is important to guarantee the necessary seed quality to farmers. Core components are: (1) building resilient seed systems, including through seed system characterization, introducing promising crop diversity for climate change, strengthening community seed banks and enterprise development; (2) supportive policies and laws; and (3) national, sub-regional and global networking. Central to the scaling strategy is engagement with the private seed sector and local and national governmental and non-governmental organizations that are well positioned to take up and further develop the tested strategies, methods and tools.

    Category: 9.Training, capacity development and public awareness creation

    Type of measure/practice: Technical; Others

    119) Public access to seed of formerly protected varieties after expiry of the Plant Breeders’ Rights

    In the U.S., seed samples of protected varieties are available to the public through the US National Plant Germplasm System (NPGS) when the plant variety protection on the variety expires for any reason. At that point, seed samples are transferred to the NPGS genebanks and can be requested by farmers, breeders, and the public without restrictions for use in research, plant breeding, and education. The objective is to facilitate access to such seed for qualified variety developers, which will ultimately benefit farmers. This arrangement, which relies on an agreement between the Plant Variety Protection Office and the NPGS, has been in place since the mid 1970’s.

    Category: 6.Facilitation of farmers’ access to a diversity of PGRFA through community seed banks, seed networks and other measures improving farmers’ choices of a wider diversity of PGRFA.

    Type of measure/practice: Technical

    120) Office of Technology Transfer (OTT)

    The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) includes an Office of Technology Transfer (OTT), the establishment of which goes back to the 1980 Steven-Wydler Act. The OTT is responsible for facilitating the adoption of USDA research discoveries, which ultimately benefit farmers with new varieties that are disease, pest, and stress tolerant and produce higher yields. This provides broad public benefits, including public release of information, tools, and solutions (e.g. germplasm, plants and other materials), adoption and enhancement of research outcomes by partners through collaborative research, formal cooperative research and development agreements, direct Federal, state, or local technical assistance, or through licensing of biological materials or protected intellectual property directly to not-for-profit entities and for-profit private sector firms.

    Category: 6.Facilitation of farmers’ access to a diversity of PGRFA through community seed banks, seed networks and other measures improving farmers’ choices of a wider diversity of PGRFA.

    Type of measure/practice: Technical; Administrative