CROP DIVERSITY AS THE DERIVED OUTCOME OF FARMERS' 'SURVIVAL FIRST' MOTIVES IN ETHIOPIA: WHAT ROLE FOR ON-FARM CONSERVATION OF SORGHUM GENETIC RESOURCES?

Crop genetic resources are the building blocks of sustainable agricultural development due to their relevance not only as inputs for variety development but also as indigenous crop insurance mechanisms through traditional variety portfolio management. Their continuous survival is, however, threatened by natural and human driven factors. This threat has induced the need for designing conservation measures. Among the in situ and ex situ conservation options available to conserve crop genetic resources, on-farm conservation has recently attracted enormous attention. To make this option operational, placing incentives (that link conservation with utilization) and removal of perverse incentives are believed to be crucial so that landraces of no immediate interest to farmers can be conserved. However, before designing sound incentives and/or removing perverse incentives, we have to understand farmers' motives for managing a portfolio of traditional varieties. To address our objective, we have adopted a utility based model that considers on-farm diversity as a positive externality of farmers' livelihood decisions. Accordingly, on-farm diversity is considered as the derived outcome of farmers' revealed preferences subject to their concerns and constraints. To empirically test the relationships, a Poisson regression model is estimated using rural household survey data collected from 198 sorghum growing farmers in East Ethiopia. The results have shown the most important diversity promoting factors and those factors detaching the link between farmers' 'survival first' motives and their spillover effects on sorghum diversity. Based on the results, the paper concludes outlining the policy implications of the findings.On-farm conservation, sorghum genetic resources, incentives, Poisson regression, Ethiopia, Crop Production/Industries,

A rights-based food security principle for biomass sustainability standards and certification systems

With the shift from petroleum-based to biomass-based economies, global biomass demand and trade is growing. This trend could become a threat to food security. Though rising concerns about sustainability aspects have led to the development of voluntary certification standards to ensure that biomass is sustainably produced, food security aspects are hardly addressed as practical criteria and indicators lack. The research objective of this working paper is to identify how the Human Right to adequate Food (RtaF), which is applicable in over 100 countries, can be ensured in local biomass production and in certification systems in food insecure regions. We aim to first develop a suitable conceptual framework to integrate the RtaF in biomass production, processing and trade and derive guidance for the choice of the criteria. Second, we identify appropriate criteria to ensure that the RtaF is not violated by certified biomass operators based on a comprehensive literature review, stakeholder workshops and expert interviews with certification bodies, standard initiatives, NGOs, ministries, scientists and enterprises. The conceptual framework is based on the UN “Voluntary Guidelines to Support the Progressive Realization of the RtaF in the Context of National Food Security” and the four dimensions of food security. Based on this framework, we developed the rights-based food security principle. To ensure that the RtaF is not adversely affected by certified biomass production and trade, we propose 45 criteria, classified in 17 themes which are derived from the voluntary guidelines. The suggested criteria are applicable to all biomass types and uses and serve as a best-practice set to complement existing sustainability standards for biomass

Social Safety Nets for Food and Nutritional Security in India

This paper brings together existing literature on the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNRGEA) and the Public Distribution System (PDS) in India, offering a narrative review of the evidence on impacts on food security, health and nutrition of beneficiaries. Both programs operate on a large scale and have the capacity to impact the factors leading to undernutrition. It is evident that despite the deficiencies in implementation, both the MGNREGA and the PDS are inclusive and reach the poor and the marginalized who are likely to also experience greater undernutrition and poor health. Data challenges have however prevented researchers from conducting studies that assess the ultimate impact of these two large-scale programs on health and nutrition. The evidence that exists suggests largely positive impacts indicating a clear potential to make these programs more nutrition sensitive not just by incorporating elements that would explicitly address nutritional concerns but also by directing specific attention to innovations that strengthen critical complementarities and synergies that exist between the two programs

Conservation of genetic resources : cost and implications for a sustainable utilization of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture

243 tr., XX; 24 cm

Spending on Conservation of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture: How much and how efficient?

With growing awareness of the dangers of an irreversible loss of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (PGRFA), there has been a major effort devoted to collecting and conserving plant genetic resources. The objective of this study is to assess the level of investments in PGRFA conservation in different countries and their efficiency. Few studies of the costs and efficiency of genebanks and other methods of conservation exist so far. This study finds that the order of magnitude of domestic expenditures on the conservation of PGRFA by 37 countries amounts to approximately US $ 475 million for the year 1995. The efficiency of PGRFA conservation varies widely between countries. While a more comprehensive and thorough efficiency analysis of the countries’ conservation efforts is called for, the approach taken here does draw attention to practical solutions to the ongoing political discussions on the sharing of benefits and costs of PGRFA conservation and utilisation

Spending on Conservation of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture: How much and how efficient?

With growing awareness of the dangers of an irreversible loss of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (PGRFA), there has been a major effort devoted to collecting and conserving plant genetic resources. The objective of this study is to assess the level of investments in PGRFA conservation in different countries and their efficiency. Few studies of the costs and efficiency of genebanks and other methods of conservation exist so far. This study finds that the order of magnitude of domestic expenditures on the conservation of PGRFA by 37 countries amounts to approximately US $ 475 million for the year 1995. The efficiency of PGRFA conservation varies widely between countries. While a more comprehensive and thorough efficiency analysis of the countries’ conservation efforts is called for, the approach taken here does draw attention to practical solutions to the ongoing political discussions on the sharing of benefits and costs of PGRFA conservation and utilisation