Agrobiodiversity in food systems, ecosystems and education systems Per Rudebjer Bioversity International Presented at regional workshop on Learning agrobiodiversity:

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