Can biodiversity research change the future of agriculture

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“Can Biodiversity ResearchChange the Future of Agriculture? Lessons from Biocultural Landscapes”by Pablo B. EyzaguirreBioversity International Rome 24 May 20111

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Bioversity’s unique rolelinking biodiversity, food security, resilience, livelihoods and culture

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How did weget this far?20 years of global research showing where and how rural communities s people use agricultural biodiversity to secure their livelihoods

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15 years ofresearch to show how gender and local knowledge encodes and unlocks the knowledge and potential of agrobiodiversity to improve food security .

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10 years ofresearch to show the value in economic and more recently in nutritional and health terms of agricultural biodiversity to the lives of the poor

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5 years ofresearch on how farmers use biodiversity for resilience and productivity

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5 years ofresearch on a global movement of bio-cultural custodians and innovators in key agrarian landscapes around the world Fruit trees in Central AsiaFarm fields: 24 main food crops Date palm in North AfricaHomegardens (microecosystems)Bananas in East Africa Using diversity for pest/disease mgt.

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Research on agrobiodiversitycustodians and bio-cultural landscapes BoliviaTajikistanKyrgyzstan CubaSarawak Malaysia

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Tomatoes are growneverywhere, but only a few places cultivate diversity There are approximately 7500 tomato varieties grown around the world. The map shows the global distribution of tomato output in 2005. The biggest producers are often not those with the greatest diversity. The food culture and diverse growing environments are where the diversity is found.

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Culture is thefast track for moving crops into new environments, finding new uses and values, enhancing genetic diversity of cultivars. Biocultural value and multiple uses of San Marzano tomatoes Legend has it that the first tomato seeds came to San Marzano in the Bourbon Kingdom of Naples in 1770, as a gift from the Bourbon Viceroy of Peru The seeds were planted in the area of San Marzano at the base of Mount Vesuvius, whose rich volcanic soil, hot summers, culture of drying fruits and elaborating sauces created a unique biocultural pathway for new tomato diversity

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Chayote (Sechiumedule)Chayote isnative to Mesoamerica. Cultures in Asia have been successful in cultivating it as well. The main growing regions are Costa Rica and Veracruz, Mexico. Costa Rican chayotes are predominantly exported to the European Union whereas Veracruz is the main exporter of chayotes to the United States.The chayote fruit is used in both raw and cooked forms. When cooked, chayote is usually handled like summer squash, it is generally lightly cooked to retain the crisp flavor. Raw chayote may be added to salads or salsas, and it is often marinated with lemon or lime juice. Whether raw or cooked, chayote is a good source of amino acids and vitamin C. The tubers of the plant are eaten as root vegetables., particularly in Southwest China. In addition, the shoots and leaves can be consumed, and they are often used in salads and stir fries, especially in Southeast Asia. Main distribution of Chayote

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Farmers’ selection charactersand disease in cassava

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The diversity ofbottle gourd in KenyaVarious landraces of L.siceraria (bottle gourd) fruits in Kenya. Seeds of cultivated species, L.siceraria.

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FindingsOriginDiversityMutationHybridizationDiversifying selectionMaintenanceStabilizing selectionDiversity maintained

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Culture and plant use can support each other: The Kanyika Kitete Museum works to conserve gourds (Lagenaria) and Kamba culture.

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Taro in Cubanhome gardensMinimal management under coffee and fruit treesCareful management in boxes

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Local Yunnan tarotypes distinguished by corm formation,taste and cooking quality

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Intensive intercropping oftaro in paddy, an efficient and profitable agronomic practice in Asia

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In extensive low-inputagriculture taro also has a place, taro cultivars are grown in swiddens in Southeast Asian hillsides along with upland rice

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Preservation of foodcultures that use all parts of the taro plant and taro in all its statuses from wild, ruderal cultivated and intensive production is key for the conservation of taro genetic diversityWild type taros are used andvalued for their stolons, made into pickle and also noted for medicinal properties.

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Taro flowers travellingto urban market on a bicycle to be sold and then stir fried

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A new approachto biodiversityand agricultureMore than 1.1 billion people living within the world’s 25 biodiversity ‘hotspot areas’ (Myers et al. 2000) – this includes people living in the 12% of the world’s land area that is under some form of protected area management. CBD-COP10 Nagoya adopts a new target , 17% of world’s terrestrial surface under protected management beginning in 2011 Biodiversity conservation includes development needs and community participation as integral elements of both ecosystem and conservation management strategies Biodiversity conservation in partnership with agriculture to achieve conservation targets and Millennium Development Goals. How Agriculture is can support and depends upon Biodiversity is now top priority in biodiversity conservation agenda. UNEP, IUCN, IPBES, PECS, UNESCO-MAB .

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The challenge weface: Biodiversity and feeding the world Solving the problem with the same mentality that created them . Intensification through simplification and increased inputs .

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Further simplification of production systems, crops and varieties, landscapes and food systems. No longer a viable option.

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Instability in foodprices, periodic health and food safety problems, growing demand for more diverse healthier locally sourced foods.

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Can we putBioversity’s vast body of research in a coherent context and at a scale where they present a global alternative to future extrapolations based on existing systemsTwo pathways for agrobiodiversity to contribute to global food securityAgrobiodiversity can be the source of inputs to addressthe problems arising from simplification of agriculture and depletion of the natural resource base. Other CGIAR centres have established Biodiversity research programmes for their mandated species and crops.Agrobiodiversity in bio-cultural landscapes can be models for

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innovation, and create new ways of producing food

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linkingto agriculture to consumers that promote healthier food and healthier agroecosystems

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buildon synergies among crop varieties, species and breeds, wild and cultivated spaces

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fostera culture of renewed innovation and custodianship of bio-cultural diversity

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embracenew demands by societies and consumers to know the diversity of their foods and support its future productivity Bringing our research results to bear at the landscape scale

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Linking foodsecurity, environment, culture, and markets

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How significantis our target and our potential impact if we focus on small family farms practicing diversified bio-intensive agriculture?

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How muchcan small family farms and agrobiodiversity contribute to global food security in 2050?.Current assumptions for achieving food security in 2050: We will need to increase food production global food production by 70% to feed an additional 2.3 billion people (total 9.1 billion) in 2050

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Population growthwill be in developing countries that will need to double their production of food

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the agriculturalmodel to achieve this is increasing intensification and higher yielding crops and livestock systems.

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Do agriculturalsystems and food system for future global food and nutrition security have to be the same as those that have generated instability, declining dietary quality, growing health and safety problems, and rapid depletion of the resource base?

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Can agrobiodiversityprovide a new model based on synergies among components that is linked to emerging movements on food culture, health, and territory? Some facts where the data are clear.In 2009 US Dept of Agriculture data show the # of small family growing by 2% a year

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US small farms< 27 acres produce 10 times the value in dollar terms per acre of output

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US small farmshave 3 times the number of trees than larger farms – inverse relationship between size and output.

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Assumptions about theefficiency of large scale farming in the US and UK are being questioned.

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Industrial agriculture inthe UK generates £2.3 billion in annual costs that are borne by government and society. Developing country scenario 3 billion people live in rural areas

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1.2 billionpeople practice low input traditional agriculture on small family farms

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In Latin America75 million farmers on small family farms averaging 1.8 hectares in size produce 41% of the food crops consumed locally

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In Brazil,85 % of food production is on family farms on 30% of the agricultural land producing 84% of the manioc and 67% of the beans consumed in the country.

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In Africa, South Asia and Southeast Asia the percentage contribution of small family farms to national food security is even higher. Biodiversity and intensification offood productionBio-intensive Agriculture is a way to achieve long term synergies between production and conservation in ecosystems. There are important and opportune links to be made:Ongoing process of crop domestication for adaptation and global food security as a good example.Agricultural change and food systems can evolve rapidly and securely when linked to a food culture and a mozaic landscape

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Food securityand resilience of agriculture will depend upon innovation and models from small farms that maximise the potential of biodiversity

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Where canwe find and scale out the new models for bio-intensification and increased resilience in agriculture?Changes in Biological and Cultural Diversity over TimeIn regions across the world dramatic and rapid changes occur:new species domesticated, introduced, and used

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Cultural practices changerapidly to incorporate new practices and demographic changes, migrations

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Human societies innovateadopt and make endogenise new biological and cultural introductions in a brief historical period Globally, cultures are threatened by language loss,

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demographic changes,poverty, and marginalisation

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loss of accessto and knowledge of traditional resources, territories, and landscapes

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Biodiversity in foodsystems, agricultural systems and landscapes is diminishing, (conversion of land use, intensification, homogenisation)Human potential to maintain and innovate through bio-cultural diversityOccurs in places where communities have resided and managed resources for livelihood security for generations

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Where mosaic landscapesresult from application of the unique cosmovison of the community to the land and its products

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Where communities accessand use wild and cultivated biodiversity to maintain their systems and increase flow between the cultivated and the wild.

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Where food culturesand local food systems provide the potential for food sovereignty

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Where local institutions and knowledge systems exist to embed, govern, and transmit the value and potential of their agricultural biodiversity and biocultural landscapes to young people and allies in conservation and development.Conservation and Innovation Value of Agrobiodiversity Landscapes under Bio-cultural Management Association with protected area/threatened ecosystem Education on biodiversity through generationsMaintenance and distribution of heirloom varietiesGeneflow from wild ecosystems to garden (Lorocco, Eggplant, Yams, Taros,Pepper, Fruit trees) and back Fod security and food sovereignty, food cultures, dietary diversity, nutrition and healthEcosystem services: soil enrichment, water retention, niche differentiation can increase productivity of total agroecosystem, pollinators, disease management.

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Farmers Develop andAdapt Crops to Niches in their Ecosystems

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Karen rotational farmingsystem (northern Thailand)

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Cultural Adaptation toDifficult Environments Increases Biodiversity: Arab and Berber peoples in desert oases maintain drought resistant plant varieties and plant communities around a key species, the date palm(Phoenix dactilefera)

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Agricultural Biodiversity Conservationand Cuban Man and Biosphere Reserves: Bridging managed and natural landscapes Restoring diversity and health to Cuban agrarian landscapes and food systems.

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Supporting protected areamanagement and conservation of agricultural biodiversityCosmology and RulesTransmissionConservationInnovationFarming in the Guantanamo Man and Biosphere

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RestoringTropicalAgriculturethroughproductsfromBiosphereReserves

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Conservation and Useof Taro

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Whose food culture?Taking taro out of its bio-cultural landscape Taro in LaiyangChina, intensive cultivation of singlecultivar for export ashigh-value product.Not much diversityfor taro or people

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BIOSPHERE RESERVES, Centersof Crop Domestication and Crop Genetic Resources, and Innovation Elaeisguineensis (var. drura) ; Bixagos MAB ReserveMangrove Rice (salt and flood tolerant)Wild peanut, ArachissppMAB reserves BoliviaWild yam,Dioscorea,MAB reserve W- burkina, Niger, BeninNuts and Fruit trees Juglans. Malus, Pyrus, Morus,SaryChelek MAB ReserveKyrgyzstan

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Indicators to measurethe resilience of social-ecological systems

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Bio-cultural research onagricultural innovationResearch on the unique agroecological knowledge of indigenous cultures (ethnoscience) places placed agriculture within a traditional society’s cosmovision of the natural world. Harold Conklin, Hanunoo Agriculture (1957) and the Ethnographic Atlas of Ifugao (1980)Prof. Sadao Sakamoto’s work that linked culture to the evolution crop genepools in rice and tropical root crops. The glutinous starch trait in domestication and evolution of starchy staples. Kyoto University plant geneticist Audrey Richards andElinorOrstrom: Institutions for food security and productive landscapes

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Kwaheri

Can biodiversity research change the future of agriculture

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