Gestion traditionnelle et statut des ressources génétiques du sorgho (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) au Nord-Ouest du Bénin

Le sorgho, Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench, est une importante ressource alimentaire au Bénin. Sa culture est essentiellement pratiquée au centre et au nord du pays. Afin de mieux comprendre le niveau de diversité et les systèmes traditionnels de gestion et de conservation des variétés locales cultivées au Nord-Ouest du pays, une enquête basée sur une approche participative de recherche a été conduite dans 13 villages régulièrement distribués dans la zone. Au total, 45 variétés locales (61 noms vernaculaires) ont été inventoriées, présageant d’une grande diversité génétique du sorgho dans le milieu. Le nombre moyen de variétés locales inventoriées est de cinq par village et de deux par ménage. La distribution des variétés à travers la zone d’étude a été déterminée et les principaux facteurs y afférant étudiés. La couleur des grains, la durée du cycle végétatif ou la valeur marchande sont les plus importants critères utilisés par les producteurs pour la dénomination, l’identification, la classification et la sélection des variétés. Les systèmes traditionnels de sélection et de gestion des semences varient substantiellement d’un village à un autre et d’une ethnie à l’autre. Aussi, l’étudea-t-elle révélé l’existence dans certains villages d’une menace de disparition des variétés à cycle végétatif long et à grains blancs. Des efforts concertés devraient donc être déployés pour la valorisation et la préservation des ressources génétiques de cette céréale afin d’accroître sa production pour une meilleure sécurité alimentaire au Bénin.Mots clés: Bénin, diversité variétale, conservation, Sorghum bicolo

Analysis of gender and governance of value chainbased systems on rice and vegetable crops in southern Benin and Mali

Published Online June 2015This present study analyses gender and governance in the rice and vegetable-based value chain systems in 3 lowlands of southern Benin and 2 lowlands in Southern Mali. A sample of 243 farmers, 1 modern processing unit, 18 traditional processors, 76 traders and 8 national institutions were interviewed in Benin and Mali. Descriptive statistics and Harvard analytical framework were used for the analysis of governance and gender respectively in the value chains. The majority of farmers have access to the use of land. Women produce up to 80% of basic foods for household consumption and sale. However they don’t have the control of these resources (capital and land). Decision making in relation to resources (land, water labor, credit) is under the control of men and natives. The governance analysis showed that the products of lowlands are not subject to quality control, with no public inspection for health and product quality. There is no input subsidy for actors in both countries. There are informal contracts between actors of the rice based systems in Mali and Benin. The markets are open for all the products and credit systems do exist. Some structures are involved in upstream and downstream chain components for training in various activitiesThis present study analyses gender and governance in the rice and vegetable-based value chain systems in 3 lowlands of southern Benin and 2 lowlands in Southern Mali. A sample of 243 farmers, 1 modern processing unit, 18 traditional processors, 76 traders and 8 national institutions were interviewed in Benin and Mali. Descriptive statistics and Harvard analytical framework were used for the analysis of governance and gender respectively in the value chains. The majority of farmers have access to the use of land. Women produce up to 80% of basic foods for household consumption and sale. However they don’t have the control of these resources (capital and land). Decision making in relation to resources (land, water labor, credit) is under the control of men and natives. The governance analysis showed that the products of lowlands are not subject to quality control, with no public inspection for health and product quality. There is no input subsidy for actors in both countries. There are informal contracts between actors of the rice based systems in Mali and Benin. The markets are open for all the products and credit systems do exist. Some structures are involved in upstream and downstream chain components for training in various activitie

Plant genetic resources and food security in West and Central Africa: Regional Conference, 26-30 April 2004

The Regional Conference on Plant Genetic Resources and Food Security in West and Central Africa was held at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan, Nigeria from 26 to 30 April 2004. Ninety-five scientists and agricultural research managers from 13 countries and 18 institutions and organizations attended the conference that was organized under the auspices of Conseil Ouest et Centre Africain pour la Recherche et le Développement (CORAF). It took about two years to organize it. Partner institutions including the Conference of Directors for Agronomic Research in West and Central Africa (CORAF), Bioversity International, the International Institute of Topical Agriculture (IITA), Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the West Africa Rice Development Association (WARDA), the International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), the Desert Margin Programme (DMP), the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), the System-Wide Genetic Resources Programme (SGRP) and the Genetic Resources Policy Initiative (GRPI) co-funded and organized the conference assisted by the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) and Syngenta. The main outcomes from the deliberations are presented in this synthesis report. The main goal of the conference was to provide a forum for assessing the state of plant genetic resources (PGR) conservation and management in West and Central Africa (WCA), and to explore methods of strengthening regional collaboration. The specific objectives were: To assess the state of, and mechanisms for, management and sustainable use of plantgenetic resources in WCA countries;To enhance awareness on new global and regional plant genetic resources (PGR)developments and policy frameworks;To establish mechanisms and strategies for promotion of collaboration and coordination at regional and country levels on PGR conservation, management and policies in the sub-region. This conference gave a unique opportunity to scientists in WCA to assess the state of genetic resources conservation, management and use in the sub-region. They explored mechanisms for strengthening regional collaboration and discussed how these resources can be managed to solve food insecurity in the region. The national research institutes, under the framework of CORAF and the various CGIAR Centres (Bioversity, IITA, WARDA, ICRISAT) working in WCA, and FAO decided to work closely together for the benefit of genetic resources. Many initiatives are already being developed in the region and the conference emphasised the necessity to link all those initiatives and to ensure that the region is not left out in genetic resources conservation and use. The conference ended with a declaration and communiqué

"Nōgyō hisonyashinaigusa" by Yoshitake Tokuyama, 1826 - Reprinting by Original Text

Rapid changes in land use, food systems, and livelihoods require social–ecological systems that keep multiple options open and prepare for future unpredictability. Sustainagility refers to the properties and assets of a system that sustain the ability (agility) of agents to adapt and meet their needs in new ways. In contrast, sustainability tends to invoke persistence along current trajectories, and the resilience to return to current baselines. With three examples, the use and conservation of agrobiodiversity is explored along temporal, spatial, and human institutional scales for its role in sustainagility: first, farmers’ seed systems; second, complex pollination systems; and third, wildlife conservation in agricultural areas with high poverty. Incentives are necessary if agrobiodiversity is to provide benefits to future generation

Secondary structure of rhBMP-2 in a protective biopolymeric carrier material

Efficient delivery of growth factors is one of the great challenges of tissue engineering. Polyelectrolyte multilayer films (PEM) made of biopolymers have recently emerged as an interesting carrier for delivering recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein 2 (rhBMP-2 noted here BMP-2) to cells in a matrix-bound manner. We recently showed that PEM made of poly(l-lysine) and hyaluronan (PLL/HA) can retain high and tunable quantities of BMP-2 and can deliver it to cells to induce their differentiation in osteoblasts. Here, we investigate quantitatively by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) the secondary structure of BMP-2 in solution as well as trapped in a biopolymeric thin film. We reveal that the major structural elements of BMP-2 in solution are intramolecular β-sheets and unordered structures as well as α-helices. Furthermore, we studied the secondary structure of rhBMP-2 trapped in hydrated films and in dry films since drying is an important step for future applications of these bioactive films onto orthopedic biomaterials. We demonstrate that the structural elements were preserved when BMP-2 was trapped in the biopolymeric film in hydrated conditions and, to a lesser extent, in dry state. Importantly, its bioactivity was maintained after drying of the film. Our results appear highly promising for future applications of these films as coatings of biomedical materials, to deliver bioactive proteins while preserving their bioactivity upon storage in dry state.This work was supported by the French Ministry of Research through an ANR-EmergenceBIO grant (ANR-09-EBIO-012-01), by the European Commission (FP7 program) via a European Research Council starting grant (BIOMIM, GA 259370), and by GRAVIT (081012_FIBIOS). C.P. is grafetul to IUF for financial support

Free-standing polyelectrolyte membranes made of chitosan and alginate

Free-standing films have increasing applications in the biomedical field as drug delivery systems for wound healing and tissue engineering. Here, we prepared free-standing membranes by the layer-by-layer assembly of chitosan and alginate, two widely used biomaterials. Our aim was to produce a thick membrane and to study the permeation of model drugs and the adhesion of muscle cells. We first defined the optimal growth conditions in terms of pH and alginate concentration. The membranes could be easily detached from polystyrene or polypropylene substrate without any postprocessing step. The dry thickness was varied over a large range from 4 to 35 μm. A 2-fold swelling was observed by confocal microscopy when they were immersed in PBS. In addition, we quantified the permeation of model drugs (fluorescent dextrans) through the free-standing membrane, which depended on the dextran molecular weight. Finally, we showed that myoblast cells exhibited a preferential adhesion on the alginate-ending membrane as compared to the chitosan-ending membrane or to the substrate side.This work was financially supported by Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) through the Scholarship SFRH/BD/64601/2009 granted to S.G.C. C.M. is indebted to Grenoble INP for financial support via a postdoctoral fellowship. This work was supported by the European Commission (FP7 Program) via a European Research Council starting grant (BIOMIM, GA 259370 to C.P.). C.P. is also grateful to Institut Universitaire de France and to Grenoble Institute of Technology for financial support. We thank Isabelle Paintrand for her technical help with the confocal apparatus and Patrick Chaudouet for his help with SEM imaging

Protocol for the Agricultural Biodiversity (ABD) Assessment in Ghana

The biodiversity of plant and animal species both domesticated and wild used for food by humans (referred to here as agricultural biodiversity—ABD) is one of the most important assets for rural households, particularly for the poor in marginal areas such as the drylands of the developing world. A contribution of Bioversity International to the Dryland Systems CGIAR Research Programme (CRP) [http://drylandsystems.cgiar.org/] has been to examine systematically the diversity of these species in CRP target sites in Mali, Ghana, Malawi and India. Bioversity and partners have carried out a set of Agricultural Biodiversity Assessments in these countries. In the case of Ghana, the selected sites include three villages in the Wa region: Bompari, Gbelinkaa, Yagtuur. Here we present the protocols used for collecting the data from Ghana

Niger Focus Group Discussion Data

A series of focus group discussions (FGDs) to elicit the local knowledge about the agricultural and wild biodiversity present in the study areas in order to generate: (a) an inventory (list) of all useful plant, and animal species used by local communities for human food, animal feed, medicine, fuel, housing, farming tools, etc. and their local names; (b) an inventory of all foods consumed; (c) an inventory of species and products bought and sold in markets that people in the village attend. Two FGDs per village in three villages. FGDs were held separately for men and women in order to collect gender disaggregated data. In each of the three villages, two focus group discussions were held separately. One with men and the other with women. Each group will deal with the three aspects for discussion: Useful biological diversity in the production system; Market diversity; and Dietary diversity. There were between 10-16 participants in each group. Each group tried to include a cross-section of individuals involved in agricultural production or at least collecting useful plants from common lands and the wild, representing different levels of access to land (land owners, local land renters and migrant land renters), different ethnic groups present in the village and different age groups (special emphasis should be placed to include younger farmers). For each group there were two facilitators, one to guide the exercise and the other to document the process (take notes, photographs, etc.). The data were elicited using the four-cell analysis methodology explained in the Protocol document