Agrobiodiversity in food systems, ecosystems and education systems Per Rudebjer Bioversity...
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Transcript of Agrobiodiversity in food systems, ecosystems and education systems Per Rudebjer Bioversity...
Agrobiodiversity in food systems, ecosystems and education systems
Per RudebjerBioversity International
Presented at regional workshop on Learning agrobiodiversity: options for universities in Sub-Saharan Africa
21-23 January, 2009, ICRAF House, Nairobi, Kenya
• What is agrobiodiversity?• Why is it important?• How should it be taught?
Abilities for managing agricultural biodiversity?
What is agrobiodiversity?
• Subset of biological diversity of relevance to food and agriculture· Managed
• Plants, animals, trees, domesticated by farmers• Improved varieties• Trees outside forests
· Wild• Forests • Crop wild relatives• Aquatic systems
• Agro-ecosystems· Ecological services
• Animal, plants, micro-organisms• Pollinators• Nutrient cycling, carbon sequestration, etc.
• Local knowledge
Perceptions of agrobiodiversity
Plant breeding
Perceptions of agrobiodiversity?
Conservation, genebanks
Perceptions of agrobiodiversity
http://www.flickr.com/photos/betobeto/
National parks
Perceptions of agrobiodiversity
Farmers’ traditional
farming systems
Food systems: Modern vs. traditional
Traditional•Domestication by farmers during millennia•Traditional knowledge•Low input, risk mitigation •Informal seed systems•Local/national markets•Integrated market chains•Neglected by policy makers•Limited investment in innovation and education
Modern•Advanced breeding, ‘designer’ varieties•Scientific knowledge •High input & productivity•Commercial seeds•Global commodities•Specialization•Policy-intensive•Dominates R&D investments
Millions of farmers depending on traditional systemsCustodians of important agrobiodiversity
Modern varieties replacing landraces
Modern rice varieties in Nepal, 1000 ha
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
1400
1965 1970 1975 1980 1983 1993 1996 2000
Domination of few commodity crops
50 % : Maize, wheat, rice
45 % : 27 species
•30 species provide 95% of our food
•Maize, wheat, rice, provide 50 % of global energy intake
•7000 plant species have been used for food or animal feed
•Many neglected, underutilized species
Animal genetic resources
20% of the worlds’ breeds at risk
9% extinct
-10,000
-8,000
-6,000
-4,000
-2,000
0
1000
ha/
year
Africa -4,375 -4,040
Total World -8,868 -7,317
1990-2000 2000-2005
Forest genetic resourcesChange in extent of forest 1990 - 2005
0.22%/year
0.64%/year
0.62%/year
0.18%/year
Source: FAO FRA 2005
Africa accounting for half of worlds’ loss of forests
Forest genetic resources
• 7% of native tree species in African countries endangered of vulnerable· South Africa: 54 of 649 species· Democratic republic of Congo: 51 of 870 species· Kenya 67 endagered/vulnarable species
• Little known about species’ ecology, populations
• Genetic erosion
Source: IUCN red list
Food systems and genetic erosion
Supermarkets & changing food habits
Intensification of agriculturePopulation growth
Land conversion, degradation
Can our food systems make better use a broader range of agrobiodiversity?
• Growing interest in exotic food • Organic agriculture, fair trade• Specialty food, e.g. cacao or coffee • Neglected and Underutilized Species
· Minor millets; African leafy vegetables; Local fruit trees· Crops for the Future launched in 2008
• Participatory breeding of traditional varieties
Agrobiodiversity in ecosystems
• Environmental services· Continued adaptation and evolution· Pollination· Soil processes, carbon and nutrient
cycling · Watershed functions · Cultural and aesthetic values
Time
Space
Scale•Ecosystem
•Species
•Within species
Dynamic change, complex drivers
Externalities & trade-offs
Ensuring continued provision of ecosystems services
• CBD: 1996 - programme on agrobiodiversity; Platform on Agrobiodiversity Research (PAR)
• UNCCD: farmers’ management of diversity in dryland areas• UNFCCC: agrobiodiversity for adaptation to climate change
Link to international conventions and processes
Link to international conventions and processes
• FAO Commission on Agricultural Biodiversity• International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources
for Food and Agriculture, 2002• Global Plan of Action for Animal Genetic
Resources 2007· ‘education and training in order to build sustainable
capacity in all priority areas is required’
• State of the World’s Forest Genetic Resources• UN Year of Biodiversity 2010
Options to slow down, or reverse the decline of ecosystems services?
• Landscape approach to biodiversity conservation • Schemes for Payments for Environmental
Services· Biodiversity, watershed functions, carbon storage
• Agro-tourism• Making better use of a broader range of
agricultural biodiversity
Agrobiodiversity in educational systems
• Agrobiodiveristy: a fairly new concept
• Only recently started to appear, in a rather limited way, in some university curricula
• Elements of ABD taught in various courses, but no established approach
How is agrobiodiversity taught?
• Programmes/courses oriented towards a specific disciplines
· E.g. seed science, plant breeding, crop science, agricultural economics, horticulture, biotechnology, agronomy
• Less scope for holistic and multidisciplinary agrobiodiversity processes
Agrobiodiversity: emerging areas of learning
• Plant breeding for a warmer world with more people
• Breeding for low-input agriculture• Participatory plant breeding and varietal
selection• Nutrition, health and food systems• Market chains for neglected, underutilized
species
Agrobiodiversity: emerging areas of learning
• 3 levels of diversity: agroecosystems, species and within species
• Ecological and socio-economic processes that connect these levels
• Functions of fragmented landscapes, geneflow • Soil biodiversity• Payments for environmental services
Context for learning
• Uncertainty and evolving knowledge base• Combination scientific and traditional
knowledge• Participation and focus on farmer’s realities • Relevant practical learning experiences
Options to be validated in this workshop
• Introducing elements of agrobiodiversity in existing courses and programmes, at different levels
• Agrobiodiversity in next curriculum review?
• Scope for Master programmes in agrobiodiversity?
Partnerships for innovation
Thank you!
EAPGRENCoL
FAO