The seasonal calendar was developed through participatory focus groups with the communities of Dungariya, Mandla and Magar Tagar in Dindori. The analysis and booklet were prepared by Gaia Lochetti and Gennifer Meldrum with support of Tanvi Agrawal, Shambavi Priyam, Somnath Roy, Nina Lauridsen, Jessica Raneri, Gina Kennedy and Stefano Padulosi.

Poster to be printed in A0 format.

Poster to be printed in A0 format.

Bioversity International Gender and Value Chain Specialist Nadezda Amaya reports on a training session organized with farmers in Guatemala on a novel way to use local leafy vegetable chaya to enhance protein consumption.

Per capita protein intake among Guatemalans is among the lowest in Central America. Black beans are the main source of protein for the population but other local plants can also play an important role in improving diet quality. In particular, the native leafy vegetable chaya (Cnidoscolus aconitifolius) has been gaining recognition for its high protein content and potential to make significant nutritional contributions in vulnerable communities. Chaya’s dry protein content is higher than that of common bean (31% versus 25%) and it contains about two times more protein than spinach (Spinacia oleracea) and amaranth leaves (Amaranthus hybridus).

While conducting a value chain study on chaya in Guatemala and Mexico in the project “Linking Agrobiodiversity Value Chains, Climate Adaptation and Nutrition: Empowering the Poor to Manage Risks”, I discovered that the Mexican Secretary of Public Education has been carrying out very interesting work with chaya in rural communities in the State of Yucatan. They have been teaching and promoting a process to extract its vegetable protein to enrich food preparations. It was clear that this approach had a lot of potential to benefit populations in Guatemala.

To share this knowledge in Guatemala, I organized a workshop in Camotán, Chiquimula with guest instructor, Javier Rodríguez from the Mexican Secretary of Public Education. In the hands-on workshop, local producers actively participated in the extraction process and in using the protein and fiber obtained to prepare different foods, such as tortillas, scrambled eggs and lemonade. All participants enjoyed the dishes and many expressed their desire to use this method at home, given its ease of replication and importance in supplementing their diets.

Aside from local producers, other participants in this workshop included representatives from the government, university, and local, national and international NGOs, who were open to share and learn from each other’s experiences. One of the participants was a local organization called Mancomunidad Copan Ch'orti' which promotes rural development in Chiquimula. The participants from Mancomunidad were so impressed that following the workshop they organized a trip to the city of Merida in the State of Yucatan, Mexico to learn more and to develop collaborations to further promote the role of chaya and other native plants for improved nutrition.

Another interesting side result of the workshop was the interest that the owner of the venue where the workshop took place showed. She participated in the workshop, learned the process and decided to teach it to her daughter and schoolmates for their school science fair. The goal of this fair was to identify a problem and find a solution, which they chose to be malnutrition and chaya respectively. The name of their project was “nutrition at your fingertips”. During the science fair these high school students explained the importance of consuming chaya, and showed how to extract protein from it and how to used it i.e. they prepared different dishes with chaya such as rice, cakes, drinks, tortillas and tamales. Given their great work, they won the first place of their high school science fair and soon will represent Chiquimula in a bigger fair.

These experiences are a reminder of the importance of bringing together different actors and organizations, who can help to promote chaya production, marketing, and consumption, especially in drought-prone vulnerable communities where this plant can be easily produce and make significant nutritional contribution. Read more about the protein extraction process and the workshop in the proceedings.

 For more information, read the proceedings of the workshop (2.9 MB)

The workshop “Leveraging chaya’s nutritional values through protein extraction” was organized as part of the IFAD-EU funded project “Linking Agrobiodiversity Value Chains, Climate Adaptation and Nutrition: Empowering the Poor to Manage Risks” linked to the CGIAR Research Programmes on Agriculture for Food and Nutrition and Climate Change Agriculture and Food Security.

Further reading:

• Chaya: Mayan vegetable enriching diets year-round in Mesoamerica 
• Research brief: Value chain and market potential of Chaya to strengthen climate resilience, nutrition security and incomes in Guatemala
• Uniting efforts to enhance the use of neglected Mayan superfood chaya 
• Promoting chaya and tepary bean for better nutrition and climate resilience in Guatemala

The first event was an international Dialogue on Millets, Monsoon and Market organized by the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) in Chennai on 15-17 April, with support from a number of organisations including Bioversity International. People gathered from various scientific disciplines and stakeholder groups involved in the value chain of millets including researchers, NGOs and grassroots organisations, policymakers, agronomists, nutritionists, businesses representatives and, most importantly, farmers. Over the three days of the meeting, all participants offered very interesting perspectives and direct experiences related to the conservation, cultivation, production, marketing, nutrition, health, consumption and issues for developing an enabling environment for their sustainable use enhancement.

Listening to the interventions, it soon became clear that numerous initiatives for the promotion of these crops are on the rise across the country and that more and more people are now realizing their health and economic potentials. Last November, the Government of India declared 2018 as the national year of millets and in April, further steps were taken to include millets into the public distribution system (PDS), a move expected to result into wider production and greater supply of millets to the Indian population at a price affordable to the poor. Several private firms attending the meeting presented their strategies for expanding their businesses on millets as healthy foods for enriching breakfast and other meals. Important developments in processing technologies of millet grains were also presented for both industrial and cottage scale productions. Various development agencies also shared their progress in millet promotion which is having a positive impact on income generation among rural producers and women’s Self Help Groups.

A critical mass of millets initiatives at all levels, seems to have emerged finally over the last few years, which is fundamental for making these crops graduate from their NUS status, or to be selected rather than neglected, as one participant put it during the conference.

The second meeting took place in Mandla, Madhya Pradesh on the 20^th April, during which local stakeholders dug deeper down into an analysis of the kodo-kutki value chain in Mandla and Dindori districts. The workshop was organised by Bioversity International in collaboration with Action for Social Advancement (ASA) and the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF). Dr. Oliver King (MSSRF) presented the results of a detailed value chain assessment for millets in the project area and building from the results, stakeholders explored in participatory and open debate the challenges, needs and opportunities for upgrading.  

In attendance at the meeting were representatives of the three Farmer Producer Companies (FPCs) which have been strengthened by the IFAD EU Project for millet marketing as a means for economic empowerment. The FPCs are owned and operated by local Gond farmers and women in particular form the majority of the shareholders and board of directors for the companies. These cooperatives, have had insofar an important impact to increase the market power of farmers in the value chain and enhance the supply and availability of high quality seed of higher yielding and well adapted millet varieties.

At both events, actors across the various sectors largely agreed on the challenges that millets face today in India as well as the strategies of how to overcome these barriers. Despite availability of new technological solutions for threshing millets, there is still a lot of drudgery connected to the removal of their hard seed coats, a process called ‘de-hulling’. Furthermore, millets are often grown on slopes, which limits the use of agricultural machines. Again, another limitation is also represented by the short shelf-life of its processed grains, which makes it risky for retailers to buy a decent stock that would allow a regular availability of produce to customers. The rancidity of millets was identified as a key challenge in producing flour mixtures with wheat, which we learnt can be actually easily overcome by breeding.  Moreover, from a mainstreaming perspective, although the amendment on the PDS is a great step forward, very few states have started to implement that policy (e.g. Karnataka), leaving majority of millet farmers awaiting for favourable conditions to support the cultivation of these crops.  The recent policy change should help in overcoming this bottleneck.

A key message reiterated during both meetings was that the economic benefits that are on the rise thanks to the popularization of millets must be shared with farmers! But apart for that, it is also important that farmers’ households also gain healthy benefits from the direct consumption of millets and to that regard the project is set to introduce simple de-hulling machines to eliminate processing drudgery at community level.

Though minor millets, or better said ‘nutri-cereals’, were the protagonists in both meetings, an important outcome of the debates was that their promotion should not be carried out in isolation from their production systems. In other words, millets are part of a complex system that should be also safeguarded and along with that the many other nutritious species (pulses, vegetables, oil-seed crops) which help sustaining diversity-rich balanced diets.

Collaboration and sharing across disciplines and various professions involved in R&D on millets is paramount for their effective use enhancement. To that regard, Bioversity International scientist Stefano Padulosi, recommended that a platform be established in India to facilitate lessons sharing and synergy building on a regular basis (see article).

Proceedings of both meetings are being developed and will be made available on this website.

This meetings were organised as a part of the project 'Linking agrobiodiversity value chains, climate adaptation and nutrition: Empowering the poor to manage risk' supported by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the European Commission, and the CGIAR Research Programs on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) and Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH).

Further reading

• Research brief: Value chain and market potential of minor millets to strengthen climate resilience, nutrition security and incomes in India 
• Kodo and kutki millets in Madhya Pradesh
• Millets are now formally part of India’s Public Distribution System (PDS)
• Kodo millet: Resistant and nutrient-rich crop to enhance food security and diet diversity in India
• Kutki millet: Climate resilient and water efficient crop for marginal lands in India

Presentations

•  Feasibility of E. colona introduction in small millets (5.2 MB) - H.S. Yadava
•  Production technology of small millets crops in Madhya Pradesh (747 KB) - S.K. Choubey
•  Minor Millets Value chain development for Certified Seeds (3.3 MB) - S. Mishra
•  7 C holistic value chain Approach in Small millet Conservation and Sustainable Use (1.5 MB) - O. King

An important milestone was reached on 13 April in the further popularization of minor millets in India.  With a Notification in the National Gazette, the Indian Government has formally accepted the inclusion of these species into the Public Distribution System (PDS) and has requested all States to take the necessary actions for mainstreaming these species into relevant schemes and programs aimed at  furthering their use. Worth reporting here the text of the Notification for its clarity and meaningful wording, highlighting the multiple values of these underutilized species:

Whereas,  millets  hold  great  potential  in  contributing  substantially  to food  and  nutritional  security  of  the  country  and  thus  they  are  not  only  a  powerhouse  of  nutrients,  but  also  are climate  resilient  crops  and  possess  unique  nutritional  characteristics; And  whereas,  recent  research  findings  also  show  that  millets  contain  anti-diabetic  properties  and millet  based  food  have  low  GI  and  reduces  the  postprandial  blood  glucose  level  and  glycosylated haemoglobin; And  whereas,  a  Committee  constituted  by  the  Central  Government  for  examination  of  inclusion  of millets  in  the  Public  Distribution  System  (PDS)  for  improving  nutritional  support  has  recommended  for inclusion  of  millets  in  PDS  across  the  country  and  the  same  has  been  accepted  by  the  Central  Government; Now,  therefore,  the  Central  Government  hereby  declare  millets  comprising  Sorghum  (Jowar),  Pearl Millet  (Bajra),  Finger  Millet  (Ragi/Mandua),  Minor  Millets  i.e.  Foxtail  Millet  (Kangani/Kakun),  Proso  Millet (Cheena),  Kodo  Millet  (Kodo),  Barnyard  Millet  (Sawa/Sanwa/  Jhangora),  Little  Millet  (Kutki)  and  two Pseudo  Millets  (Black-wheat  (Kuttu)  and  Amaranthus  (Chaulai)  which  have  high  nutritive  value  as  “NutriCereals”  for  production,  consumption  and  trade  point  of  view - MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE (Department  of  Agriculture,  Cooperation  and  Farmers  Welfare) NOTIFICATION New  Delhi,  the  10th  April,  2018 F.No.  4-4/2017-NFSM  (E).

This is a very timely development as India has requested the United Nations to declare 2018 the International Year of Millets and the scientific community gathered in Chennai on 15-17 April, reiterating once again the unique contribution of these species in building resilient and sustainable production and food systems.

Read the full notification in the Gazette by this link.

The key role of biodiversity in support of CSA was highlighted throughout the event. In particular, one session was held on “CSA and Biodiversity Conservation” in which presentations discussed how modern agriculture has reduced the diversity of farm systems and consequently increased their vulnerability. Speakers emphasized the important role of conservation and restoration of biodiversity to support adaptation and enhance harvest security. Approaches to strengthen the role of agrobiodiversity for CSA were given from around the world (inter alia Mali, Sri Lanka, Uganda, and Bolivia) and included community seed banks, seed fairs, exchanging seeds across borders, and increasing farmers’ access to gene bank materials for evaluation.

The Conference dedicated a special focus to policy as an essential sector that along with financing, marketing, and technology needs to closely interact with agriculture for effective CSA implementation. Hosted for the first time in Africa, the role of the Malabo Declaration in supporting upscaling of CSA was a recurring topic. This African Union Agreement made in 2014 provides an overarching continental plan for meeting the sustainable development goals of zero hunger, poverty reduction, and climate change adaptation. A presentation by Stefano Padulosi (Bioversity International) brought attention to the key role of native African crops in supporting the Malabo Business Plan. The talk stressed how Africa is endowed with a wealth of cultivated, wild, and semi-wild edible plant species that is strategic for improving peoples’ livelihoods but that research and development have focused on a limited number of staple and commodity crops that have mostly been introduced from outside the continent. Specific recommendations were made for how to leverage and support research and development of neglected and underutilized African native crops through the Malabo Business Plan to help in reaching its targets. The key role of neglected and underutilized species was also highlighted for climate adaptation in other parts of the world.

The official Conference declaration is currently being refined through a participatory process and will soon be available on the conference webpage. Agrobiodiversity will surely be highlighted among the priority areas for CSA implementation.

Further reading

• Conference webpage
• Fact sheet on native African crops and the Malabo Business Plan
  

 Presentations by Bioversity International and partners at the event

•  Role of neglected and underutilized species in support of the Malabo Business Plan  (1.6 MB)(Padulosi and Meldrum)
•  CSA and crop diversity conservation: issues and prospects (920 KB) (Padulosi et al.)
•  Exploiter la diversité des variétés locales pour l’adaptation au changement climatique au Mali (825 KB) (Coulibaly, Sidibe, et al.)
•  A participatory approach to identify diversification options for climate adaptation (1.6 MB) (Meldrum, Mijatovic et al.)
  
  

Community Seed Banks (CSBs) can enhance farmers’ resilience in facing climatic challenges. These seed stores enable restoration of agricultural systems after natural disasters, such as drought or storms that cause farmers to lose their seeds. They also support longer term crop adaptation to changing conditions by facilitating the conservation and use of a broad diversity of varieties. Hence, CSBs contribute to food security and, on a longer term, to countries’ economic development. The importance of CSBs has been acknowledged in international genetic conservation strategies such as the Strategic Action Plan to Strengthen the Conservation and Use of Mesoamerican Plant Genetic Resources for Adapting Agriculture to Climate Change (SAPM) and the Global Plan of Action for the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Plant Genetic Resources (MAP).

As a result of the increasing attention for their important role, hundreds of CSBs have recently been established in Guatemala. Five of these were founded by Universidad del Valle de Guatemala (UVG) under the project "Establishment of a preliminary network of community seed banks in vulnerable regions of Guatemala, to provide seed in the event of a natural disaster”. The project operated between 2012 and 2014 in four regions in Guatemala (Sololá, Chiquimula, Zacapa and Alta Verapaz) with funding provided by the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture.  Seeds of local maize (Zea mays) and bean (Phaseolus) landraces, developed through hundreds of years by the farmers, are stored in the five CSBs.

CSBs are often established through projects that are only funded for a short period. When the projects (and funding) end the CSBs can collapse if they are not economically self-sustainable. This has not been the case for the five CSBs established by UVG. Two years after project completion, the banks are still functioning without any financial aid. The CSBs are now managed and operated independently by the farmers and decisions are made without external influence.

To learn about what has enabled the success of these CSBs and to support their continued development, participatory workshops were held led by Silvana Maselli, associate Professor in the Biology Department and research head of the Plant Genetic Resources Unit at the Center of Food and Agriculture Studies (CEAA) at Universidad del Valle de Guatemala (UVG). Workshops were held as part of the IFAD-EU NUS project. Through a participatory process, CSB members identified the actors, methodologies and other elements necessary for them to establish and operate their own seed bank. They shared good practices as well as lessons learned from the challenges that members are facing in different aspects of running a seed bank as a community. 

One of the main messages from the exercise is that one size does not fit all and CSBs cannot be expected to automatically function if established under a national CSB scheme. The context in which the banks exist varies and communities have different needs, which is why an individual operating strategy must be developed for each CSB. Also, it is crucial that the process of developing this strategy is in the hands of the farmers and that they should be enabled to lead the exercise on their own. Naturally, viability of a CSB requires high willingness and active participation from the farmers in order for them to be run independently by the community in the long-term.

Having the possibility to run their own CSB has allowed the five communities to independently lead strategies to face climate change as an alternative to waiting for Government aid. The CSBs additionally facilitated the possibility of promoting the conservation of a high diversity of seed varieties through activities that are already carried out by local farmers.

The outcomes derived from this exercise was collated in a report that is now available on the NUS community website. All lessons learned and recommendations in the report are based solely on local experience and entirely represent farmers’ own opinions.

Download the report:

• Identificación de elementos para conformar una Red Nacional de Bancos Comunitarios de Semillas y fortalecer el funcionamiento de los Bancos ya existentes (Spanish)

Related pages and documents:

• Factsheet on the TIRFAA project
• IFAD-EU NUS Project webpage
  
  

In the eastern region of Madhya Pradesh, India, kodo (Paspalum scrobiculatum) and kutki (Panicum sumatrense) millets stood out as key staples and income sources for the 30 communities surveyed, despite a decreasing trend for their cultivation. These minor millets have potential to increase farmers’ revenues through enhanced production and sale, yield enhancement or value addition. Increasing production of millets could help reduce food shortage in these communities who are increasingly challenged by drought. Fruits and pulses stood out as key foods needed to address nutrition gaps and vegetables were consumed less commonly by households with a poor diet. Based on this result, follow up surveys on the seasonal availability of fruits and vegetables were recently performed to see how local crops can be leveraged for more balanced diets.

In Guatemala, the survey revealed that production systems and diets were dominated by maize (Zea mays) and beans (Phaseolus vulgaris). Several native vegetables and fruits documented in the survey such as chaya (Cnidoscolus aconitifolius), chipilin (Crotalaria longirostrata), hierba mora (Solanum sp), guisquil (Sechium edule), loroco (Fernaldia pandurata), mamey (Mammea americana) and zapote (Pouteria sapota) could help improve diet quality. Chaya was the most common vegetable grown in the three focal communities. This highly nutritious and drought tolerant perennial provides a dark green leafy vegetable throughout the year. Currently the communities are not marketing this species but it could be an opportunity to earn income, while also improving availability of this nutritious food. Beans are an important protein source for the communities and also a common income source. Tepary bean (Phaseolus acutifolius)—a drought tolerant related species that is nearly forgotten in Guatemala— can help build a more resilient supply of pulses in the face of mounting drought pressure.

Two native West African crops–fonio (Digitaria exilis) and Bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranea)–were seen to have a significant place in the production systems of farmers in communities surveyed in Sikasso and Ségou regions of Mali. These crops were making only a minor contribution to incomes but had distinct roles for food security and nutrition. The consumption of these crops was distinctly high in the lean period, as they are harvested early and break the famine before other staples like sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) and pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum) are harvested. Pulse consumption was low among women with poor diet diversity so Bambara groundnut can have an important role in diversifying local diets for better nutrition. Native vegetables such as West African sorrel (Corchorus olitorius), roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa), Ethiopian eggplant (Solanum aethiopicum) and gombo (Abelmoschus esculentus) had limited production but could also help improve diet quality.

These surveys were part of the baseline assessment for the project “Linking agrobiodiversity value chains, climate adaptation and nutrition: Empowering the poor to manage risk” supported by IFAD and the European Commission from 2015-2018. The objective was to document the systems at the start of the project and support identification of interventions that can be taken to enhance the contribution of underutilized species to the nutrition, climate resilience and incomes of focal communities. The surveys provided several important insights that are being followed up in the project with more detailed assessments and action research. The full reports can be downloaded below. 

Download the reports:

• Underutilized crops in the livelihoods, diets, and adaptation practices of Gond farmers in Eastern Madhya Pradesh (Bioversity International and Action for Social Advancement, 2017)
• Underutilized crops in the production systems, livelihoods and diets of farmers in Chiquimula, Guatemala (Bioversity International and Universidad del Valle de Guatemala, 2017)
• Underutilized crops in the livelihoods, diets, and adaptation practices of smallholders in Sikasso and Ségou, Mali (Bioversity International and Institut d’Economie Rurale, 2017)

Related pages and documents:  

• IFAD-EU NUS Project webpage
• Agricultural biodiversity to manage the risks and empower the poor: Proceedings of the International Conference 27-29 April 2015, Rome, Italy
•  Baseline household survey tool (129 KB)
  
  

Village representatives brought many species and varieties to display, including both local and improved varieties. For the fair in Ségou region, 20 species and 147 varieties were exhibited, discussed and tasted. In the Sikasso region this was the case for 15 species and 40 varieties. Among the species were fonio (Digitaria sp.) and Bambara groundnut (Vigna subterannea), which are two of the key crops in the IFAD-EU NUS project. In total 20 and 37 varieties of fonio and Bambara groundnut, respectively, were presented at the two fairs. As a result of the event, several varieties of the species were introduced to sites in Sikasso region from Ségou.   

Beyond seeds, the fairs also included a recipe competition as a way to inspire the communities to use their local crop diversity in the kitchen. Villagers presented their personal, new and alternative recipes comprising a broad diversity of local grains and vegetables. Fonio and Bambara groundnut formed the basis for many of the dishes and could be found boiled, grilled, in croquettes, in cakes and pancakes as well as in traditional dishes such as foyo, djouka and tô – the latter being the staple porridge of Mali. The dishes were evaluated by a panel of judges and the winners were honored with financial donations to the engaged groups in the winning villages, being Finkoloni in Sikasso region and Boumboro in Ségou region.  

In addition to farmers, the fairs also attracted actors with a stake in the value chains and production related to the local crops. These included local traders and processors and representatives from NGOs, farmers groups and cooperatives. Their participation strengthened the exchange of knowledge and the understanding between actors in the crop value chains. Moreover, local decision-makers chaired the event and expressed their interest in implementing the concept of seed fairs in the social economic development plans of their communes.

In these times, due to an increasingly unpredictable climate, the need for adapted crops is more and more important. The seed fairs were an important activity that enabled the exchange of seeds and knowledge across villages, and contributed to the conservation of a broad genetic diversity of seeds, which is essential for the long-term resiliency of the local crops.

Blog prepared based on reports by Amadou Sidibe, Harouna Coulibaly and Charlie Mbosso

For more information:

• Fonio and Bambara groundnut in Mali
• Nutritious underutilized species - Fonio
• Nutritious underutilized species - Bambara groundnut
• IFAD-EU NUS Project webpage
• IFAD PAPAM Programme

It is taught to us in schools that much of India depends on agriculture as an occupation but that the country does not have the appropriate irrigation infrastructure. Yet, gaining knowledge from books goes only so far - and the issue only made itself real to me when I was able to see the consequences with my own eyes. Though living in a city just a few hours from the farmers, I only understood after coming to Mandla that there was so much that I was unaware of.

In three recently published case studies, Shambhavi Priyam shares the results of observations and investigations she made on farming practices and livelihoods of tribal farmers in eastern Madhya Pradesh. This is one of the regions in India with the highest levels of malnutrition. It has a large indigenous population that maintains many traditional practices for farming and gathering wild plants, but their livelihoods and cropping systems are shifting and being challenged by the changing climate. Shambhavi describes:

I saw the transitions that the people of the region had made towards paddy, abandoning their traditional food practices. I also saw how hard the farmers tried to continue to maintain a symbiotic relationship with the forests and crops. Global climate change is a catastrophe that these farmers had little role in creating, but it very directly affects their lives. Not aware of how big the problem is, the communities see only the patterns of the rains alter and have to try hard to adapt their lifestyles to the changing conditions. 

In two case studies, Shambhavi investigates the use of minor millets – hardy traditional cereals, which have been declining in cultivation in Madhya Pradesh and India in the past decades. In one of the studies, Shambhavi identifies current trends in millet consumption and ways to promote their use among rural and urban consumers. The results suggest that improving the convenience and quality of processing will be essential to encourage use of millets among rural populations, while increasing awareness for their health benefits will be important to stimulate greater use among urban consumers.

In a second study, factors linked to farmers’ willingness to adopt improved cultivation methods for millets were explored. In addition to income, health, and education factors, Shambhavi investigated whether a sticker can be an effective way to remind farmers to weed their millet fields to improve their yields. The study showed the value of considering farmers’ psychology and socio-economic situation to induce better agricultural practices. The results suggest that stimulating income opportunities for millet production can be key for the economic empowerment of people living in poverty and can lead towards more nutritious and resilient agricultural systems.

Lastly, in a third article, Shambhavi documents the importance of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) in the region, and examines the impact that their use has both on the forest and the tribal population. It questions whether NTFPs can be sustainable sources of food security, income, nutrition, and medicine. The major NTFPs collected by local peoples are documented, their value chains are mapped and barriers and challenges to their role in sustainable livelihoods discussed.

Through the process of conducting these studies, Shambhavi gained better insight into cultural and traditional farming practices of the peoples of Mandla and Dindori and has shared her insights with the IFAD-EU NUS Project team to advise interventions to enhance the role of traditional crops in the livelihoods and nutrition of local populations. She concludes:

In the wake of global climate change, a look back on traditional grains like the minor millets proves to be a promising option to tackle both food and nutritional security issues. Additionally, these grains can also be a healthy alternative for the urban population that is largely unacquainted with these foods. A well-established value-chain for these items could be a powerful step in the right direction.

Shambhavi Priyam independently conducted the three case studies with the support of ASA (Action for Social Advancement). She has since been engaged with Bioversity International as a consultant.

Read the case studies:

• Current use of minor millets, trends, and potentials for enhanced consumption in central India
• Factors linked to millet cultivation and adoption of improved cultivation practices in eastern Madhya Pradesh
• Recognizing marketability and nutritional benefits of non-timber forest products in eastern Madhya Pradesh

For more information:

• IFAD-EU NUS Project webpage
• Making millets matter in Madhya Pradesh (article about the project published in Farming Matters)
• Kodo and kutki millets in Madhya Pradesh
• ASA (Action for Social Advancement)

Progress insofar was reviewed against project indicators and synergies within and outside the project were discussed along with constraints, needs and opportunities that emerged during the last year. Attention was also given to review scientific papers and other publications under development which facilitated sharing of knowledge and approaches across the three countries. Many fruitful exchanges took place over the three days! Synergy was found in the research on fonio in Mali and minor millets in India. Opportunities for exchange on scenario modelling for climate adaptation using tepary bean in Guatemala and minor millets in India were discussed and common approaches were defined for seasonal availability mapping of food groups across all three sites.

Presentations from the meeting are shared below.

Day 1

•  Padulosi, S. Opening Session Welcome, introductions and aims of the Meeting (568 KB)
•  Sidibe, S., Coulibaly, H., Koreissi, Y., Berthe, A., and Mbosso, C. Progress report for Mali activities (Institut d'Economie Rurale). (2.1 MB)
•  Mondal, A. Progress report for India (Action for Social Advancement). (1.6 MB)
•  Maselli, S., Progress report for Guatemala (Universidad del Valle de Guatemala). (4.7 MB)
•  Roy, P. Progress report for the Indigenous Partnership (TIP) (2.0 MB)
•  Meldrum, G., Progress report publications and communications (809 KB)
•  Rose, V. Literature reviews on target crops (291 KB)

Day 2: Workshop on gender and nutrition sensitive value chains

•  Raneri, J and Meldrum, G. Workshop on nutrition and gender sensitive value chains for neglected and underutilized species (495 KB)
•  King, O. Reflections on gender and nutrition aspects of kodo and kutki value chains in Mandla and Dindori districts of Madhya Pradesh (8.1 MB)
•  Mbosso, C. Reflections on gender and nutrition aspects of value chains of fonio, Bambara groundnut and Corchorus in Mali (569 KB)
•  Amaya, N. Value chain assessment and marketing consultation for chaya and tepary bean in Guatemala (1.0 MB)
•  Garrett, J. Nutrition-sensitive value chains: Considerations for project design (452 KB)
•  Elias, M. Gender in value chains - concepts and approaches (961 KB)

Day 3

•  Padulosi, S. Outputs and papers in progress (177 KB)
•  Lochetti, G. Links between diet diversity and production system diversity in Mali (812 KB)
•  Robitaille, R. Policy analysis for use enhancement of local agricultural biodiversity in Guatemala (2.5 MB)
•  Meldrum, G., Mijatovic, D., and Raneri, J Workshops on seasonal food availability and diversification for climate change resilience (1.7 MB)

Related links

Project webpage

• Neglected and underutilized species should be at the centre of global efforts on nutrition, sustainability and climate change adaptation. They can provide a robust contribution in the implementation of most of the 17 SDG Goals of the UN Agenda 2030 on Sustainable Development.

• Mainstreaming neglected and underutilized species will need champions who play a key role in bringing them to the forefront: scientists who are passionate about them, educators who can promote their inclusion in higher education curricula, development experts who can advocate policy changes in support of their use, and institutions who can help build broader platforms for their mainstreaming. Identifying, coaching and promoting such champions will be an essential action to pursue.

• Mainstreaming neglected and underutilized species in higher education has only just started. There is a need to develop user-friendly, accessible learning resources on these species. All this will require active work with both academic leaders and lecturers at all levels, and support from policy level and donors.

• Business incubation opportunities are clearly present. However, in terms of commercializing neglected and underutilized species products, going from pilot scale to wider scale can be beyond the means of small-scale entrepreneurs, even if the pilot scale is profitable. Institutional support to facilitate access to financing, meet food safety standards, design packaging and labeling, access export markets, etc., for such value chain upgrading, will be required and future projects should consider these needs.

• Researchers working on neglected and underutilized species need to be better connected with one another.  An excellent move would be the launching of a forum of all platforms working on neglected and underutilized crops which would help avowing duplication, promoting exchange of ideas, building synergy, and giving visibility to very interesting albeit isolated work being carried out around the world, including Africa. Thesis research projects on neglected and underutilized species are valuable but need to be better ‘pooled’, marketed and funded for more robust outputs.

The full list of recommendations are available in the meeting report, which can be downloaded below.

For more information

•  Full meeting report (1.1 MB)
• ACP-EU webpage

Following the triadic comparisons of technology ('tricot') methodology developed by Bioversity International (see ClimMob.net), individual farmers were given three varieties of tepary bean to plant and evaluate in their fields. It was blind trial, as the farmers didn't know the names of the three varieties they were given. After 30 and 45 days, the farmers were contacted by mobile phone or by direct visit to collect their impressions on the performance of the different varieties, which they knew as A, B, and C.

In mid-January, a workshop was held to share the results and collect the farmers overall impressions on the trials. The farmers learned the names of the varieties they evaluated and in community-specific working groups, they compared their observations on the performance of the different varieties. Because of the extreme growing conditions, unfortunately only a handful of plants survived to produce seed. The farmers' regular bean crop also did not perform well during the season due to extreme drought conditions. Had the seed arrived slightly earlier, the farmers considered the plants could have performed better. The farmers evaluated growth of the plants up to 30 and 45 days considering their leaf growth and some varieties stood out as best performers. The group was eager to repeat the trial again, trying out the varieties in the spring growing season, as well as in the autumn.

The seeds of tepary bean were obtained from Zamorano, a university in Honduras, that works on tepary bean together with USDA. The eight varieties used in the trials are now under multiplication by the Universidad del Valle de Guatemala for use in a second round of trials. The availability of this bean in Guatemala, where it had essentially disappeared, is already seen as a success of the initiative. Further trials will tell if indeed this crop can help in building resilience of farming systems to climate change.

Further information

• Resources on the triadic comparisons of technology ('tricot') methodology: ClimMob.net
• IFAD-EU NUS Project page
• Photos from the workshop

The conference was opened by the honorable Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi who spoke about the rich diversity of plants, species, crop varieties in India and how they are making an impact on the domestic and world stage. He emphasized that scientists must help battle hunger with biodiversity and that sustainable development and biodiversity conservation must be our guiding principles in making a clean and green Earth.

Among the many prestigious scientists participating the event, were three contributions by the IFAD-EU NUS project team. Preliminary results of research by Shambhavi Priyam on the role of minor millets and agrobiodiversity in mid-day meal schemes in India were shared, as well as a poster on efforts promoting minor millets in Madhya Pradesh by Action for Social Advancement. A poster by Dr. Oliver King (MSSRF) on “Methods and Best Practices for enhancing the use of Nutritious Small Millets in India” won the best poster prize for the theme on Conservation Strategies and Methodologies. The four days of discussions left the team with many inspiring messages to take forward in efforts promoting more sustainable use and conservation of minor millets and other underutilized species in India and beyond.

The Delhi Declaration produced by the conference calls upon nations to accord top priority to the “shared vision of agrobiodiversity conservation and sustainable use towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Aichi Targets of the Convention on Biological Diversity addressing poverty alleviation, food, nutritional and health security, gender equity and global partnership” and included a number of specific recommendations to achieve this vision. In the words of Dr M.S. Swaminathan “Agrobiodiversity is all about eating the cake and keeping it, too".

Download or view the three posters on minor millet promotion:

• Making millets matter in Madhya Pradesh By Ashis Mondal, Somnath Roy, Stefano Padulosi, Shambhavi Priyam and Gennifer Meldrum
• Can agrobiodiversity support healthy foods and healthy eating in India’s School Feeding Programme? By Shambhavi Priyam, Stefano Padulosi, Danny Hunter, Gennifer Meldrum, and Oliver King
• Methods and Best Practices for enhancing the use of Nutritious Small Millets in India by E.D. Israel Oliver King and Stefano Padulosi

Related links:

• IAC2016 webpage
• Delhi Declaration on Agrobiodiversity Management adopted (blog on Bioversity webpage)
• IFAD-EU NUS project webpage

The recommendations shared with the communities drew directly from community-specific results of a recent household diet survey and nutrition analyses of local leafy vegetables. In the diet survey, women recalled the food groups their household had consumed in the past 24 hours. The results revealed that effectively all households had eaten cereals and pulses but far fewer had consumed vegetables, fruits, and animal products-food groups that provide vital micronutrients and proteins to complement the major staples. Local vegetables used by the communities were collected for nutrition analysis, including moringa (Moringa olefera), bledo (Amaranthus hybridus), hierbamora (Solanum americanum), chipilín (Crotolaria longirostrata), and chaya (Cnidoscolus aconitifolius). All the vegetables had good nutrition value but chaya stood out for its high content of protein,  iron, and zinc.

Two of the recipes shared in the workshops included this nutritious leady vegetable-chaya or Mayan spinach -as a feature ingredient. One of the recipes instructed was chaya tortillas, which is an enriched version of the main source of carbohydrates that rural families eat on daily bases in Guatemala. Tortillas are so important that in food insecurity vulnerable areas (as the communities participating in the project), sometimes they are the only food families consume in one day. The participants appreciated the taste of the nutrient-rich green tortillas and were keen to make them at home.

A manual with the chaya tortilla recipe and other recipes using local agrobiodiversity was delivered to the workshop participants in each community (58 women in total). The booklet was elaborated by Maria Fernanda Maldonado and Licda. Nidia Pereira from the Nutrition Department of Universidad de Valle del Guatemala. The booklet, made using simple text and graphics to be more accessible to illiterate people, also covers good practices for better nutrition. It can be downloaded by this link.

Related links

• Download the recipe book
• See more photos of the workshop
• IFAD-EU NUS Project webpage

Despite its key role in traditional food security strategies, fonio has been marginalized in production systems in Mali because of difficult de-hulling, seed shattering losses, low yields, and the promotion of competing crops such as cotton in Sikasso, which is pushed by government subsidies. The native legume, Bambara groundnut, has also declined in Malian production systems in large part due to competition from peanut, which was introduced from the Americas in the colonial period. The IFAD-EU NUS project is promoting re-introduction and scaling up these native crops, which have great potentials to support climate change adaptation and better nutrition through diversification of farm and food systems (see Project webpage).

This summer, diversity fields of fonio and Bambara groundnut were planted in six villages in Mali– three in Sikasso region and three in Ségou region. Some of the varieties came from the national genebank of l’Institut d’Economie Rurale and others came from the six communities targeted by the Project, who exchanged seeds of both crops. Around 12 varieties of fonio and 12 of Bambara groundnut were planted in each village, including a mix of improved and local varieties. The farmers have been evaluating their performance and have identified some favorite varieties that have more branches and longer seed heads. Many of the fonio varieties came from Bolimasso in Ségou region, where a stronger culture of growing fonio remains, compared to other villages. Fonio has been nearly completely abandoned by the participating villages in Sikasso region, so the diversity fields organized by the project have been an important occasion to discuss and teach younger farmers about the value of this traditional crop for food security and cultural heritage. The farmers were happy to have access to new varieties of these crops. In Somo village, farmers described how they used to only have 2 varieties of fonio and now they 14, which they can choose to plant depending on the weather and when the rains start. If they plant a mix of early, late and medium maturing varieties, some are bound to succeed. Each village showed off bags of fonio and Bambara groundnuts of different varieties they had harvested from the diversity blocks that will be used as seed for next year and which represent a starting point for building up production and commercialization of these crops.

Both women and men cultivate Bambara groundnut, although women are responsible for its processing. Women sell roasted and boiled Bambara groundnut in local markets for a small income and a tasty snack. In most of the communities, men are in charge of cultivating and harvesting fonio. The men harvest the fields together, working side by side, singing and chatting while they reap (see video). Women are responsible for processing and cooking fonio, which involves a laborious process of de-hulling by pounding.

In the spring, women from the six villages were trained on recipes and safe processing techniques for fonio and vegetables that they have instructed to other women in their communities. This training and the diversity fields have raised awareness among the farmers on the value of traditional crops and have encouraged the farmers to continue to grow and upscale commercialization of fonio and Bambara groundnut. . For this to be possible, however, the six communities expressed the need for processing machinery for fonio to facilitate the arduous de-hulling process. Closer studies on the value chains of these crops are being undertaken to provide the full picture of constraints and opportunities faced by farmers and other value chain actors in the sustainable conservation and use of these strategic resilient crops in Mali.

Amadou Sidibe (Institut d'Economie Rurale, IER) shared highlights from their research on fonio, Bambara groundnut, and nutritious underutilized vegetables in Mali. The important food security role of fonio, which matures in the height of the lean season, was strikingly revealed in the baseline study. IER has found that some facilities and processing groups for fonio already exist in the areas where the Project is working. These will be leveraged and additional groups and facilities developed to promote greater use and marketing of this tasty grain. A training course for women on processing and value addition of fonio, Bambara groundnut and local vegetables was a big success earlier this year. Additional community workshops will be held this year on novel recipes for fonio and Bambara groundnut that feature local vegetables, such as Corchorus olitorius and Amaranthus spp., to promote a nutritionally complete diet.

Following a similar approach, a recipe for preparing ‘tortillas’ with chaya (Mayan spinach, Cnidoscolus aconitifolius) was taught to the Project communities in Guatemala with great reception. Silvana Maselli (Universidad del Valle del Guatemala, UVG) explained how cuttings of chaya were provided to households involved in the Project to encourageuse and possible commercial production of this shrub, whose iron-rich leaves can be harvested all year long. Easy-to-read manuals with instructions for managing the chaya shrubs were produced and distributed along with the cuttings. This year, the project will map the value chain for chaya, assessing current consumer demand and develop best strategies to ensure women will benefit from the initiative. Trials to assess the performance and acceptability of drought-tolerant tepary bean (Phaseolus acutifolius) will also be carried out using the crowd-sourcing approach developed by Bioversity Scientist Jacob van Etten. 

In India, the first year of the project involved the large-scale commercialization of kodo (Paspalum scrobiculatum) and kutki (Panicum sumatrense) millets through three farmer producer companies that were recently established in Mandla and Dindori districts of Madhya Pradesh. Ashis Mondal (ASA) explained how high quality millet seed is now being produced and sold through the farmer producer companies to help improve yields, along with the good agronomic practices that have been shared with farmers through training sessions and demonstration plots. Bulk purchase of grain has also been organized through the farmer producers companies to help secure a higher price for the farmers for their millet production. Profits from these commercialization efforts are opening a new income-earning opportunity for women who are the predominant shareholders in the farmer producer companies.

The participation of researchers from the North East Slow Food and Agrobiodiversity Society (NESFAS) enriched the discussion with their insights and experience in revitalizing local food culture among indigenous communities in north east India. Sara Manetto (Indigenous Partnership for Agrobiodiversity Research) shared highlights and recommendations from the Indigenous Terra Madre (ITM) event, held in Shillong last November that was attended by 606 delegates from 62 countries and 170 tribes around the world. The incredibly diverse and rich gathering celebrated and raised awareness on  the critical role played by indigenous communities as custodians of agrobiodiversity and food culture all over the world. The momentum generated from this event has continued with the sharing of the ‘Shillong Declaration’ at the United Nations Gatherings of Indigenous People earlier this month. NESFAS and the Indigenous Partnership are actively working to move forward the recommendations emanating from ITM, including the need to strengthen agrobiodiversity networks and agroecological practices in India and other countries.

The plants used in the traditional cuisine of rural communities often have important values that are not well documented. Improving our knowledge and awareness of the nutritional values of the wide diversity of species used by communities was an important point highlighted by Vincent Darlong (IFAD) in the closing session as an important contribution the Project can make. The project will continue for three years to realize the potentials of hardy and nutritious local crops for climate change adaptation and better nutrition.

Related files

 Meeting Agenda and Participants (230 KB)

Key Presentations

 Results from Mali Year 1 and plans for Year 2 (A. Sidibe, IER) (886 KB)

 Results from Guatemala Year 1 and plans for Year 2 (S. Maselli, UVG) (2.4 MB)

 Results from India Year 1 and plans for Year 2 (A. Mondal, ASA) (1.4 MB)

 Opportunities and stakeholders in millet promotion in India (O King, MSSRF) (4.3 MB)

 Results from Indigenous Partnership Year 1 and plans for Year 2 (S. Manetto) (2.2 MB)

Workshop Presentations

 NUS Value Chains Workshop (S. Padulosi, Bioversity International) (592 KB)

 Baseline results: Cultivation and Sale of Target Crops (G. Gullotta and G. Meldrum) (1.9 MB)

 NUS and Nutrition Workshop (G. Kennedy, Bioversity International) (941 KB)

 Baseline results: Food security, diet diversity and consumption of target crops (G. Lochetti, J. Raneri, G. Medrum and G. Kennedy) (710 KB)

 Gender responsive methods and pathways for empowerment workshop (G. Meldrum) (2.5 MB)

The value chains for Bambara groundnut and amaranth were mapped and opportunities for upgrading identified in three workshops held in Zimbabwe, Kenya and Benin through the ACP-EU NUS Project. The national action plans for value chain upgrading that emerged from the process are now available.

Download the action plans and read more about the workshops on the ACP-EU NUS Webpage.

Annelie Bernhart and Dr. Yara Koréissi Dembélé

How do we turn traditional crops into food products that are safe, tasty and marketable? This is one of the emerging challenges in promoting the cultivation and consumption of fonio (Digitaria sp.), Bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranea) and nutritious underutilized vegetables in Sikasso and Ségou regions of Mali as part of the IFAD-EU NUS project. 

Shambhavi Priyam, Action for Social Advancement

Since seeing is believing, enormous efforts have been made to explain techniques for optimum production of minor millet crops in the 30 villages in Mandla and Dindori, Madhya Pradesh where the IFAD-EU NUS project has been in action. In January, Action for Social Advancement (ASA) took the process one step further with a two-day excursion to Kolli Hills, Tamil Nadu, where the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) has been promoting conservation and use of millets with great success. 

Seventeen custodian farmers were selected from the project areas to travel miles away from Madhya Pradesh to see how minor millet production, procurement, processing, and packaging takes place in these tribal communities in the Eastern Ghats. Under the guidance of MSSRF, the farmers in this area have been able to establish on-farm seed banks for millets. Processing units developed by MSSRF have been successful in de-husking up to 80% of the little millet grains, which was earlier only done manually with lower efficiency.

The delegation had an opportunity to visit the village-based mills for the grains, and the store where the packaged final products are sold to the customers. They also had a chance to taste several kinds of millet dishes, from ragi malt to chakli and thinai payasam. Seeing the importance of millet crops in this area and how they were being used, the custodian farmers were enthused to take back this knowledge to their villages and share with the members of their self help groups. 

The programme “Linking agrobiodiversity value chains, climate adaptation and nutrition: Empowering the poor to manage risk” is supported by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the European Union (EU) from 2015-2018. The initiative aims to strengthen the capacities of farmers to manage risks associated with climate change, poor nutrition status and economic disempowerment through agrobiodiversity-based solutions. Local food systems will be revitalized with promotion of sustainable agriculture and resilient livelihood practices, working with smallholder farmers and indigenous peoples who are the primary custodians of global agricultural biodiversity.

The Project is working on kodo (Paspalum scrobiculatum) and little millet (Panicum sumatrense) in India, Bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranea) and fonio (Digitaria sp.) in Mali, and tepary bean (Phaseolus acutifolius) and Mayan spinach (Cnidoscolus aconitifolius) in Guatemala. These crops have high nutritional profiles, good appreciation in local food cultures, and can respond to the effects of climate change such as soil degradation and unpredictable rains. In order to promote more nutritionally balance diets, a special attention will also be dedicated to identify other underutilized crops, particularly vegetables, fruits and pulses for promotion in the first year of the Project.

By Shambhavi Priyam, ASA

The Indigenous Terra Madre, organized jointly by Indigenous Partnership for Agrobiodiversity and Food Sovereignty, Slow Food, and the North East Slow Food and Agrobiodiversity Society (NESFAS), from November 3rd to 7th saw more than 600 delegates, representing 140 tribes from 58 countries in the city of Shillong to discuss the future of indigenous communities. Its aim was to bring together and showcase the knowledge and tradition of these communities in form of their songs, folklore, dance and, especially, food systems. 

As with the workshops in Mali and India, the objectives of the meeting (June 25-26) were to refine the work plan for the project, finalizing the choice of target site and crops based on a thorough analysis of the local situation and needs.

Dr. Silvana Maselli Conde, expert in plant genetic resources, is coordinating the project in Guatemala and will be involving students in carrying out many of the activities. This engagement of young people is seen as a strong opportunity to raise capacity in Guatemala for the holistic, integrated approach to agricultural development promoted in the project.

The work will focus on the dry corridor of Guatemala that faces heightened issues with malnutrition compared to other parts of the country, as was presented by Dr (Lic.) Juan Roberto Mendoza (Secretaria de Seguridad Alimentaria y Nutricional de la Presidencia de la Republica). In recent years, the country has faced problems with a prolonged dry season that is exacerbating existing issues with food insecurity. In 2014 drought led to loss of 80% of maize and 63% of the bean crop - the two staples central to Guatemalan cuisine.

The project will begin by promoting two crops with potential to enhance food and nutrition security in Guatemala but which are not widespread in cultivation: tepary bean (Phaseolus acutifolius) and chaya (Cnidoscolus aconitifolius), also known as Mayan spinach. Exploratory surveys of local agricultural biodiversity will also be carried out to identify other interesting species that can be promoted in future years.

Tepary bean is an underutilized species cultivated in arid regions of Mesoamerica that is highly drought resistant. This hardy sister species to the common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) may fit naturally within the established food and farming culture in Guatemala. The crop will be introduced through trials to assess the performance and palatability alongside a diversity of common bean varieties. These trials will use a "crowd-sourcing" approach developed by Bioversity International scientist Dr. Jacob Van Etten that engages a large number of farmers to grow and evaluate just a few varieties each, ultimately resulting in a big dataset that can be used to identify varieties suited for different microclimates and preferences.

Guatemala is an important centre of origin and diversity for common bean and a major concern is that introduction of new varieties or promotion of just a few varieties could threaten the persistence of the native diversity. With this risk in mind, various actions will be taken through the project to support conservation and promote greater use of native bean diversity. The crowd-sourcing trials will in fact disseminate many native common bean varieties to farmers as well as tepary bean, and these varieties may be taken up by farmers who appreciate their qualities. Strengthening seed exchange networks and community seed banks are other actions that will be taken to support conservation, which will build on recent efforts by FAO, the Treaty for PGRFA and UVG. Furthermore, an assessment of Guatemala’s bean genetic diversity will be carried out based on genebank records to identify distinct varieties that should be prioritized for conservation through a payment/rewards for agrobiodiversity conservation services (PACS/RACS) scheme.

The other species that will be promoted - chaya - is a native shrub with a very strong nutritional profile. The leaves stand out for their content of protein, carbohydrates, fats, fibre, vitamin A, vitamin C and calcium and it can be harvested year round. The species has strong potential to enhance nutrition in communities in the dry corridor but also more widely in Guatemala and in distant markets. Promotion of chaya as a superfood could be an important income generation opportunity and its greater use can also valorize local culinary traditions in celebrating this food that was an important feature in the pre-Columbus diet.

Researchers at the Universidad del Valle de Guatemala have been working on chaya since 1992 investigating its nutritional, chemical, molecular, botanical and agronomic aspects. The project will leverage these efforts and work to raise demand among consumers, also considering cultural factors that may limit consumption. Anthropologist Luis Pedro Chang Santizo described how some groups in Guatemala only consume a small amount of fruits and vegetables because they consider them as “cold food”, which they limit within their belief system, favouring consumption of “warm foods” such as maize. Nutrition sensitization is a major aim of the project that will be attentive to these cultural aspects.

The project will collaborate and build on existing efforts in the dry corridor by CATIE through their MAP project that has been applying a holistic approach for climate change adaptation, involving promotion of home gardens, exchange of local and scientific knowledge in farmer field fora, training on poultry production, household finance and establishment of seed banks. It will also look to collaborate with FAO´s new project “Mesoamerica without hunger”,  which is engaging in food security activities in two of the most vulnerable areas of Guatemala, including the dry corridor.

Presentations from the meeting are available for download below, along with links to the project webpage and reflections on the parallel meetings in Mali and India.

Related Links

• Project Webpage
• Universidad del Valle de Guatemala Webpage
• MAP Project (CATIE)
• Reflections on the meeting in Mali
• Reflections on the meeting in India

Presentations

• S. Padulosi (delivered by J. Van Etten)  Introduccion al Proyecto (980 KB).
• J.R. Mendoza.  Estado nutricional de la población guatemalteca: grupos y áreas mas vulnerables (1.2 MB).
• LP. Chang Santizo.  Contexto social de los grupos étnicos vulnerables a la inseguridad alimentaria (565 KB).
• G. Alfaro.  Cambio climático y adaptación a la agricultura (893 KB).
• V. Arreaga.  Agricultura familiar, huertos familiares y adaptación al cambio climático (1.1 MB).
• M. Ramirez.  El Plan de acción estratégico para fortalecer la conservation y el uso de los recursos fitogeneticos mesoamericanos para la adaptación de la agricultura al Cambio climático (PAEM) (1.4 MB).

A national stakeholder meeting was held in Bhopal, India last week (June 19-20) to finalize the work plan for the project “Linking agrobiodiversity value chains, climate adaptation and nutrition: Empowering the poor to manage risk” that is supported by IFAD, the EU and CCAFS.

Action for Social Advancement (ASA), the lead implementing partner in India, organized the meeting gathering government agencies, research organizations, NGOs and representatives of farmer communities. The project will build on ASA’s efforts to improve water availability, soil quality, community institutions, and market linkages in a holistic farm-based livelihood approach common to the organization and the project.

The main tasks were to select the target crops and sites in alignment with the aims of the project to benefit nutrition, livelihood resilience and income of poor and marginalized people. Stakeholders from various organizations and farmer groups gathered at the Sotuba Agricultural Regional Research Centre of the Institut d'Economie Rurale (IER) to contribute their perspectives and identify synergies with other efforts in the region.

Much of the discussion over the two days concerned fonio (Digitaria sp.), which will be an important target crop of the project. This species has a much lower water requirement than other cereals and many varieties are early maturing, allowing it to escape drought and provide food before other crops are harvested. It is an important staple in the Sahelian zone and may gain importance in more southern zones with climate change. Dr. Harouna Coulibaly of IER presented the observed trends for climate change in Mali, which has resulted in a general shift of climate zones southward, delayed onset of the rainy season and less precipitation overall.

In addition to its hardiness, fonio is a tasty gluten-free grain with low glycemic index, which makes it suitable for diabetics. The grain is an important source of amino acids found in low levels in other cereals, especially methionine and cystine. It has also been praised for its high iron content but nutritionist Dr. Nadia Fanou-Fogny (University of Abomey Calavi, Benin) presented the results of her PhD research carried out with households in Bamako, which revealed that most of this iron content is washed away with the brown seed coat during processing.

The fine grains of fonio are easily mixed with sand during threshing, which then demands many washing steps. One aim of the project will be to address this processing issue to improve the iron content of the food that is put on the table. Dr. Paolo Ceci (FAO) shared information on ongoing initiatives by CIRAD to develop improved processing technology for fonio, which could be leveraged during the project.

Even with interventions in processing, however, it was debated that promoting vegetables, fruits or pulses in addition to fonio might offer a more substantial contribution to nutrition. Numerous vegetables are grown by farmers in Mali, such as okra (Abelmoschus sp.) and jute mallow (Corchorus olitorius) that with greater use can improve the iron, zinc, vitamin A or vitamin C content of local diets. Focus group discussions early in the project will shed light on the vegetables gathered and cultivated in the target communities and will explore which vegetables will be best to promote for climate hardiness and nutritional values. Bambara groundnut will also be included as a target crop, which provides a good drought tolerant source of protein. 

Under the coordination of Amadou Sidibe (National Coordinator and Head of the Genetic Resources Unit of IER), activities for the project in Mali will aim to promote the cultivation, consumption and conservation of target crops, as well as to build capacity and supportive policies for these activities. The practices farmers are taking to face climate change will be explored and supported with input of new ideas from other communities and scientists. The project will work in six communities in two regions of Mali - Sikasso in the south and Ségou in the east-central part of the country. The sites in Sikasso will build on past and ongoing efforts in the region by IFAD, ICRAF and Bioversity International under CCAFS and the Dryland Agricultural Production Systems CRP.

The meeting program and presentations are available below. The presentations gave a detailed background on the current situation in Mali for agricultural systems, climate change, nutrition, and marketing of traditional crops. Similar meetings will also be taking place this month in India and Guatemala - the other countries participating in this global effort coordinated by Bioversity International.

Related Links

•  Meeting Program (150 KB)
•  Meeting summary by IER and participants list (French) (1.3 MB)
• Project webpage
• Reflections on the meeting in India
• Reflections on the meeting in Guatemala
• Nutritious and underutilized species: Fonio

Presentations

• S Padulosi, Bioversity International.  Objectifs et resultats attendus du project. (2.0 MB)
• H. Coulibaly, IER.  Changement climatique et gestion de l'agrobiodiversite au Mali. (951 KB)
• N. Fanou-Fogny, University of Abomey Calavi.  Nutritional aspects of NUS: INCO Fonio project. (737 KB)
• Sidibe, A and Diatkite, L, IER and R. Vodouhe, Bioversity International.  Utilisation et conservation de la diversite par l'IER et Bioversity International. (853 KB)
• Dr Lamissa DIAKITE (presented by M. Sidibe), IER.  Chaîne de valeur et commercialisation des céréales au Mali. (630 KB)
• P. Ceci. Existing efforts on fonio in West Africa:
  • J.F. Cruz, CIRAD. Improvement of post-harvest and enhancement of fonio in Africa: Aval Fonio.
  • A. Barnaud, IRD and C. Billot, CIRAD. Le fonio, un réservoir de diversité pour l'adaptation.
  • T. Ulian, H. Pritchard and M. Sacande.  Kew Gardens work in West Africa. (706 KB)

• H. Coulibaly.  Changement climatique et vulnerabilite des exploitations (499 KB)
• A. Sidibe.  Plan de mise en œuvre du projet, proposition de sites, espèces, partenaires et plan de travail (782 KB)

Stress tolerant staples such as fonio and minor millets will be valuable assets in facing diminishing, more unpredictable rains and soil degradation linked to climate change. To promote more nutritionally complete diets, attention will also be given to underutilized vegetables, fruits or pulses.

The project will apply the holistic value chain approach that was developed over the last 15 years of work with Andean grains in Latin America and minor millets South Asia (the IFAD-NUS project).  This approach involves assessing and addressing the most important bottlenecks to greater use of target species, considering both production and demand sides. In this holistic approach, action is taken to ensure the conservation of the genetic diversity of target crops and to raise awareness on the role of local agricultural biodiversity for nutrition.

To launch the project, a meeting was held in Rome April 27-29, bringing together experts from different fields and organizations to discuss and refine the methodological framework for the project. The framework is currently being finalized through a consultative process, necessary for this highly interdisciplinary project. National stakeholder meetings will take place in June where target crops and sites will be determined and the tools for baseline assessment further refined.

The project webpage has been launched on the NUS Community site, where you can watch for updates and results of the work. Abstracts and photos from the launch conference have been shared and will be followed by a full proceedings from the event later this year.

Related Links

• Read the official project announcement on the Bioversity Webpage
• Project Webpage

Project Partners

• Action for Social Advancement (India)
• L'Institut D'Economie Rural (Mali)
• Universidad del Valle del Guatemala (Guatemala)
• The Indigenous Partnership for Agrobiodiversity and Food Sovereignty

Related Documents

• A holistic approach to enhance the use of neglected and underutilized species: the case of Andean grains in Bolivia and Peru. Padulosi et al 2014
• Linking agrobiodiversity value chains, climate adaptation and nutrition. Blog by Klaas Koolman on the meeting.
• Presenting the project “Linking agrobiodiversity value chains, climate adaptation and nutrition: Empowering the poor to manage risk”. Blog by Beatrice Del Monte on the Kip Universitas webpage

The meetings were unique in concentrating on region-specific factors but they all involved sharing the achievements of the project with farmers, policy makers and other stakeholder in the conservation and use of neglected and underutilized species. The importance of neglected and underutilized species for the resilience of the farming systems of the communities supported by the project was highlighted in all the meetings.

The presence of farmers was consistently a vital and enriching experience and they had opportunity to interact directly with different stakeholders, such as government agents, private sector representatives and researchers.

Highlights of each meeting have been posted on the Bioversity International webpage. Presentation slides from all three events have been shared in our publications database and photos of each event have been posted on the NUS Community Flikr. Links to all these materials are provided below.

Some additional media associated with the meetings has also been shared on our Youtube. A new video on custodian farmers was shared at the meeting in La Paz, which is now available online. The closing comments by Dr. M.S. Swaminathan at the final meeting in Chennai have also been posted, which is a half hour long reflection on the state of millet promotion in India from a most wise and informed person on the subject.

Although the project is winding down in these sites, there are indications the momentum for mainstreaming neglected and underutilized species and securing their conservation will continue through new initiatives that will bring forward the research.

Highlights

• Celebrating the diversity of Andean crops in Bolivia 
• Millet revolution in India: Let's keep up the momentum! 
• Putting Himalayan Superfoods on the menu 

Photo Albums

• Photos of the meeting in Bolivia 
• Photos of the meeting in India 
• Photos of the meeting in Nepal 

Presentations Bolivia

• Alvaro Otondo,  La conservación in situ y el rol de los agricultores custodios en la revalorización de la AGB (5.0 MB)
• Wilfredo Rojas,  Esquema de ejecución del proyecto en Bolivia, avances, resultados y marco general del taller (1.1 MB)
• Juana Flores,  Custodios de la agrobiodiversidad (1.1 MB)
• Stefano Padulosi,  Presentación global de proyecto (792 KB)
• INIAF,  Nuestros avances: vínculo con los bancos de germoplasma (IFAD-NUS III) (559 KB)

Presentations India

• Stefano Padulosi,  IFAD-NUS III-IV Project - Session 1 (636 KB)
• Suman Sahai,  Rural Communities in the Face of Food security, Poverty and Climate Change through on Farm Conservation of Local Agro-Biodiversity (3.1 MB)
• Ashis Mondal,  Reinforcing the Resilience of Poor Reinforcing the resilience of poor... through on-farm conservation of local agro-biodiversity (3.0 MB)
• Oliver King,  Developing value chain of nutri-millets in India (6.6 MB)
• Sandesh Neupane,  Progress of IFAD-NUS III Project in Nepal (1.1 MB)
• Gennifer Meldrum,  Online information resources for the NUS community (1.6 MB)
• Nirmala Yenagi,  Women Centric Farm to Market Value Chain of Local Crops for Nutrition Security (3.3 MB)
• M. Karthikeyan,  Promoting NUS for the masses (3.3 MB)
• Rakesh Kumar,  Enhancing Food Security of Rural Families Through Production, Processing and Value Addition of Regional Staple Food Grains in India (9.4 MB)
• Kiran Sakkhari,  Mainstreaming millets into Nutritional Programm (2.1 MB)
• B Daykar Rao,  Policy Issues Related NUS crops and custodian farmers (3.0 MB)
• Ashish Wle, Nirmal Seeds Pvt. Ltd.,  Nirmal Seeds biofortification programme with HarvestPlus (1.8 MB)
• Stefano Padulosi,  IFAD-NUS III-IV Building an Enabling Policy Environment  - Session 3 (3.1 MB)

Presentations Nepal

• Sajal Sthapit,   A case for research and development on NUS crops (3.1 MB) 
• Stefano Pdulosi,  The rise of Andean Grains in the world market: The case of Quinoa and Amaranth  (9.6 MB)
• Oliver King,  Developing a value-chain of nutri-millets in India (6.6 MB)
• Gennifer Meldrum,  Online information resources for the NUS community (1.6 MB)
• Laxmi Lama,  Exploring the scope of Amaranth a a leafy vegetable in high mountains (788 KB)
• Indra paudel,  Optimal planting dates for Amaranth targeting the lean vegetable period in Pokhara (381 KB)
• Shambhu Basnet,  How Doti became a hotspot for Amaranth production and marketing (921 KB)

Related Articles

•  Proceedings from Bolivia meeting (Spanish) (2.0 MB) 
• Article on the India meeting in the Vikatan (Tamil)
•  Article on the Nepal meeting in a local newspaper (Nepali) (4.6 MB)

Following the meeting the project team made a field visit to Kolli Hills, where the local communities put on a big event with music, dance, food and celebration as they shared the great achievements they have realized with the support of the project. They gave us a warm welcome, laying wreaths of flowers over our heads, and then led us in procession toward the village of Thuvarapallam.

A formal inauguration ceremony was held for the community seed bank and millet processing centre that completed construction just recently. The local women's self help group raised the funds to buy the land and the community provided the labour to build the two-room structure from materials purchased with the financial support of the project. The processing centre hosts a mechanical mill that had been previously stored in the home of Pannammal, a local woman who showed a profound commitment to her community in offering her space for seven years. Now the village has a dedicated community centre where they can safeguard their seeds, process their finger millet into flour, as well as meet to discuss seed management and other local farming issues. Six similar spaces have been established in six other villages in Kolli Hills through the project.

Following speeches of thanks and recognition, we proceeded to the newly established village knowledge centre and weather station that was also realized with the support of the project. The weather station sits on the roof of the building and measures temperature, humidity, precipitation, solar radiation and wind speed every 10 minutes. MSSRF is working to link the weather station to the village knowledge center, where they have a couple computers holding videos and documents with accessible information on good farming practices, as well as health and nutrition and basic education resources for children. Here we met with a group of children and their teachers and saw first hand how this building has become a vital community space. The centre will facilitate the integration of weather information with data collected on crops in the People's Biodiversity Register to guide planting and risk management decisions.

Continuing in the festive atmosphere, we then partook in a “millet mela” – a festival celebrating traditional crop diversity that has become a common occurrence in these villages through the promotional work and support of the M.S. Swaminathan Foundation. Farmers from different districts displayed the diversity they cultivate and collect from adjacent forest areas. We shared a feast of millet-based dishes with a delicious variety of tastes and textures. Song, dance and theatre entertainment were provided by local children, including a skit on the importance of conserving trees and speeches about the value of millets.

Local leaders and government officials were present at the event and one local agricultural officer expressed his passion for continuing to promote millet cultivation in the area. He remarked that with climate change coming they will have to grow millet again – so it is good to get ready and start the adaptation process sooner than later.

Photos from the event are available on Flikr: View by this link.

Reflection by Gennifer Meldrum, Research Fellow, Nutrition and Marketing Diversity

Through the UNEP-GEF tropical fruit tree project, Bioversity International and LifeTrust have been engaging in participatory gender-responsive research in the community of Kalagadde-Kanchigadde in the Western Ghats (India) to build on local knowledge for sustainable forest management and to increase their income from the fruits they gather.  A documentary has recently been produced that shows the results of this research from the perspective of two women in the community.

Yenki Siddhi describes how it is mostly women that climb trees to gather wild fruits. Kokum (Garcinia indica), mangoes (Mangifera sp.), monkey jack (Artocarpus lakoocha), wild nutmeg (Myristica marabarica) and soap nut (Sapindus sp) are some of the species they collect from the forest. They normally dry and slice the fruit for the market.

Nagaveni Hegde describes how the project brought together men and women of different ages and ethnicities  for social learning on sustainable harvesting and processing of wild fruits and to engage in collective action for value chain enhancement. The Matrabhoomi women’s self help group was formed for community members to work together in producing Kokum fruit juice for the market. Researchers brought community members to shops to observe how products are packaged and labelled and to do some investigation into the most attractive label styles and bottle sizes. The project also facilitated  training on juice production from the fruit. In addition to the juice, the self-help group makes papaya and pinneaple jams, papads and chips.

Bringing together people of different backgrounds resulted in a rich knowledge exchange and built a sense of unity among the community. Some collectors realized that it is not a sustainable practice to cut the trees and that it is better to leave some fruits so that the population can regenerate. Narasimha Hegde (LifeTrust) recounts how a lot of information was gained by the participation of women from ethnic groups that would normally be overlooked. He believes the participatory gender-responsive approach taken in the project gives a richer and more complete picture of forest resources and reveals more options for their sustainable management.

Community members collectively produce kokum juice for the market (screenshot from the film)

The full documentary (10 minutes) can be viewed on youtube (by this link). There is also a shorter version (5 minutes) that focuses on the livelihood contribution of the fruit trees and the value chain improvements (by this link).

The film was produced by Bioversity International researchers Marlène Elias, Maria Fernandez, Ewa Hermanowicz, Riina Jalonen, Hugo Lamers, Barbara Vinceti and the Project Coordinator from LifeTrust Narasimha Hegde. It was edited by Peio Madrid, who has also been involved in designing some changes to the NUS Community webpage.

The documentary will be shown this week in Brussels in a meeting entitled “The Role of Community Owned Solutions in Sustainable Environmental Management and Governance in the Global South”.  It has also been submitted to the ‘2015 Films for the Forest’ competition and the World Forestry Congress 2015 that will take place in Durban, South Africa. It has already been shown at the COBRA Indigenous Participatory Film Festival “Community-owned Solutions for Social-Ecological Challenges” that took place in Guyana on 15 September 2014 with warm reception.

“I must say that your film generated much interest from the participants and they wanted more. ..Not only did the film address issues of food security and well-being, but also the male-female work dynamic that we encounter in life.” - Odacy Davis, Project manager, COBRA

Links to the Video

• Participatory research for social learning and conservation of forest fruit trees. (10 minutes)
• Climbing to Survive. (5 minutes)

Related Resources

• Press Release for the film on the Bioversity International Webpage
• A holistic approach to enhance the use of neglected and underutilized species: the case of Andean grains in Bolivia and Peru. Padulosi et al 2014
• Collective action and marketing of underutilized plant species: The case of minor millets in Kolli Hills. Gruère et al 2006.
• Promoting Value Chains of Neglected and Underutilized Species for Pro-Poor Growth and Biodiversity Conservation. Will 2008
• TFT Project Website

In working together, the experience resulted in a kick-start and strong drafts for several research papers. It was also a supportive learning environment where participating authors were mentored in how to write a quality journal article. Papers that were crafted during the meeting include, among others:

• Characterization of amaranth diversity in Nepal: results of an experiment where nearly 300 accessions of amaranth were evaluated in three sites in Nepal
• Farmer descriptors for amaranth: results and discussion of an exercise where farmers were asked to describe diverse amaranth plants to help in harmonizing farmer and scientific descriptors
• Amaranth production in the vegetable lean season: results of an experiment investigating optimal planting dates for amaranth and potential to deliver harvest in the vegetable lean season
• Investigations into the use status of foxtail millet and finger millet in different communities

We look forward to sharing these papers when they are complete!

Final Project Meetings Coming Up

The project closing meeting for Nepal will take place in mid-February and project closing meetings for India and Bolivia will take place in a similar time frame. The aim of these meetings is to share the project findings with policy makers and other stakeholders in on-farm conservation and adaptation of agriculture to climate change. As the project findings are coming together, check back for more information and results coming soon!

Corresponding with the writeshop, we have also added some new pictures to our Flikr site from the writeshop, visit to the National Genebank and field trip to the village of Namdu in Dolakha district, where we have been working during the project.

The world’s culinary palette was further celebrated through a crowd-sourced collection of foods that grew and took shape throughout the event. The ‘Ark of Taste’ aimed to raise awareness of the vast and underutilized diversity of foods and “to document products that are quickly dwindling into extinction”. The neglected and underutilized species were in the spotlight in this display, which included wild melon (Cucumis melo) from India, Oxalis tuberosa (cuiba/ibia) from Colombia and Venezuela, flower buds of the cholla cactus (Cylindropuntia) from the United States, tigernut (Cyperus esculentus) from Ghana and fermented seeds of the locust bean tree (Parkia biglobosa) from West Africa. Rare varieties of more familiar crops were also on display, including a rainbow of maize and beans and a cornucopia of squash and apple varieties.

The Indigenous Terra Madre

Alongside the bustling exhibits were rich discussions concerning sustainability in food systems, family farming and the protection of biodiversity. Of particular relevance to neglected and underutilized species were several discussions that took place through the Indigenous Terra Madre. The roles of indigenous people as custodians of agricultural biodiversity and keepers of valuable knowledge on sustainable land management were highlighted and explored by representatives from indigenous communities around the world and organizations that have been working to support them.

Yon Fernandez Larrinoa (FAO) described how the many thousand underutilized plant species are mostly maintained in traditional indigenous territories and that these plants could be vital for ensuring food security for a growing human population. Danny Hunter (Bioversity International) described how traditional foods could be critical in reducing micronutrient deficiency that has emerged with simplification of diets. He  gave an example from the Pacific island of Pohnpei where local  orange-skinned bananas have  been shown to have dramatically higher carotenoid content compared to the Cavendish cultivar that dominates world markets (8500 µg vs 5 µg). These local bananas could help alleviate vitamin A deficiency on the island and beyond. Kivalina - an indigenous woman from Alaska - also recognized the nutritional value of her traditional foods, mentioning that the wild green “sourdog” is equivalent to 1000 oranges and that she has noticed fish oil being sold as a health supplement, which is one of her traditional foods. These healthy foods are being abandoned due to challenges to their way of life (dwindling wildlife and fish stocks, habitat destruction by drilling companies, bans on whaling) and the appeal of fast food. Now diabetes is becoming a health problem among her people, which was never an issue before.

The shift away from traditional foods was further discussed in a session focused on millets. Bablu Ganguly (Timbaktu Collective) from India emphasized that outside of a restricted geographical band, India is not a rice-eating country. The traditional food culture  of most of India is in fact based on millets but this has been changing due to greater availability and promotion of rice through breeding programs, extension, and the Public Distribution System, along with people’s desire for higher status (reflected in rice eating) and women's disinterest in carrying out the arduous processing required for millet. Stefano Padulosi (Bioversity International), who chaired the session, reported on work carried out through the promoting minor millets in India through value-chain interventions, including the introduction of machines that reduce drudgery in processing. He acknowledged that the Indian Government has recently included millet in the Public Distribution System, which should have a positive effect on millet production, consumption and conservation ('coarse grains' in the National Food Security Act, 2013).

Biodiversity maintained by indigenous people is a promising tool to reduce poverty, revitalize traditional culture and improve nutritional security but it was emphasized through the discussions that development for indigenous territories must be carried out according to the vision the people have for themselves, with full consultation and consent to ensure protection of their livelihoods, culture and the valuable resources they maintain. Indigenous people around the world face grave pressures including marginalization, disrespect of basic human rights, and land grabbing. Another problem is multinationals capturing the benefits of traditional knowledge and resources. Obadias Batista Garcia of the Satéré Mawé tribe in Brazil recounted how the rise of their traditional beverage - guaranà (Paullinia cupana) - as a popular soft drink did not benefit his people who had maintained and handed down the knowledge of this fruit for countless generations. Myrna Cunningham Kain (Indigenous Advisor to the WCIP/PGA and former Chair of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues) and Antonella Cordone (Senior Technical Specialist on Indigenous People and Tribal Issues, IFAD) discussed the tools and legal frameworks that have been delineated in partnership with indigenous people to define and protect their rights at the international level. Ol-Johan Sikku of the reindeer herding Saami affirmed that we should be promoting these rules and ensuring that they are followed because they are critical to “protect food systems in different parts of the world”.

Territorial Indications and Labelling

One promising approach to protect indigenous people and other small producers interests while promoting their traditional foods is the use of territorial indications (see a recent publication on this topic). An engaging session was held by the BioCultural Diversity and Territories Platform reporting the results of a workshop that explored the merits and best practices for implementation of such territorial indications. The opening speaker of the session emphasized that we need to find approaches to give credibility and value to farmers and to encourage people to continue to be farmers, as working the land is not a very attractive occupation for young people these days. Giovanni Belletti (University of Firenze) reported that for the benefits of territorial indications to reach small producers there is a need for common rules, downstream integration in processing, quality signs and guarantees to consumers, collective organization of small farmers and participatory platforms between producers, consumers and other stakeholders. Aside from territorial indications, other labelling schemes  can also be useful in protecting and encouraging small producers. Moko Morris described the certification system that has been created by her community wherein local people evaluate farms in the community to certify that they are producing their food using Maori traditional practice. Organic and fair-trade certifications can also help, which have been promoted by IFAD’s SAMCERT project in West Africa.

Hopeful Signs

Overall, the Terra Madre event was a source of great hope for the future of food systems. It revealed and contributed to a growing awareness for the need for a more sustainable approach to agriculture that is based in cultural and biological diversity. There were signs that people are taking action to conserve and promote heritage varieties and underutilized species. There was pasta made from Einkorn wheat (Triticum monococcum) and producers of other old wheat varieties: grano “Senatore Cappelli” (a high quality Italian variety of durum wheat bred by Italian geneticist N. Strampelli in the early 20th century) and red fife (a bread wheat variety from Ontario, Canada produced in the 19th century). There were vendors of a unique red celery variety and a special tomato (pomodorino del piennolo) that used to be stored fresh for months on the balconies of Neapolitan households. Producers from Calabria were selling Annona fruits and others from Mexico were selling bars and cakes made from amaranth. There was a clear passion, interest and awareness for the need to use crop diversity or lose it. We salute Slow Food for their great work and are on board to help build a world in which every person has access to good, clean and fair food!

Look out for the Indigenous Terra Madre event in October next year in Meghalaya. For more information visit the Slow Food webage or the NESFAS webpage.

View more photos from the event on flikr.

Related Links

• Interview with Stefano Padulosi by Semina il Cambiamento at the event
• Interview with Phrang Roy on "Glamorizing Millet" by Kate Mann (Slow Food)

Identifying the benefits to be gained by a crop and advertising them to target groups through effective branding and marketing (e.g. 'superfood') is key to success. Good timing is also essential. The article discusses how to asses the stage of market integration the crop has already achieved and approaches for market analysis and development. Read the full article by this link.

Related Publications

• A holistic approach to enhance the use of neglected and underutilized species: the case of Andean grains in Bolivia and Peru. Padulosi et al 2014
• Using Markets to Promote the Sustainable Utilization of Crop Genetic Resources. Anderson et al 2009.
• Making the most of wild and relict species - experiences and lessons. Hoeschle-Zeledon et al 2009
• Promoting Value Chains of Neglected and Underutilized Species for Pro-Poor Growth and Biodiversity Conservation. Will 2008

Baobab: the First in Line

The organization plans to sequence numerous neglected and underutilized crop species that are critical to nutrition and livelihood security in Africa including finger millet, African eggplant, okra, amaranth, guava, taro, jackfruit, acacia, chocolate berries, shea nut, sweet bush mango and groundnut. They are starting off the initiative by sequencing Baobab - a nutritious, hardy and multi-purpose tree that grows across sub-Saharan Africa. Read more about this initiative in an article by Food Tank at this link.

Related Publications

• Descriptors for Baobab (Adansonia digitata L.). 2015. Kehlenbeck, K, Padulosi, S., Alercia, A.
• Accra statement for a food-secure Africa. Bioversity International 2014.
• NUS 2013 3rd International Conference on Neglected and Underutilized Species: Book of Abstracts. Hall et al 2013 (eds.).
• Nutritious underutilized species - Baobab. Alercia 2013
• Role of wild, neglected and underutilized foods in reducing the cost of a nutritionally adequate diet in the Eastern region of Baringo district, Kenya 27 February 2013. Poster by Termote et al 2013

National Geographic Daily News has shared an article discussing the future potential of heritage grains asking: which crop will be the next quinoa? The advantages and growing interest in traditional crops are discussed in terms of their ecological and nutritional attributes. Their ability to grow under low input conditions makes them a valuable resource for coping with climate change and appeals to consumers who increasingly demand organically grown food. Many of these grains also appeal to consumers because they are gluten free or have low glycemic index - properties that are increasingly in demand with rates of gluten intolerance and diabetes on the rise.

The article devotes a lot of attention to fonio - an ancient cereal grown in sub Saharan Africa that can produce under drought and low nutrient conditions. A video on fonio is presented alongside the article that shows traditional preparations of this cereal and an interview with Dr. Salimata Wade, Professor of Physiology and Human Nutrition at the University of Dakar. The article also discusses amaranth and native american rice in some detail.

The need for diversity

So, which crop will be the next quinoa? Fonio, millet, sorghum, wild rice, teff, spelt, Khorasan, einkorn, or one of the other 50,000 edible plant species? Perhaps just one crop is not the answer. The article features interview quotes from our own Stefano Padulosi emphasizing the need for a more diversified food basket. Our high dependence on rice, maize, and wheat puts food security at risk to crop pests and disease, climate change, and inbalanced nutrition. We may need more than just one new grain on the market.
Check out the full article by Andrea Stone and the video on the National Geographic webpage (link - here).

Related Publications

• Nutritious underutilized species - Fonio. Alercia 2013
• Nutritious underutilized species - Amaranth. Alercia 2013.
• Role of wild, neglected and underutilized foods in reducing the cost of a nutritionally adequate diet in the Eastern region of Baringo district, Kenya 27 February 2013. Poster by Termote et al 2013
• Underutilized species and climate change: current status and outlook. Padulosi et al 2011

Full proceedings by this link.

Full proceedings by this link.

Full proceedings by this link.

Full proceedings publication by this link.

The National Institute of Agricultural and Forestry Innovation of the Plurinational State of Bolivia (INIAF Instituto Nacional de Innovación Agropecuaria y Forestal) has officially recognized custodian farmers as vital actors in the conservation of plant genetic resources.

Manifesto of gratitude

INIAF marked this formal recognition with the signing and presentation of the Manifesto of Gratitude to "Custodian Farmers of Agrobiodiversity" at a workshop held in La Paz on 30 April 2014. The manifesto expresses awareness and appreciation for the efforts of custodian farmers, who faced with physical, social, and cultural challenges throughout history have nevertheless safeguarded agricultural biodiversity, ensuring the continued availability of these strategic resources for food security and food sovereignty of the Bolivian people.

An important milestone

This is the first example of farmers being officially recognized as equal actors to gene bank managers in conserving agricultural biodiversity of which we are aware. The inclusion of custodian farmers in the national conservation structure of INIAF is an important development that we hope will be a leading example for other Governments.
 
A key contribution in this development was made by the project, which supported initiation and development of the custodian farmer network through a strategic partnership between the Foundation for the Promotion and Research of Andean Products (PROINPA Fundación para la Promoción e Investigación de Productos Andinos) and Bioversity International.

For more information, read the full press release on the Bioversity International webpage (available in English and Spanish), as well as the article published in Leisa magazine by PROINPA scientists Wilfredo Rojas, Milton Pinta and Juana Flores along with Bioversity International's Stefano Padulosi.

Related publications

• Manifesto of Gratitude to "Custodian Farmers of Agrobiodiversity". INIAF 2014 (Also in Spanish).
• Los agricultores custodios y los bancos comunitarios de semilla. Rojas et al 2014.
• Towards a better understanding of custodian farmers and their roles: insights from a case study in Cachilaya, Bolivia. Gruberg et al. 2013 (also in Spanish).

The Accra statement for a food-secure Africa and policy brief set out nine action points:

1. Include neglected and underutilized species in national and international strategies and frameworks that address global issues
2. Establish a list of priority neglected and underutilized species on which to focus research and development 
3. Support research on neglected and underutilized species and their agronomic, environmental, nutritional and socioeconomic contributions to resilient production systems
4. Support the development of value chains and small agri-businesses for neglected and underutilized species
5. Strengthen collaboration and information-sharing between researchers, extension specialists, the private sector, farmers and their organizations
6. Promote the cultivation of neglected and underutilized species through campaigns to raise awareness of the commercial opportunities they offer and their agronomic and nutritional benefits
7. Increase support for conservation of neglected and underutilized species in situ, on farm and ex situ, and strengthen seed systems
8. Empower custodian farmers, and support farmers’ rights to share the benefits from neglected and underutilized species
9. Strengthen the capacity of individuals and organizations in research, education and development of neglected and underutilized species

The Accra Statement and related documents such as the  2012 Cordoba declaration (191 KB) will be used for further policy, advocacy, and research and development initiatives to diversify agricultural systems for greater food security.

Find The Accra Statement for a Food-Secure Africa and the policy brief in English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese on the Bioversity International Webpage.

Also Read the full press release on these publications on the Bioversity International Website.

Related Publications

• Research and policy for orphan crops. Tewolde-Berhan 2013
• Fighting Poverty, Hunger and Malnutrition with Neglected and Underutilized Species - Needs, Challenges and the Way Forward. Padulosi et al 2013
• Book of Abstracts: NUS 2013 3rd International Conference on Neglected and Underutilized Species. Hall et al 2013 (Eds)
• Cordoba Declaration on Promising Crops for the XXI Century

This article, written in collaboration between EMBRAPA and Bioversity International, discusses the integrated efforts for in situ/on-farm and ex situ conservation and use of agricultural biodiversity in southern Brazil.

Brazil is one of the most biodiversity rich countries in the world, including a wealth of agricultural biodiversity in both wild and cultivated forms. This is particularly noticeable in southern Brazil, home to a wide array of underutilized food species whose genetic diversity is maintained mostly by farmers through on-farm management practices. Farmers’ contribution in safeguarding and keeping alive traditional knowledge (TK) essential for recognizing, cultivating, valorising and consuming these resources is critical to their conservation. Part of this diversity, a rich basket of native fruits and landraces of vegetables and grains, is also maintained through ex situ collections managed by Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa) and its partners. This article discusses the integrated efforts for in situ/on-farm and ex situ conservation and use of agricultural biodiversity in southern Brazil. This diversity represents an important cultural heritage, since its use, cultivation and associated knowledge result from the dynamic history of the Brazilian population, including colonisation and immigration by several different ethnicities. Many of these species are sources of genes that convey tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses, as a result of the combined action of natural selection and artificial selection by farmers in agricultural systems with low inputs and diverse environmental conditions. Due to their importance for food security, use in breeding programs, high nutritional value, and potential for income generation, Embrapa has taken responsibility for the ex situ conservation of these species. The genebanks that safeguard against the loss of these resources do also play an important role in the restoration of this germplasm to farming communities.

Article on approaches and lessons regarding Andean grain promotion and conservation from the IFAD-NUS project in Latin America.

The IFAD-NUS project, implemented over the course of a decade in two phases, represents the first UN-supported global effort on neglected and underutilized species (NUS). This initiative, deployed and tested a holistic and innovative value chain framework using multi-stakeholder, participatory, inter-disciplinary, pro-poor gender- and nutrition-sensitive approaches. The project has been linking aspects often dealt with separately by R&D, such as genetic diversity, selection, cultivation, harvest, value addition, marketing, and final use, with the goal to contribute to conservation, better incomes, and improved nutrition and strengthened livelihood resilience. The project contributed to the greater conservation of Andean grains and their associated indigenous knowledge, through promoting wider use of their diversity by value chain actors, adoption of best cultivation practices, development of improved varieties, dissemination of high quality seed, and capacity development. Reduced drudgery in harvest and postharvest operations, and increased food safety were achieved through technological innovations. Development of innovative food products and inclusion of Andean grains in school meal programs is projected to have had a positive nutrition outcome for targeted communities. Increased income was recorded for all value chain actors, along with strengthened networking skills and self-reliance in marketing. The holistic approach taken in this study is advocated as an effective strategy to enhance the use of other neglected and underutilized species for conservation and livelihood benefits.

The project linked "aspects often dealt with separately by R&D, such as genetic diversity, selection, cultivation, harvest, value addition, marketing, and final use". The driving idea behind this holistic approach is that there are often bottlenecks to greater use (and conservation) of a crop at multiple points in the value chain, so engaging in only one activity, such as breeding, has limited impact. It is often necessary to overcome cultivation and processing constraints, as well as to raise demand for such neglected and underutilized species through marketing interventions.

The project documented traditional recipes for Andean grain preparation and worked with professional chefs to develop new recipes that would appeal to young people.

An impact assessment is included in the paper that demonstrates a benefit of the project in terms of participating farmers allocating greater area to Andean grains, growing more varieties and perceiving greater nutritional and income benefits as compared to non-participating farmers.

The article will appear in next months issue of Sustainability journal but has come online today (open-access).

Related Publications

A Holistic Approach to Enhance the Use of Neglected and Underutilized Species: The Case of Andean Grains in Bolivia and Peru. 2014. Padulosi, S., Amaya, K., Jäger, M., Gotor, E., Rojas, W. and Valdivia, R.

The rapid rate of homogenization of diets means minor and geographically restricted food plants are declining in importance. The article highlights the need to monitor agricultural production and use at a finer level of detail regarding diversity. As conservation depends on utilization, the article also emphasizes that policies should ensure access to as wide a range of genetic diversity of cultivated plants as possible.

The article is accessible on the PNAS webpage:

Khourya, Colin K., Bjorkmanc, Anne D., Dempewolfd, Hannes, Ramirez-Villegasa, Julian, Guarinof, Luigi, Jarvis, Andy, Riesebergd,Loren H., and Struik, Paul C. 2014. Increasing homogeneity in global food supplies and the implications for food security. PNAS Early Edition.

The open-access article can be accessed on the journal webpage.

Citation: Barbieri, R.L.; Costa Gomes, J.C.; Alercia, A.; Padulosi, S. Agricultural Biodiversity in Southern Brazil: Integrating Efforts for Conservation and Use of Neglected and Underutilized Species. Sustainability 2014, 6, 741-757.

This analysis of project impact is very important in demonstrating the potential for NUS value chain enhancement to improve livelihoods of the rural poor. Another impact assessment of IFAD NUS project activities in Latin America is currently in press, so stay tuned for updates on the NUS community page.

Citation: Elisabetta Gotor, Francesco Caracciolo, Genowefa Maria Blundo Canto & Mohammed Al Nusairi. 2013. Improving rural livelihoods through the conservation and use of underutilized species: evidence from a community research project in Yemen. International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability Volume 11, Issue 4, pages 347-362

The National Geographic announces how important the cultivation of this orphan crop could benefit  the people of Mexico. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE.

Since 2001 Bioversity International has been working in south Asia and Latin America to enhance  the sustainable conservation and use of amaranth.  Through the IFAD – NUS III Project currently being implemented in Bolivia, India and Nepal Bioversity and its partners are pursuing four important objectives related to this crop and other underutilized species, viz.:

• Develop and test new methods and tools in close partnership with farmers and value chain actors aimed at enhancing their capacities to sustainably conserve traditional crops and associated knowledge at the farm level; 
• Explore ways of integrating the monitoring of diversity on-farm, along with use-enhancement goals, through inter-disciplinary and multi-sector approaches;
• Promote a more balanced complementary conservation agenda in national programmes, based on the need to combat genetic erosion and to meet the needs of agricultural biodiversity users; and
• Provide useful findings to guide further research related to climate change and its impact on species and varieties deployed in local production systems.

Thanks to IFAD's latest support, linkages between custodian farmers, community seed banks and ex situ gene banks have been strengthened for amaranth genetic resources in Nepal. Furthermore, field trials for the characterization of amaranth have been also carried out, allowing the discovering of new attractive varieties bearing new and valuable market potentials. 

But some important studies are helping us. More interesting findings are helping small holder farmers in developing countries to better practice the cultivation of orphan crops, especially species that have a strong cultural and traditional importance in a specific community or district. More and more projects are showing us the way on how to promote NUS through a farm-to-fork approach.. something we are very much keen to promoting through this web site.

For poor nations in Africa, the need to improve their neglected -but locally significant- crops is no longer an option but a dire need and we believe the momentum for joining hands to meet this goal has never been greater.   

The survey follows from the key policy recommendation of the 3rd International Conference on Neglected and Underutilized Species to strengthen human and institutional capacity for research and value chain development of NUS.

The survey targets researchers, educators and development specialists who are involved in research on NUS.

The results will guide decision makers on needs and mechanisms for better integration of neglected and underutilized species in agricultural research and development.

CLICK HERE TO COMPLETE THE GLOBAL SURVEY!

Deadline for participation is February 28, 2014.

WATCH A QUICK VIDEO ON THE MEETING BY CLICKING HERE.

These hardy crops are valuable sources of food when other crops fail and could become more important in farming systems and livelihoods as the weather becomes more harsh and unpredictable under climate change.

To draw greater attention to the role of traditional crops in climate change adaptation, we are conducting a global survey on which crops are stress tolerant and have potential to improve the livelihoods of farmers and communities.

If you are an agricultural researcher, someone working with farmer communities, a farmer, or a gardener, please take a few minutes to share your insights.

CLICK HERE TO FILL OUT THE GLOBAL SURVEY.

The deadline for the survey is January 31st 2014.

     From the Andes to the World’ has been a great success so far and has attracted over 200 interested viewers, 100 of which have picked up books and information published by Bioversity International. The timing of the exhibition coincided with the 148^th session of the FAO Council, which was a great opportunity for Bioversity to reach a wide audience with updates on past and current work on quinoa and other neglected and underutilized species (NUS).

     The exhibition will go on until the end of the week, but if you do not have a chance to visit FAO, you can also access it via the following link:

The soundbytes represented in the Point of View were obtained through interviews with conference participants. They share their perspectives on research and policy options for neglected and underutilized species, or so-called orphan crops. 

The Focus on section includes research highlights on some of the most important ongoing research projects on neglected and underutilized species. Three articles in the special issue feature results from the IFAD-NUS project. One shares reflections on work promoting minor millets in India. Another discusses the valuable characteristics of quinoa and work done to promote the nutritious and hardy grain in the Andes. A third article shares preliminary results from a farmer survey carried out in Bolivia, India and Nepal investigating perceptions of climate change and the crops and actions farmers have found useful in coping with the impacts. An article is also featured by the Platform for Agrobiodiversity Research on work promoting links between farmers and genebanks in Malaysia and Bolivia to enhance climate change resilience, while a final article shares the work of the World Vegetable Centre (AVRDC) on storage solutions for indigenous vegetables.

Find all the articles on the New Agriculturist webpage:

• Point of View: Research and policy for orphan crops
• Focus on... Neglected and underutilised species
• Editorial for the November 2013 Issue

-  Quinoa: From the Andes to the World (4.4 MB)

-  3rd International Conference on Neglected and Underutilized Species: for a Food-Secure Africa. - BOOK OF ABSTRACTS (1.8 MB)

-  Descriptors for Quinoa and wild (862 KB)

-  Biodiversity of Andean grains (3.8 MB)

-  Fighting poverty, hunger and malnutrition with neglected and underutilized species (NUS): needs, challenges and the way forward (2.9 MB)

-  On farm conservation neglected and underutilized species: status,trends and novel approaches to cope with climate change (4.7 MB)

- Harvesting quinoa diversity with Payment for Agrobiodiversity Conservation Services

- Andean 'lost grains' in Bolivia and Peru

With support, the women have established their own shop, and their 'Kolli Hills Natural Foods' branded products are being distributed across the state including to high-end supermarkets and health food stores in peri-urban and urban areas. 

This publication is the result of a research collaboration between Bioversity International and the Fundación para la Promoción e Investigación de Productos Andinos (PROINPA). It deals with issues regarding on-farm conservation of agrobiodiversity, which is a poorly addressed field of research in spite of its pivotal role in the maintenance of global crop diversity. Strategic actors in on-farm conservation are those farmers who, for various reasons, distinguish themselves from others by their contribution to conserving crop diversity. We call them ‘custodian famers’, even though the terminology may not be suitable to all social contexts. Understanding who these custodian farmers are, their presence over the territory, the types of crops they maintain, why and how, as well as gaining insights on the cultural, social and economic drivers behind their efforts is, for scientists, a very important step in devising effective on-farm conservation strategies and this booklet is a contribution in that direction. The open-ended interviews and participant observation methodologies provided in this study are helpful in guiding future methodological approaches and advancing our understanding of how the roles of custodian farmers can be better recognized, harnessed and supported by society. This work has been carried out in the framework of a major global UN Project supported by IFAD and the European Commission, which is focusing on the development of innovative participatory approaches for the conservation of neglected and underutilized species (NUS) on farm.

Strategic actors in on-farm conservation are those farmers who, for various reasons, distinguish themselves from others by their contribution to conserving crop diversity. Understanding who these 'custodian farmers' are, their presence over the territory, the types of crops they maintain, why and how, as well as gaining insights on the cultural, social and economic drivers behind their efforts is, for scientists, a very important step in devising effective on-farm conservation strategies and this booklet is a contribution in that direction.

Three new training courses are coming up in November and December in Benin and Uganda. The courses will focus on scientific writing and communication, food systems, and value chains research on neglected and underutilized species. We invite scientists who meet the eligibility criteria to apply by the deadline of 28 October 2013.

English Title: From Ex Situ Conservation to School Breakfasts: An exciting experience with Canahua (Chenopodium pallidicaule Aellen) in the Altiplano Center of Bolivia.

Each presenter had been asked to reflect on the policy needs relevant to their work. Combined, they made up a list of thoughtful recommendations on ways to create a more enabling environment for the use enhancement of NUS in Africa.

The side events at the end of each day were very engaging and participants happily continued their informal dialogue well after dark. Highlights from the final two days of the meeting are presented.

CLICK HERE to read more.

Evidence is mounting regarding the significance of NUS in nutrition, income generation, maintenance of ecosystem health, and empowerment of the poor and the marginalized, as well as in promotion of cultural diversity and in re-affirming people's identity. But to realize these potentials on a large scale, a greater injection of human and financial resources is needed. Interventions badly needed in support of NUS include the development of better varieties, improved cultivation practices, enhanced value addition technologies, better access of producers to markets, validation and promotion of nutritional benefits, more effective maintenance of genetic and cultural diversity on-farm, sustained capacity building of stakeholders groups, and supportive policies at national and international levels.

The main goal of the Seminar was to fight world hunger and rural poverty by giving more attention to underutilized and promising crops. The Seminar was also the first international event to celebrate 2013 as the UN International Year of Quinoa. It included open debates with participants from developed and developing countries, as well as members of civil society, farmers’ organizations, industry and consumers, at national and international level. The Seminar was opened by the Spanish Minister of Agriculture, Food and Environment and the Director General of FAO. The Declaration was developed by the co-organizing institutions.

Descriptors for quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) and their wild relatives is a revision of the original publication IBPGR (now Bioversity International), entitled "Quinoa Descriptors" (AGP: IBPGR/81/104) and is based on the work of a team of experts from Bolivia who characterized and evaluated the genetic variability of quinoa preserved in the Bolivian collection and identified phenotypic characteristics of interest for cultivation.

An overarching theme of the discussions was consolidating the role of custodian farmers with different strengths by connecting them through community-level institutions. An important element in this discussion was gender, as men and women often hold different responsibilities in a household, which means they can play different roles as custodian farmers. About half of the farmers participating in the meeting were women and all-female discussion groups were carried out alongside mixed-gender discussion groups to encourage equal participation of men and women.

In group discussions, farmers developed a vision for their communities and country, including how they see custodian farmers’ role in the conservation of agricultural biodiversity. In parallel discussions, government representatives and scientists explored options to increase support for on-farm conservation and custodian farmers within the existing policy framework. Several attainable ideas were presented to strengthen the role of custodian farmers in on-farm conservation.

Other highlights from the meeting included the premiere of a documentary produced by LI-BIRD about custodian farmers in Nepal, a seed exchange wherein participating farmers displayed and exchanged seeds from their farms, and the sharing of experience from seed conservation projects in India (MSSRF), Spain (Red de Semillas), and the USA (Native Seeds/SEARCH). Farmers expressed a feeling of empowerment from attending the meeting and the sense of hope they have for farmers’ voices being heard in the future.

As Mr Som Bahadur Ale Magar (a young farmer from Fafarbari,Makwanpur, Nepal) put it: this workshop “enhanced farmers’ understanding on ways to improve conservation and use of crop diversity, an essential resource for creating options for future generations”. According to Ms Kumari Krishna (a farmer from Kachorwa, Bara, Nepal), the workshop promoted seed exchange among farmers from across Nepal, helped in sharing experiences and lessons on the use of traditional crops for more resilient production systems, and raised farmers self esteem, in particular that of women, by creating opportunities for them to speak in public and expressing their views to scientists and other participants.

The meeting “Enhancing the contribution of custodian farmers to the national plant genetic resource system in Nepal” took place 31 July to 2 August in Pokhara, Nepal. It was organized by LI-BIRD, Network for Agrobiodiversity Conservation in Nepal (NABIC Nepal) and Bioversity International, with the support of IFAD, CCAFS, and the European Commission.

a) Diversification for food security in Sub-Saharan Africa.

This sub-theme will address the role of neglected and underutilized species in resilient food production systems in Africa. Contributions will review practices and lessons learnt on how NUS are deployed by farmers to reduce biotic and abiotic risks, including adapting to climate change.  Analyses of challenges, needs and opportunities for scaling up and mainstreaming these efforts for wider impact will also be included.

b) NUS for nutrition and health.

The nutritional and health value of local crops. Many NUS species are known to be of very high nutritional value and to play a strategic role in sustainable food systems. Contributions to this theme will attempt to quantify such benefits.

Theme 2: Upgrading value chains of neglected and underutilized species.

Successful income generation from NUS relies on effective value-addition strategies that take a systems perspective and involve multiple stakeholders. Papers in this theme will present experience and lessons learned related to production, processing and marketing of NUS and how these efforts have benefited, or can benefit, smallholder farmers in particular. Aspects to be considered include seed systems, storage, value addition and marketing. The role of three levels of value chain actors – operators, service providers, and regulating and policy institutions – will be explored.

Theme 3: Creating an enabling policy environment.

a) Policy frameworks.

For the enhanced utilization of NUS species, policy interventions are crucial. Papers under the sub-theme will present policy issues that may promote or hinder enhanced use of NUS in Africa and share experience of how these have been addressed. Contributions will cover both national and international policy and provide recommendations for actions that support the promotion of NUS in the various areas covered in the conference including crop production, nutrition, marketing, education and climate change.

b) Capacity development and institutions.

Capacity development in higher education, research and development (R&D) is critical for innovation. This sub-theme will explore how educational programmes and institutions involved in building capacity of researchers and extension workers can be strengthened for effective R&D and better use of NUS in Africa.

c) Partnership, projects, platforms..

This sub-theme will address the latest developments in the area of cooperation for NUS in Africa. The objective is to review existing efforts at both national and international levels to promote synergy and avoid unnecessary duplication of work. Contributions detailing successful experience from other regions will be also presented along with reflections on opportunities for North-South and South-South cooperation in NUS research.

Visit the website here: http://nus2013.org/

From 2001 to 2010, an international effort was made through the implementation of two global projects aimed at enhancing the sustainable conservation and use of neglected and underutilized species (NUS). These projects represented the first UN-supported endeavors on NUS and tested out novel collaborative framework involving all actors along the value chain of some representative target species (Incl. Andean grains and minor millets).

Andean grains such as amaranth, canihua and quinoa have traditionally been used by local communities in Bolivia and Peru because of their nutritional value and ability to thrive in the harsh conditions of the Andes. Cultivated over millennia, these crops are an integral part of the history, traditions and culture of Andean civilizations. Despite their significance, a number of factors, such as poor competitiveness in markets, lack of good planting material, laborious processing and a perception of traditional Andean grains as 'food for the poor,' have conspired against these crops causing them to fall into disuse. Since 2001, Bioversity and its partners-CIRNMA in Peru and Proinpa in Bolivia-have been working to address these and other constraints and to help communities make full use of their traditional crops to improve their livelihoods.

Developing tools, mechanisms and intervention options to support custodian farmers in the safeguarding of crop diversity and knowledge.

Options to be covered will include, inter alia, facilitating linkages between the CSBs and custodian farmers to strengthen the maintenance, adaptation and promotion of crop diversity at individual and community scales (Annex I), potential incentive mechanisms to encourage on-farm conservation and climate change adaptation (Annex II), and the establishment of a nation-wide platform to allow farmers to share lessons and experiences about deploying resilient crops to cope with climate change. 

Exploring policy options to establish an enabling environment for on-farm conservation.

The meeting will explore institutional, policy and regulatory options needed in order to support on-farm conservation, as well as to raise the visibility and recognition of custodian farmers in the management of plant genetic resources.

Developing understanding of custodian farmers’ characteristics and status.

Building on the work from custodian farmer meetings in India (Sthapit et al 2013) and in Nepal earlier this year, continue to develop understanding regarding custodian farmers, who they are and how they differ from other farmers, how their demographics have changed or are changing over time, what are their roles and contribution to the national plant genetic resources system, what are the challenges, needs and opportunities related to ensuring the sustainability of their invaluable (and so poorly acknowledged) contribution to NUS conservation and use.

Quinoa grows in Peru and Bolivia at 4000 meters above sea level and most of its genetic diversity rests in these countries, around Lake Titicaca. This important rising crop is raising interest in other regions, such as Africa, Asia and the Arabian peninsula. Centuries of cultivation resulted in the arousal of many quinoa varieties, whose traits make them capable to adapt to higher or lower lands and to extreme weather conditions.Quinoa is rich in protein, fiber, minerals, vitamins and fundamental fatty acids such as linoleic acid or Omega-3 acids.

The meeting aims at reviewing the work carried out during the first year of the Grant and discuss some methodological aspects regarding the implementation of its work plan. The meeting will share experiences, monitor progress, create synergies, exchange advices on programmatic issues and identify constraints and possible shifts in emphasis. The gathering will also serve to identify important linkages with other Projects and to enhance ideas on existing opportunities for further supporting the Grant’s efforts.

The cultivation of finger millet (ragi mandua, nagli, kapai and madua) is widely distributed extending from Tamil Nadu in South to Uttaranchal in North; Gujarat in West to Orissa in East and even extending to north – eastern regions including Sikkim. The area under finger (Eleusine coracana) has declined from 2.6 million ha in early sixties to around 1.8 million ha in 2002-03. However, the annual production is maintained around 2.6 tonnes with a productivity of around 1.4000 kg/ha.

Neglected and underutilized crop genetic resources are very vital for sustainable agriculture (Eyzaguirre et. al 1999, Bhag Mal 2007) and minor millets belong to this important group of crops (Dutta et. al 2007). 

Agricultural biodiversity in farming systems delivers food and nutrition, fibre, fuel, and services that contribute to people’s livelihoods apart health and well-being it also help to conserve habitats. It is the fruit of thousands of years of observations, selection, exchange and breeding. The value of biodiversity is apparent in agriculture at all levels for meeting both short-term needs and achieving long-term sustainability. Agricultural biodiversity is measured in terms of ecosystems, species, and genetic diversity.

In the last 20 years there has been a growing interest in on-farm conservation of crop diversity. Numerous projects to support on-farm conservation have been implemented worldwide. Projects are needed because maintaining crop diversity on-farm can entail important costs to farmers, who often face strong incentives to abandon this diversity. There has been however very little systematic assessment of the extent to which these projects have actually produced on-farm conservation outcomes in terms of maintaining or increasing crop diversity on-farm (including farmers' knowledge and practices that underpin this diversity) as well as of livelihood outcomes that create benefits for farmers. In this brief, the authors propose a methodology to assess the success of  on-farm conservation projects and evaluating their effectiveness in terms of livelihood benefits , based on the results of a McKnight Foundation-funded project – ‘Assessing the Success of On-Farm Conservation Projects in Delivering Conservation and Livelihood Outcomes: Identifying Best Practices and Decision Support Tools’. The project was coordinated and implemented by Bioversity International and carried out between March 2010 and May 2012 in the High Andes of Ecuador, Bolivia and Peru.

On-farm conservation projects, as well as most projects that use research to foster development, usually involve multiple partners who play different roles, bring diverse perspectives and influence the project in multiple ways. These partnerships should not be seen in isolation or as piecemeal, but as a network of actors that enable the implementation of a project, influence its success or failure, generate learning and allow its implementers to achieve goals that would have been beyond the scope of a single institution working in isolation. Conducting a network analysis of partnerships is crucial at both the project planning stage (ex ante) as well as after its implementation (ex post). In the context of the McKnight Foundation-funded project entitled Assessing the Success of On-Farm Conservation Projects in Delivering Conservation and Livelihood Outcomes: Identifying Best Practices and Decision Support Tools coordinated and implemented by Bioversity International and carried out between March 2010 and May 2012 in the High Andes of Ecuador, Bolivia and Peru, the author used SNA to examine six projects that supported on-farm management of native crop diversity and sought to increase livelihood benefits derived from it. This analysis was done only ex post since ex ante data and information were not available.

The challenge of on-farm conservation projects is to identify, design and implement interventions that make the conservation of crop diversity compatible with improved livelihoods and well-being among the farmers who conserve it. The success of any on-farm conservation project depends on a good design that brings together four aspects: crop diversity; the private benefits associated with its use; the societal/public benefits associated with its maintenance; the interventions/innovations needed to link these three areas in a positive and coherent way. In this brief, the authors propose a set of guidelines and best practices for on-farm conservation projects for evaluating their effectiveness, based on the results of a McKnight Foundation-funded project – ‘Assessing the Success of On-Farm Conservation Projects in Delivering Conservation and Livelihood Outcomes: Identifying Best Practices and Decision Support Tools’. The project was coordinated and implemented by Bioversity International and carried out between March 2010 and May 2012 in the High Andes of Ecuador, Bolivia and Peru.

The focus of visits to Santiago de Okola is on the rich agricultural heritage of our community in particular and the Lake Titicaca region in general. The Lake Titicaca region is widely considered the center of origin of several crops of world-wide importance, such as potatoes and quinoa. In Santiago de Okola, we conserve more than 40 varieties of potatoes and 8 varieties of quinoa. 
Apart from the conservation of this important agricultural diversity, we also preserve many other traditional crops and cropping practices. We also prepare many traditional foods, for ourselves and for you. We enjoy sharing this heritage with visitors and at any time of the year you can experience different agricultural practices, from rituals to planting to harvesting to eating seasonal dishes.

RELATED PAPER: 

Taranto S. and S. Padulosi.  2009. Testing the results of a joint effort. LEISA Magazine, volume 25 (2): 32-33 (201 KB).

The farmers, predominantly the small and tribal, particularly in regions of rich agro-biodiversity immensely contribute to the on-farm conservation and enrichment of this diversity, often at personal cost. The past and present agricultural progress could not have happened without these genetic resources and associated knowledge conserved by farmers. On-farm conservation assumes more importance in the context of climate change in view of the gene evolution it promotes. Therefore, it plays crucial role to the future global food and nutritional security.

This workshop was organized to identify and analyse the main issues and bottlenecks that the different actors working in the amaranth production system are faced with. 

A first national workshop on community seed banks was organized by Local Initiatives for Biodiversity, Research and Development (LI-BIRD) from 14 to 15 June 2012, with the aim to bring community seed bank practitioners together to  develop a common understanding on the concept (and practices), elaborate a typology in the Nepalese context, and identify future activities.

For brevity, future publications sharing results, conclusions and experiences of the Global CBM Study will omit such detailed descriptions and instead will provide reference to this publication as a supplementary source for those data.These site descriptions are summaries synthesized from information documented both by the locally active institutions and also during exchange visits between CBM researchers from the respective participating countries to alternate study sites abroad.

En este evento se tuvo la participación de los Agricultores de la Comunidad Coromata Media, también los representantes del Gobierno Autonomo Municipal de Huarina ( Sr. Alex Ramos), junto al oficial Mayor, instituciones: Instituto Nacional de Investigación Agropecuaria y Forestal INIAF, Ing. Wilber Sandy (Responsable del Banco Nacional de Cereales y leguminosas Andinas), Ing. Carolina Alanoca (Responsable del Banco Nacional de Granos Alto Andinos), Ing. Armando Mamani, (Técnico In Situ del BNGA); SAMARITAN’S PURSE, Ing. Miguel Tintares (Coordinador de Proyecto), Ing. David Hilaquita (Tecnico), Ing. Freddy Huaman (Técnico);Radio San Gabriel, Prof. Juan Clares junto a dos acompañantes.

En este evento se tuvo la participación de los Agricultores de la Comunidad Cachilaya, también los representantes de las instituciones: Instituto Nacional de Investigación Agropecuaria y Forestal INIAF, Ing. Wilber Sandy (Responsable del Banco Nacional de Cereales y leguminosas Andinas), Ing. Carolina Alanoca (Responsable del Banco Nacional de Granos Alto Andinos), Ing. Armando Mamani, (Tecnico In Situ del BNGA); SAMARITAN’S PURSE, Ing. Miguel Tintares (Coordinador de Proyecto), Ing. David Hilaquita (Tecnico), Ing. Freddy Huaman (Técnico);Radio San Gabriel, Prof. Juan Clares, junto a dos operadores.

The two-day convention concluded with the farmers bringing out a ringing declaration in support of millets in food and farming.

The convention on Biological Diversity's (CBD) Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 specifically calls for the development and application of positive incentives for th conservation and use of biodiversity. In situ conservation is also the preferred appraoch under CBD. The need for intervention and positive incentives for plant and animal genetic resources (PAGR) conservation and sustainable used can be economically justified. Some observers have hailed PES as "arguably, the most promising innovation in conservation since Rio 1992". Agrobiodiversity-related payment for ecosystem services (PES) schemes appear to be an environmentally effective and cost-efficient mechanism through which to provide such incentives. Equity considerations may also be taken into account.

Kañiwa  es una especie andina que durante cientos de años ha sido de gran relevancia para la alimentación de los pobladores andinos. Con el auspicio del Proyecto  “Fortalecimiento de las oportunidades de ingreso y seguridad nutricional de los pobres rurales, a través del uso y mercadeo de especies olvidadas y subutilizadas” (IFAD NUS), en sus fases I y II;, se desarrollaron investigaciones en manejo del cultivo, conservación, mejoramiento genético y transformación. En el documento se exponen resultados obtenidos por el Programa Nacional de Innovación en Cultivos Andinos, además de evidenciar las áreas que necesitan prioridad de atención.

El manual hace referencia a estudios de investigadores y actividades de cooperación con organismos no gubernamentales dedicados a este grano andino y pone de manifiesto la necesidad de estimularla y reforzarla no sólo a nivel local sino entre instituciones nacionales e internacionales para revertir su condición de especie subutilizada. Este Manual es de importancia al poner a disposición de técnicos, profesionales y agricultores, conocimientos y tecnologías generadas hasta la fecha. Puede también ser considerado como un legado para las nuevas generaciones que sin duda tendrán una valiosa fuente de información sobre este “GRANO ANDINO”. 

The document is developed in cooperation with Ethio Organic Seed Action (Ethiopia); MS Swaminathan Research Foundation (India); Local Initiatives for Biodiversity,Research and Development (Nepal); the Federal University of Santa Catarina (Brazil); the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation, Embrapa (Brazil); and Bioversity International. The study is financed through Wageningen University and Research Centre – Directorate General for International Cooperation Partnership Programme.

The document is developed in cooperation with Ethio Organic Seed Action (Ethiopia); MS Swaminathan Research Foundation (India); Local Initiatives for Biodiversity,Research and Development (Nepal); the Federal University of Santa Catarina (Brazil); the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation, Embrapa (Brazil); and Bioversity International. The study is financed through Wageningen University and Research Centre – Directorate General for International Cooperation Partnership Programme.

The study was conducted near Sirsi in the Central Western Ghats, Karnataka state, southern India, which is recognized as one of the hot spots of biological diversity in the world. Standard questioners, meetings and workshops with the communities and different stakeholders such as development agency,conservation stakeholder, members of local governance were adopted to identify the elements of CBM in the forested landscapes of central Western Ghats, to gain understanding of the socio-economic characteristics of the farm households dependent on cultivated / wild resources, to assess the institutional and non-institutional factors that influence the maintenance of diversity and to assess the level of empowerment in social/cultural, economic, and legal aspects.

While the objective of the overall PACS project is to explore the potential for applying payment for environmental services concepts to the conservation of agrobiodiversity, the specific objectives of the field work carried out in Tamil Nadu, India were to determine: the number of minor millet-growing households and their trend; the extent and trend of areas planted to specific minor millet species/varieties; reasons for the decline in some of these species/varieties; and the willingness of farmers to cultivate the most threatened species/varieties in the future

El Centro de Investigación de Recursos Naturales y Medio Ambiente - CIRNMA y Bioversity International, en el marco del proyecto “NUS IFAD II”, auspiciado por el Fondo Internacional para el Desarrollo Agrícola (IFAD por sus siglas en ingles), proponen contribuir en la mejora de los ingresos y fortalecer la seguridad alimentaria, con base en el potencial de la diversidad de los granos andinos. En esta visión la transformación, como generadora de valor agregado, juega un rol fundamental.

Desde el punto de vista nutricional y alimentario, los granos andinos constituyen una fuente natural de proteína vegetal de alto valor nutricional, con un rango entre 14 a 22%, ricos en aminoácidos esenciales, como lisina, metionina y treonina, así como en vitaminas A, B2 y E y minerales como calcio, hierro, cobre y zinc. Su alto contenido de hierro es importante para combatir la anemia. Estas características hacen de la quinua, kiwicha y cañihua cultivos muy importantes para la seguridad alimentaria (Marial & Vásconez, 1988; Collazos, 1993; Repo-Carrasco 2001).

Over the last two decades, MSSRF's Biodiversity Programme (BdP) has undertaken a range of integrated interventions in partnership with local communities. Since 1990's, the biodiversity components in focus of MSSRF's are in-situ, on-farm community conservation of biodiversity, that comprise innumerable number of crops, animals and socio-economically and ecologically important wild plant and microbial diversity found in situ and on farm.

Among rainfed crops, small millets as a group figure prominently. India is largest producer of small millets, which are often referred to as coarse cereals. Realisizing the nutritional superiority of these grains they are now considered as nutri–cereals (Nutritious grains). Small millets grown in India are finger millet, kodo millet, foxtail millet, little millet, proso millet and barnyard millet, which account for about 2.7 million ha and their cultivation extending from sea level in coastal Andhra Pradesh to 8,000 feet above sea level in hills of Uttarakhand and North-Eastern states. These crops are grown in diverse soils, varying rainfall regimes and in areas widely differing in thermo- and photo-periods.

Neglected and underutilized crop genetic resources are very vital for sustainable agriculture (Eyzaguirre et al., 1999, Bhag Mal, 2007) and minor millets belong to this important group of crops (Dutta et al., 2007). Plant genetic resources play a critical role in enhancing adaptation and resilience of agricultural production systems (Jarvis et al., 2007).The important minor millets cultivated in India are finger millet (Eleusine coracana (L.) Gaertner), kodo millet (Paspalum scrobiculatum L.), foxtail millet (Setaria italica (L).Pal), little millet (Panicum sumatrense Roth ex Roemer & Schultes), proso millet (Panicum miliaceum L.) and barnyard millet (Echinochloa colona (L.)

It is timely need to understand the participatory approaches that has enabled community to conserve, use and sustainably manage the natural resources. One such initiative has been demonstrated in Kolli Hills which forms its part of Eastern ghats of south India. The “4 Cs integrated approach”(Conservation, cultivation, Consumption and Commerce) has helped the tribal farm families to conserve and effectively manage the agro biodiversity. This people initiative has help to not only conserve the local biodiversity and also provided them strength and capacities, skill sets, increased awareness, mobility and public participation in decision making processes. Besides, stakeholders of initiatives had opportunities to increase their economic status and to access developmental infrastructure to manage their bioresources. Understanding these initiatives would help researcher to document the processes, impact and possible improvements areas that would further shape the community biodiversity management practices.

Farmers in Dharmapuri District access  minor millet crop seeds through onformal and formal sources. They either use their own farm-saved stocks or borrow from neighbours through informal exchanges within village communities. Since research systems are poorly developed for minor millets, traditional varieties dominate farming systems, and explicit formalized channels of seed are not well developed. Hence, the existing seed systems of these minor crops in India are typically 'autarkic'. In other words, genetic resources embodied in seed are not introduced from locations beyond a given geographical radius and there is no interaction with private companies or public seed corporations. When traditional or autrakic seed systems are stressed either due to crisis or in the process of economic development where traditional relationships may break down, local markets assume importance in exchanging necessary crop genetic resources. 

Community Biodiversity Management (CBM) has been developed as a methodology to support and empower farmers as well as their local organizations for sustainably managing their biodiversity providing communities benefits at the environmental, social and economic level. The main focus is on plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (PGRFA), as a key component of biodiversity. Whereas most studies so far have addressed the technical, ecological and genetic aspects of conservation in situ and on-farm, the current study focuses on the contribution of CBM as a methodology to empowerment, for strengthening the scientific basis of CBM.

From the beginning of the practice of agriculture around 10,000 years ago in the Fertile Crescent and other regions of the world (Zohary & Hopf 1993, Balter 2007), farmers and then scientists have selected crops and varieties with specific traits in order to satisfy a diverse range of human needs, including food and nutritional security, tasty meals, medicinal remedies, fibre for clothing, fodder for feeding livestock and also meeting social, cultural, religious and aesthetic desires (Heywood 2007). Along with these, other factors have also shaped crop production systems around the world. These include the ability of crops to adapt to specific agro-ecological conditions and their capacity to help farmers to seize emerging economic opportunities arising from new trends, market and uses for crop genetic diversity and its products.

The erosion of indigenous food culture contributes to diet-related health problems and reduces income opportunities. Diets rich in energy but poor in nutritional elements are replacing traditional biodiversity-rich dishes whose vitamins and micro-nutrients would contribute to nutritional security and reduce incidence of obesity and cardiovascular diseases. Because of decades of under-investment, the human and institutional capacities required for research, marketing and knowledge sharing on agricultural biodiversity – in particular on neglected and underutilised species (NUS) – are weak or even absent. The significant research support systems that commodity crop scientists benefit from are minimal for young scientists who are interested in researching and developing alternative species. 

www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S030691920800078X

La quinua (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) es un cultivo de mucha importancia social y economica ec el altipiano boliviano. La quinua es un grano de alto valor nutritivo con proteìna de calidad, con ocho aminoàcidos esenciales y rica en hierro, calcio, fòsforo, magnesio y vitaminas del complejo B (Astudillo, 2006). Estas cualidades nutricionales y la disponibilidad del grano en las comunidades sugieren la necesidad de buscar la re-integraciòn de este cultivo en las dietas de las familias productoras, para mejorar las condiciones de nutriciòn y seguridad alimentarìa en la region.

La cañahua (Chenopodium pallidicaule Allen) es una especies menos conocida y difundida que la quinua, sin embargo, es un cultivo, que ha contribuido a la sobrevivencia de los pobladores de la zona Andina durante cientos de anos. Se desarrolla ec condiciones climàticas extremas soportando temperaturas bajas de hasta -3°C. El cultivo no ha tenido mayor difusion fuera del altiplano boliviano - peruano, pero es reconocido por su amplia variabilidad genética.

Traditional knowledge and practices have sustained the livelihoods, cultures and the forest and agricultural resources of local and indigenous communities throughout Asia for centuries. Despite their importance and contributions to sustainable rural livelihoods,traditional forest-related knowledge and practices are fast disappearing in most Asian countries, (and indeed worldwide) for a number of reasons. Government policies and regulations within and outside of the forest sector restricting access and traditional use of forest resources, have led to a general erosion of traditional culture and of traditional land and forest management knowledge and practices. The expansion of the increasingly globalized market economies is undermining demand for traditional products and increasing the need for cash incomes in previously self-sufficient rural areas. Greater exposure to mass media and other cultural influences from metropolitan centers have led to an erosion of traditional culture and beliefs, and declining interest in traditional wisdom, knowledge, and lifestyles among younger generations. The negative implications of this loss of TFRK on livelihoods, cultural and biological diversity, and the capacity of forested landscapes to provide forest goods and services remain poorly understood, largely unappreciated, and undervalued by policy-makers and the general public in most countries.

The expression "Knowledge is Power" is common, but assumes special significance in the contemporary context, where the future is seen as a "Knowledge Society" and those without knowledge are seen to be disempowered. Women in traditional agriculture communities around the world have long been known for their specialized knowledge related to seeds including selection, storage, management and exchange. Experiential knowledge arises out of the experiences and routines of daily life, and hence gendered knowledge also arises from the gendered roles and responsibilities of men and women in different situations and communities. It is argued that in traditional agricultural communities, this experiential knowledge gave women an important role in decision-making, at both levels, contributing to equitable power relations between genders.

Red lists of threatened plants are in common use for wild plants (IUCN 2001). However, whereas these lists are being developed further and are already being supplemented or replaced by green lists (Imboden 1999) and blue lists (Gigon et al. 2000) and conservationists discuss about flagship, umbrella, keystone, indicator and surrogate species (Simberloff 1998; Caro and O’Doherty 1999), crop plants still lack similar approaches. As the term genetic erosion was originally coined for crop plants, we have to conclude that crop scientists are well aware of threats to crop plants, but are mostly concerned with the rapidly disappearing landraces (i.e. at the infraspecific level) with their important quality and resistance characters, rather than the loss of entire species of crop plants.

India has several ecological traditions by which the natural environment has been preserved. The antiquity and rich heritage of Tamil literature is replete with descriptions of varying ecological traditions of which the sacred groves, the sacred tree (sthala vriksha) and the tanks (yeris) continue to be revered by the people. This book is a collection of papers which were authored by eminent scientists and archeologists and presented at the seminar on Conserving Our Ecological Heritage - the Tamil Tradition held by the C.P.R. Environmental Education Centre in September 1996. 

Genetic erosion of crop diversity is reported worldwide. Many crop species, varieties or landraces are being lost (Brush 2000). Importance of plant genetic resources is recognized worldwide to cope up with the biotic and the abiotic stresses. Genetic erosion is the common threat to the sustainable use of plant genetic resources to meet the present needs and aspiration of future generations (Chang 1985). There are many examples of genetic erosion in Nepal, even though it is rich in agricultural biodiversity. There are 200 cultivated species, 500 wild edible plants and 120 cultivated plants species reported in Nepal (Upadhyay and Joshi 2003). Tauli, Marsi and Thapachinia, the popular rice varieties of Kathmandu valley are no longer available (Upadhyaya 1995).

Most small and marginal farmers are self sufficient in seeds of preferred cultivars and resort to seed exchange with neighboring farmers only following a drought or other emergencies. This ‘self-contained’ traditional seed system serves as a backup source of seed for the region or community.