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

    181) Heirloom Rice Project

    The Heirloom Rice Project, which started in 2014, is supported by the Department of Agriculture of the Philippines and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). It aims to enhance the productivity and enrich the legacy of heirloom and traditional rice varieties through empowering communities in rice-based ecosystems in the Philippines. Heirloom rice varieties, handed down for generations and grown by small landholders, have exceptional cooking quality, flavour, aroma, texture, colour, and nutritional value. There is high demand for these varieties, and they command higher prices in both domestic and international markets. However, there are also challenges hindering farmers to seize these opportunities, while some of the varieties are at risk of extinction. The Heirloom Rice Project thus takes a market and product development approach. Core activities include (1) characterizing existing heirloom or traditional varieties alongside modern climate-resilient varieties; (2) capacity development and enterprise building in farming communities; (3) identifying opportunities for value addition and market linkages; (4) documenting and disseminating good management practices through various communication channels; and (5) improving resistance and/or tolerance of selected heirloom varieties to diseases and environmental stresses. Key results include an increase in production of heirloom rice varieties by almost 80% in six years.

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

    Type of measure/practice: Technical; Administrative; Legal; Others

    182) Official guidelines for the registration of farmers’ varieties in Nepal

    In Nepal, provisions for the registration of farmers’ local varieties were included in the Seed Regulation (2013; Rules 12, By-Rules 2: Annex D), with the aim to facilitate their conservation and sustainable. These provisions were expected to simplify the inscription of farmers’ local varieties in the national catalogue, thereby facilitating the production and commercialization of seed of these varieties. However, a lack of clear procedures and technical officers’ limited experience in dealing with farmers’ traditional varieties limited the application of the provisions. Working closely with farmers’ organizations, the Nepal Agricultural Research Council (NARC) and Local Initiatives for Biodiversity, Research and Development (LI-BIRD), in cooperation with Bioversity International and several donors, developed an ‘easy to fill’ format/guidelines to facilitate the application of the provisions. The format was verified and tested during the 2nd National Workshop of Community Seed Banks (3-5 May 2018) in Kathmandu, based on consultation with key stakeholders (farmers, community seed bank members, seed certification agency, research and extension professionals). The revised guideline/format for local variety registration was considered by the Seed Quality Control Centre (SQCC) and the National Seed Board of the Government of Nepal and accepted as the officially recommended format for registration of farmers' local varieties.

    Category: 10.Legal measures for the implementation of Farmers’ Rights, such as legislative measures related to PGRFA.

    Type of measure/practice: Technical; Administrative

    183) Community biodiversity registries and biocultural community protocols: strengthening communities’ capacity to manage crop genetic diversity in Benin

    From 2015 to 2018, Community Biodiversity registers and Biocultural Community Protocols were developed in Benin. The national agricultural research organization Institut National des Recherches Agricoles du Benin (INRAB) as well as several NGOs were involved (see submissions for detailed lists of project partners). In a first step, community biodiversity registries were established in the participating communities to identify crop, forage and agroforestry diversity in their agricultural systems. These registers can be used, for example, for the documentation of traditional knowledge associated with PGRFA, for monitoring purposes or to identify potentially interesting materials for exchange with outsiders. Biocultural Community Protocols were then developed with the objective of helping local communities to take advantage of their countries’ commitments under both the ITPGRFA and the Nagoya Protocol by establishing mechanisms to regulate access to genetic resources in their territories. These protocols can set out rights and responsibilities under customary, state and international law as the basis for engaging with external actors, such as governments, companies, academics and NGOs, and to establish the terms and conditions for access to and use of their traditional knowledge and resources.

    Category: 4.Catalogues, registries and other forms of documentation of PGRFA and protection of traditional knowledge

    Type of measure/practice: Administrative; Others

    184) Mungbean for more productive crop rotations in Tajikistan

    The Collaborative Research Project on Sustainable Soil Management to Enhance Agricultural Productivity in Central Asia (Phase II) started in 2018. It is carried out by the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) together with the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and the Eurasian Center for Food Security, funded by the Russian Government. The objective is to introduce mungbean cultivation as a new practice to smallholder farmers in the Sughd region of Tajikistan to enhance soil fertility in current cotton-wheat-cotton or wheat-fallow crop rotations, as well as to generate additional income. Core component is the introduction of short-duration, heat- and drought-tolerant mungbean; 600 kg of elite seeds were provided by ICARDA. Farmers saved seed for their own use from their harvest and either shared or sold part of it to other farmers for sowing in 2019. This farmer-to-farmer seed exchange and sale is expected to ensure broader impact in following years. Further project activities include building a network of on-farm demonstration sites and capacity development for farmers and seed-producers. The key to including an additional crop in the crop rotation lies in the smallholders’ access to improved early-maturing wheat and mungbean varieties.

    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

    185) Helping farmers access PGRFA from the multilateral system for climate-change adaptation

    Under the Joint Capacity Building Program for Developing Countries on Implementation of the International Treaty and its Multilateral System of Access and Benefit-sharing, Bioversity International with partners implemented several projects: ‘Genetic Resources Policy Initiative,’ ‘Mutually supportive implementation of the Plant Treaty and Nagoya Protocol in Benin and Madagascar’ and ‘Open source seeds systems for climate change adaptation’. Core components included participatory workshops with farmers to identify climate-change impacts and desirable crop traits, followed by selecting local varieties and adapted materials for crop enhancement programs suited to local conditions. Other components included technical training to identify suitable PGRFA from abroad, which were then accessed through the multilateral system. The objectives were (1) to help farmers access diverse crop germplasm whose performance they can evaluate in their own local settings; and (2) to demonstrate to national policy makers why implementing and taking advantage of the ITPGRFA’s multilateral system of access and benefit-sharing is useful. Key lessons learned include that most farmers are unaware of the ITPGRFA, but once they understand the opportunities, they become highly interested in accessing and testing PGRFA; however, connecting farmers to the multilateral system requires support from the national research system.

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

    Type of measure/practice: Technical; Administrative