At a seminar with researchers from Bioversity International
and IFAD staff on Monday, it was clear that supporting biodiversity in crop
systems is an issue that resonates with IFAD’s work. Indeed, greater diversity
of crops improves community resilience and contributes towards better food and
nutrition security. However, as was noted several times, biodiversity often lacks
an explicit focus in our projects and programmes.
Bioversity International has published that only 12 food
crops, together with 5 animal species provide over 75% of the world’s food
today. This tendency by governments to favour efficiency and productivity is endangering
our heritage of agricultural and forest biodiversity that farmers have
practiced for centuries.
In response, Bioversity International has come up with the
seeds for needs approach– a rapid means of identifying crop varieties that are
locally adapted to climate and market conditions. The process involves
agricultural trials with different seed varieties and subsequent analysis of
farmers’ preferences. By making use of CGIAR and institutional genebanks, Bioversity
can customize seeds and distribute to community seedbanks based on farmer
demand.
But the remarkable aspect of this approach is that the seed
system is entirely open source. This means that there are no individual rights
holders for the varieties they distribute, instead, the seeds are openly
accessible to everyone.
“The biodiversity that we’re offering is in the public
domain, open access, and therefore easy to work with, multiply, and move around
as farmers identify seeds as being important to their use,” said Stephan Weise,
Deputy Director General of Bioversity.
From both a food security and a sustainability perspective,
this seems to make a lot of sense. However, in the many cases where government
subsidies incentivize staple crops such as rice, maize and wheat, Bioversity’s
approach actually represents a vast departure from the norm.
I asked Weise how he reacts to such policy barriers: “Policies
can change if you provide the right evidence and link it to an engagement
effort that allows them to be adjusted.”
“If we do not show that there is value in doing something
differently, then policies are not going to change,” he added.
The production of minor millets in India is a case in point.
These are small-seeded crops grown for food and fodder, which are rich in vitamins
and nutrients. Despite the crop’s neglected status, Bioversity provided
extension services to improve planting techniques and helped select higher
quality seed varieties. As a result,
Indian small millet growers increased their yields by 70% and their income by
30%, all in a rural setting that is dominated by rice production.