Suchergebnisse

Bioversity International, the UNDP-GEF Project "Strengthening human resources, legal frameworks, and institutional capacities to implement the Nagoya Protocol" and the Secretariat of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) co-organized a workshop in FAO, Rome, 21-23 November 2017 with the title "Mutually Supportive Implementation of the Nagoya Protocol and the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture". 32 participants from 17 countries participated in the workshop. The main objective was to explore and promote practical approaches and tools to implement both instruments within countries in mutually supportive ways. Legislative, administrative and policy measures were considered by participants. Experts' presentations were complemented by participatory analyses of practical case studies and hypothetical scenarios where the interface between the Nagoya Protocol and the ITPGRFA can raise legal and procedural issues.

The synthesis report is part of a series of papers on Integrated Seed Sector Development (ISSD) in Africa's thematic working group on Matching national realities with global commitments. The thematic working group addressed the main question on how African governments implement their global commitments while fostering a viable pluralistic sector. The main hypothesis was that making these commitments more coherent with the practices and realities of farmers and creating an enabling environment for strengthening multiple seed systems will increase farmers' access to quality seed. Three main topics were discussed under this theme: access and benefit sharing for climate resilient seed systems; national and regional seed laws that support the development of a robust, integrated seed sector that supports smallholder farmers' needs; and creating room for informal and intermediary seed systems in a UPOV '91 informed Plant Variety Protection system. The study was conducted to answer a key question on how the various national and regional seed laws relate to the diversity of seed systems that exist in a given country. More specifically how current seed laws affect informal (farmer-based) seed systems and in what manner seed laws can be adapted to support these seed systems. Policies, laws and regulations of 32 African countries were carefully reviewed to identify some best practices and key issues and challenges in regulation. Findings from the study indicate that the main challenge for many African countries is that their seed regulations don't include provisions that support farmer -led seed systems. As a way forward, there is need for revision of existing regulatory frameworks to takes into account the needs and characteristics of the various seed systems in order to increase the availability of quality seed of preferred varieties for all farmers.

The synthesis report is part of a series of papers on Integrated Seed Sector Development (ISSD) in Africa's thematic working group on Matching national realities with global commitments. The thematic working group addressed the main question on how African governments implement their global commitments while fostering a viable pluralistic sector. The main hypothesis was that making these commitments more coherent with the practices and realities of farmers and creating an enabling environment for strengthening multiple seed systems will increase farmers' access to quality seed. Three main topics were discussed under this theme: access and benefit sharing for climate resilient seed systems; national and regional seed laws that support the development of a robust, integrated seed sector that supports smallholder farmers' needs; and creating room for informal and intermediary seed systems in a UPOV '91 informed Plant Variety Protection system. This study provides an overview of climate related changes in past, present and future and the challenges to access to and exchange of genetic resources for climate change adaptation through different access and benefit sharing regimes in 4 countries – Zambia, Zimbabwe, Rwanda and Uganda. Findings from the studies indicate that most African countries face challenges in accessing required PGR for climate change adaptation because they do not have online accession-level documentation; they have not fully implemented international commitments related to ABS and national and regional seed laws hamper the flow of seeds and genetic resources. As a way forward the paper proposes capacity development for mutually supportive implementation of the ITPGRFA, Nagoya protocol and seed laws in ways which reflect the reality and diversity of different seed systems.

If properly managed, socio-ecological production landscapes and the ecosystem services they provide can contribute to the well-being of local communities, as well as to the achievement of the global conservation agenda and of other relevant development policies at the national level. However, many of these landscapes worldwide are often highly insecure due to unsupportive government policies, agencies, and lack of local collective action. By conducting a network analysis and participatory exercises with district officials and farmers in two communities from Rakai (Uganda) and Lushoto (Tanzania) districts, we studied local perceptions regarding (a) the contribution of natural resources to local farmers' livelihoods, and how these farmers, in turn, contribute to the conservation and sustainable use of these natural resources, (b) landscape threats and resilience, and (c) major causes of the identified and possible local solutions for mitigating them. The study shows that in the four communities there was very little communication among farmers and that the cooperation between farmers and local and district stakeholders was rather limited. Farmers did not seek much information concerning conservation and use of natural resources and very few of them were aware of the existence of government programs regulating natural resources management. In addition, the study sites were found to be experiencing a progressive degradation of their natural resources. We, therefore, conclude that the creation of spaces for informed, public discussion aimed at making the institutional context more favourable for the creation and coordination of community groups and at enhancing their interaction, would contribute to a wider movement of knowledge and social exchange. This, in turn, could ultimately result in the creation of local initiatives aimed at the conservation of natural resources.

Le Traité international sur les ressources phytogénétiques pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture (TIRPAA) et la Convention sur la diversité biologique (CDB) engagent leurs Etats-membres à mettre en œuvre des systèmes d'accès et de partage des avantages très différents : d'un côté, le système établi en vertu du TIRPAA vise à renforcer la mise en commun et le partage au niveau international de la diversité génétique ; de l'autre côté, le système de la CDB a pour objectif de maximiser le contrôle souverain de chaque pays sur ses ressources génétiques. La mise en œuvre nationale de ces deux systèmes s'est révélée relativement lente. Ce retard est notamment dû au fait que dans de nombreux pays les décideurs nationaux ne savent pas vraiment comment gérer l'interface entre ces deux systèmes d'accès et de partage des avantages. Sur la base des recherches et des expériences en matière d'élaboration des politiques conduites dans plusieurs pays, les auteurs identifient en premier lieu les questions que les décideurs politiques nationaux doivent aborder et les étapes qu'ils doivent suivre pour la mise en œuvre du Système multilatéral d'accès et de partage des avantages du TIRPAA. En second lieu, les auteurs analysent les points d'intersection, au niveau national, entre le Système multilatéral d'accès et de partage des avantages du TIRPAA et les mécanismes mis en place (ou qui sont actuellement élaborés) en application de la CDB et de son Protocole de Nagoya, récemment adopté. En troisième lieu, les auteurs analysent les facteurs qui contribuent dans de nombreux pays à un manque de coordination entre les institutions publiques nationales chargées de l'environnement et celles chargées de l'agriculture qui ont pour mandat de diriger la mise en œuvre nationale de ces accords internationaux.

Over the last decade, there has been an ongoing revolution in the exploration, manipulation and synthesis of biological systems, through the development of new technologies that generate, analyse and exploit big data. Users of Plant Genetic Resources (PGR) can potentially leverage these capacities to significantly increase the efficiency and effectiveness of their efforts to conserve, discover and utilize novel qualities in PGR, and help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This review advances the discussion on these emerging opportunities and discusses how taking advantage of them will require data integration and synthesis across disciplinary, organisational and international boundaries, and the formation of multi-disciplinary, international partnerships. We explore some of the institutional and policy challenges that these efforts will face, particularly how these new technologies may influence the structure and role of research for sustainable development, ownership of resources, and access and benefit sharing. We discuss potential responses to political and institutional challenges, ranging from options for enhanced structure and governance of research discovery platforms to internationally brokered benefit-sharing agreements, and identify a set of broad principles that could guide the global community as it seeks or considers solutions. ; Peer Review

Over the last decade, there has been an ongoing revolution in the exploration, manipulation and synthesis of biological systems, through the development of new technologies that generate, analyse and exploit big data. Users of Plant Genetic Resources (PGR) can potentially leverage these capacities to significantly increase the efficiency and effectiveness of their efforts to conserve, discover and utilise novel qualities in PGR, and help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This review advances the discussion on these emerging opportunities and discusses how taking advantage of them will require data integration and synthesis across disciplinary, organisational and international boundaries, and the formation of multi-disciplinary, international partnerships. We explore some of the institutional and policy challenges that these efforts will face, particularly how these new technologies may influence the structure and role of research for sustainable development, ownership of resources, and access and benefit sharing. We discuss potential responses to political and institutional challenges, ranging from options for enhanced structure and governance of research discovery platforms to internationally brokered benefit-sharing agreements, and identify a set of broad principles that could guide the global community as it seeks or considers solutions.