Community seedbanking to improve the resilience of farmers: the case of Kiziba seedbank in Uganda

The Kiziba seedbank was established in June 2010 in Kabwohe site as part of a project to improve the productivity and resilience of seeds for farmers through enhanced use of crop varietal diversity, focusing on Common bean and Banana. Common bean has been primarily managed by women, therefore this project not only benefitted local farmers but it also benefitted women in terms of availaing them with the much needed diversity, and equipping them with the capacities to grow better seeds for better yields, food and seed security

Ethnobotanical study on wild plants used by Lhoba people in Milin County, Tibet.

The Lhoba are a small ethnic group, located in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China. Until 1960, their livelihood was predominantly based on swidden agriculture, hunting, and gathering. To investigate and document the plant species used by the Lhoba, ethnobotanical surveys were conducted in three villages of Nanyi Township in Milin County, Tibet, China. Ethnobotanical surveys were conducted in three Lhoba villages using key informant interviews and semi-structured interviews. Plants traditionally used by the Lhoba were documented. Data obtained were analyzed through informant consensus factor analysis (FIC) to determine the homogeneity of the informants’ knowledge of medicinal plants. Fifty-nine plant species belonging to 49 genera and 28 families were recorded and collected. Twenty-eight species are ethnomedicinal plants, 29 are local edible plants, and 23 are used for other purposes in Lhoba daily life. The medicinal plant species are used for treating eight categories of illness. Most medicinal plants are herbs (71.4%) or roots (39.2%). Nutrition adjustment (FIC = 0.76) and dermatological infections (FIC = 0.56) showed the highest FIC, indicating that the Lhoba had the highest level of agreement about the use of plants for these two illness categories. Fruit is the most frequently used part of the edible plants. Nine edible plant species are used as herbal medicine. Plant species used for other purposes include, six species for fuel, five for dye material, six for religious use, four for timber, two for tobacco substitutes, and one for fodder. Some traditional technologies and customs of Lhoba, such as dyeing and bamboo weaving, have remained the same for centuries. In contrast, the Lhoba’s knowledge of ethnomedicine has been recently influenced by traditional Tibetan and Chinese medicine, resulting in the loss of traditional knowledge in this sector. In addition, the development of tourism has influenced a change in the Lhoba lifestyle and their production of traditional products. These events signal the need to invest in mechanisms that can enable the Lhoba to benefit from the use of their traditional plant-derived culture and therefore support the continued conservation and use of these important plant resources

Crop genetic diversity to reduce pests and diseases on-farm: Participatory diagnosis guidelines. Version I

Based on the outputs of the participants of the Spoleto, Italy (2002) Initial Planning Workshop, and the Kunming, China (September 2004) and Meknes, Morocco (March 2005) Workshops on Diagnostic Tools to Understand Farmers' Knowledge, Beliefs and Practices

Diversity rich solutions

Every household is diverse and diversity can be observed within household in terms of crops, varieties and landraces, soil type, food preferences and preparation methods, knowledge and practices related with production management of agrobiodiversity and other genetic resources. Farmers are practicing agricultural practices that promotes the use of diversity such as growing mixture of landraces, composting, fertigation. Modern agriculture focuses on developing large scale uniform technology eg use of urea, mono-genotype variety. Such system puts pressure and disturbs the ecological balance causing high risk for crop failure and genetic erosion. Any technological option with greater diversity is less risky, more sustainable and higher adaptability in agriculture. Diversity rich solution is any technology or problem associated solution that considers diversity as an option and address problems with inter and intra level diversity as well as combinations of different components. it also includes multiple technology for a single problem. Some examples are broad genetic base variety, cultivar mixtures, compost (made from different species), biopesticide (made from different species), etc. Diversity rich solution is in practice since 2014 in Nepal with the objective of conserving agrobiodiversity, promoting ecologically oriented sustainable agriculture that also enhances ecosystem services

Good practices for agrobiodiversity management

Native agricultural genetic resources have been generally under-valued, therefore, some initiatives have been taken through Global In-situ agrobiodiversity project joinly implemented by NARC, LI-BIRD and Bioversity International since 1997 in Nepal for conservation and sustainable use of agrobiodiversity on-farm. Global in-situ project (1997-2006) has developed many good practices for agrobiodiversity management which are published in On-farm Management of Agricultural Biodiversity in Nepal: Good Practices 2006 (B Sthapit, P Shrestha and M Upadyay, eds). A good practice is a process or methodology or action that is effective and successful; environmentally, economically and socially sustainable; technically feasible; inherently participatory; replicable and adaptable, that has been proven to work well and produce good results. It is a successful experience tested and validated in achieving its objective. For further widening the scope of good practices in the country, NAGRC, LI-BIRD and Bioversity International have generated, tested and adapted a number of good practices in four sites, Jungu, Dolakha; Ghapanpokhara, Lamjung; Hanku, Jumla; and Chippra, Humla through a project Integrating Traditional Crop Genetic Diversity into Technology: Using a Biodiversity Portfolio Approach to Buffer against Unpredictable Environmental Change in the Nepal Himalayas , commonly called as Local Crop Project (LCP) from 2014 to 2019. Good practices listed here are well tested and adapted by the communtiies in the fields, shown their positive impact, shared and discussed among the relevant stakholders. Project team have tested and validated many good practices, however, we have included 22 good practices that are worth sharing for its dessimination and mainstreaming. These practices, though specially based on eight crops (rice, bean, barley, foxtail millet, proso millet, amaranth and buckwheat), can be widely applicable to other agricultural genetic ressources in different locations, national and globally

An heuristic framework for identifying multiple ways of supporting the conservation and use of traditional crop varieties within the agricultural production system

This paper reviews and discusses how studies on (i) on-farm diversity assessment, (ii) access to diversity and information, (iii) extent of use of available materials and information, and (iv) benefits obtained by the farmer or farming community from their use of local crop diversity, are necessary to identify the different ways of supporting farmers and farming communities in the maintenance of traditional varieties and crop genetic diversity within their production systems. Throughout this paper two key themes are emphasized. First, any description or analysis within the four main areas (assessment, access, use and benefit) can, and most probably will, lead to a number of different actions. Second, the decision to implement a particular action, and therefore its success, will depend on farmers and the farming community having the knowledge and leadership capacity to evaluate the benefits that this action will have for them. This in turn emphasizes the importance of activities (whether by local, national and international organizations and agencies) of strengthening local institutions so as to enable farmers to take a greater role in the management of their resources

Manejo de la diversidad de los cultivos en los agroecosistemas tradicionales

Las exigencias en materia de conservación de los recursos fitogenéticos requieren de la contribución de un gran número de actores para la formulación de estrategias apropiadas en función de la variabilidad de climas, eco y agrosistemas, heterogeneidad cultural, factores económicos y genéticos intrínsecos en el material a conservar. Las estrategias generales de conservación in situ y ex situ requieren del desarrollo y mejora de diversas capacidades nacionales y locales que van desde el conocimiento del germoplasma hasta el diseño o mejoramiento de las infraestructuras. El sureste de México forma parte del centro de diversidad mesoamericano donde tuvieron su origen y diversificación el maíz, frijol, Cucurbita, y Capsicum, entre otros, cultivos que además de su importancia socioeconómica regional son fuentes de genes a nivel mundial. Las instituciones locales, regionales, nacionales e internacionales y las comunidades campesinas que usan los recursos fitogenéticos en sus diversas formas y modalidades, ya sea como materia de estudio, alimento (directo o procesado) o como elemento de cambio, tienen la responsabilidad de conservar y hacer uso eficiente del germoplasma. Esta publicación, Manejo de la diversidad de los cultivos en los agroecosistemas tradicionales, reúne una serie de artículos que fueron presentados en la reunión, del mismo nombre, realizada del 13 al 16 de febrero de 2002 en Mérida, México cuyo objetivo fue compartir las experiencias y lecciones aprendidas acerca del manejo de la diversidad cultivada en los sistemas tradicionales, las decisiones de los agricultores, la genética de la conservación y el mejoramiento, y los aspectos sociales, económicos y culturales de las comunidades rurales donde se realiza la conservación en finca

Participatory diagnostic toolkits and crop improvement approaches: participatory methods to assess and use plant genetic diversity in the field.

In both developing and developed countries, there is increasing in terest in adopting more inclusive and problem-solving participatory re search methods. While there is a wealth of methods and toolkits for con ducting participatory research in the form of scientific articles, books, and manuals, this manual aims to provide a source of information on available toolkits used in conducting participatory research around plant genetic resources (PGR). The manual aims at all those involved in the characterization and utilization of PGR, information collection from participant farmers, and conservation of PGR. The users could be from research centers, universities, farmers’ organizations, government extension agents, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The manual presents participatory information gathering tools, di versity assessment, and deployment tools and diversity conservation approaches. Each toolkit has been described in enough detail to enable readers, at different levels, to understand and use them. The manual’s major merit is in presenting different toolkits in one document that are otherwise scattered in several different sources. Different toolkits used to gather information on status of PGR in participatory varietal deploy ment methods are presented to the readers

Manejo de la biodiversidad en los ecosistemas agrícolas

El “Manejo de la Biodiversidad en los Ecosistemas Agrícolas” mira cómo los agricultores manejan, mantienen, y se benefician de la biodiversidad en los sistemas de producción agrícola. El volumen incluye las más recientes investigaciones y desarrollos en el mantenimiento de la diversidad local en los niveles de la genética de las especies y de los ecosistemas. Los capítulos se tratan de la evaluación de la biodiversidad ecosistémica en la producción agrícola, ganadera, acuático y los diversidades asociados (tales como los polinizadores y los microorganismos del suelo); los praticas de gestión que influyen la diversidad; el papel potencial de la diversidad para la reducción de las presiones de plagas y enfermedades; y los estudios actuales que ejemplifican el valor potencial nutricional, ecosistémica, y financiera de esta diversidad en virtud de las cambiantes condiciones económicas y ambientales. El volumen contiene perspectivas que combinan el pensamiento de los scientificos sociales y biológicas