Rome, Italy and Tunis, Tunisia
June 1, 2009
For the first time, farmers in
poor countries are to be rewarded under a binding international
treaty for conserving and propagating crop varieties that could
prove to be the saviour of global food security over the coming
decades.
A new benefit-sharing scheme, part of the
International Treaty on
Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, is to come
on stream thanks to the generous donations of several
governments that will support five such farmers’ projects.
They will be announced at a meeting of the Treaty’s Governing
Body is Tunis this week from more than 300 applications
submitted by farmers, farmer’s organisations and research
centres mainly from Africa, Asia and Latin America.
Food gene pool
It is the first time that financial benefits are being
transferred under the Treaty which was agreed in 2004. The
Treaty established a global pool comprised of 64 food crops that
make up more than one million samples of known plant genetic
resources.
The Treaty stipulates that whenever a commercial product results
from the use of this gene pool and that product is patented, 1.1
percent of the sales of the product must be paid to the Treaty’s
benefit-sharing fund.
The first batch of projects are to receive around $250 000.
Norway, Italy, Spain and Switzerland have contributed the funds
as seed money for the benefit-sharing scheme.
Ten year wait
Plant breeding is a slow process and it can take ten years or
more for a patented product to emerge from the time the genetic
transfer took place which is why the aforementioned governments
have backed the scheme. Norway introduced a small tax on the
sale of seeds on its domestic market to fund its donation.
The projects selected will have to fulfil a number of criteria
that support poor farmers who conserve different seed varieties
and reduce hunger in the world.
“We are grateful to the governments who have made voluntary
contributions to make this possible,” said Dr Shakeel Bhatti,
Secretary of the Treaty’s Governing Body.
“If farmers and other agricultural stakeholders don’t get any
support in conserving and developing the different varieties,
this crop diversity that they look after may be lost forever.
Diversity is key
No country is self-sufficient in plant genetic resources; all
depend on genetic diversity in crops from other countries and
regions. International cooperation and open exchange of genetic
resources are therefore essential for food security.
Climate change has made this challenge even more pressing as
there is a need to preserve all the crops developed over
millennia that can resist cold winters or hot summers.
Yet, agricultural biodiversity, which is the basis for food
production, is in sharp decline due the effects of
modernization, changes in diets and increasing population
density.
About three-quarters of the genetic diversity found in
agricultural crops has been lost over the last century, and this
genetic erosion continues.
It is estimated that there were once 10,000 types of food crops.
Today, only 150 crops feed most of the world's population, and
just 12 crops provide 80 percent of dietary energy from plants,
with rice, wheat, maize, and potato alone providing almost 60
percent.
Hidden crops
Many new and unexploited varieties are found in some of the
hardest to reach places in poor countries, where they have been
traditionally grown by local farmers but never commercialized.
The real concern is that many crops that have developed
resistance to hot summers and cold winters, or long periods of
drought might be lost which is why the Treaty has made on-farm
conservation one of its priorities.
$116 million appeal
Delegates to the meeting will seek agreement on ways to further
speed up the benefit-sharing aspects of the Treaty. These might
include an appeal from the Governing Body to governments,
private donors and foundations for $116 million to strengthen
the treaty’s work in helping developing countries grow better
crops.
“While disagreements over access to crop genetic resources can
involve highly technical issues and complex legal matters, the
challenges are quite clear,” said Dr Bhatti.
“Crop breeders need wide access to genetic diversity in order to
confront climatic change, fight plant pests or disease, and feed
the world’s rapidly growing populations.” |
|
