International Treaty welcomes new contribution by the Government of Norway
18/09/2022
New Delhi, India 17 September 2022 – The Government of Norway announced a contribution of 40 million Norwegian Kroners (approximately USD 4 million) to the Benefit-sharing Fund of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. The Fund supports smallholder farmers in developing countries to use and grow a rich diversity of crops.
“All food production starts with sowing seeds. That is why the government is now increasing support for small farmers' seed security,” says Norwegian Minister for International Development Anne Beathe Tvinnereim.
“Cultivation of resilient and nutritious crops such as sorghum, chickpeas and various varieties of millet makes food production more robust in the face of climate change. It is also important to grow varieties of maize, for example, that are adapted to local conditions. The Norwegian support goes to projects to strengthen farmers' access to a variety of crops and where the farmers themselves can participate in variety development,” says Tvinnereim.
Supporting smallholder farmers
The contribution is an addition to the Fifth Cycle of the Benefit-sharing Fund, for which the Call for Proposals was launched on the 22nd of May 2022, the International Day of Biodiversity. This brings the total amount of grants available for projects to around 10 million USD. The International Treaty’s Benefit-sharing Fund enables the sharing of benefits from the use of material in the Multilateral System. To date, the Fund has benefited over 1 million people through 80 projects in 67 developing countries, transforming food systems and helping smallholder farmers use crop varieties best-suited to their unique environmental conditions.
“The impacts of climate change are increasingly being felt around the globe, with extreme weather events that affect agricultural production being only an indication of what may still lie ahead,” said Kent Nnadozie, Secretary of the International Treaty. “Food systems are under continuous pressure and with them the plants that are cultivated and consumed around the world. Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare and further intensified some of the vulnerabilities and inadequacies of global food systems. In times like these, it is more important than ever to support the smallholder farmers who feed the world. We greatly appreciate Norway’s continuous and generous support to the projects funded by the Benefit-sharing Fund,” he said.
An impulse to international cooperation on seeds
Norway’s latest contribution was announced on the eve of the Ninth Session of the Governing Body of the International Treaty, where Contracting Parties are meeting to further develop intergovernmental cooperation on seed diversity.
“The increased Norwegian support for seed security gives new energy to the international cooperation to preserve seed diversity,” says Agriculture and Food Minister Sandra Borch. “In addition, this will support the development of local value chains for sowing seeds where farmers maintain control over this important input factor,” says Borch.
The International Treaty and its Benefit-sharing Fund contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), particularly SDG 2, highlighting the importance of genetic diversity in achieving the goal of ending hunger.
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