05/11/2018

Connecting the Local to the Global through the Benefit-Sharing Fund

26 October 2018, Rome, Italy – For the first time in its lifespan, the Benefit-sharing Fund of the FAO International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture brought together all of the grant-winners of the 4^th Call for Benefit-sharing Fund (BSF) Project Proposals at FAO headquarters in Rome.

“In the past, we have held separate regional Workshops for the BSF project participants in different parts of the world, but this time, we thought it would be more beneficial to bring everyone together here in Rome,” said Kent Nnadozie, Secretary of the International Treaty. “This way, everyone works together towards the development of the programmatic approach of the Benefit-sharing Fund, and more fully understands the place of their project in the broader context of the Fund’s programme on the conservation and sustainable use of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture.”

Earlier this year, the Bureau of the Eighth Governing Body of the International Treaty chose 20 best project proposals to be funded under the 4^th cycle of projects to be supported by the Benefit-sharing Fund (BSF-4). All 20 projects under BSF-4 focus on the conservation and sustainable use of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture with an overall objective of enhancing farmers’ resilience in the face of climate change and improving their food security situation, thus contributing to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. BSF-4 also emphasizes new partnerships, bringing technology and knowledge to the community and farm level, and highlighting the important role of women in biodiversity management, farming and rural development.

These final 20 grant-winners were selected based on strict criteria and the recommendations of an Independent Panel of Experts, who sifted through close to 500 pre-proposals before providing their recommendations to the Bureau. The 4^th Cycle of the BSF will invest at least USD 6 million in these 20 projects over the next four years in 29 developing countries.

The purpose of this Workshop was to support successful BSF-4 applicants in the development of their full project proposal by providing guidance, technical advice and support. During the week-long Workshop in Rome, the participants of the 20 selected BSF-4 projects gained insights into the International Treaty, the Benefit-sharing Fund, farmers’ rights, mainstreaming gender balance, boosting agricultural biodiversity, contributing to the global information system, and developing effective partnerships and communication techniques. They also heard from donor countries, and had one-on-one tutorials with key International Treaty Secretariat staff, during which they were given project-specific advice on how best to fine-tune their pre-proposals into full ready-to-implement proposals.  

“We received a lot of answers to our questions,” said Maeen Ali Al-Jarmouzi, Agriculture Research  and Extension Authority of Yemen. “We will benefit from this exchange of information and knowledge.”

Birte Nass-Komolong, National Agricultural Research Institute of Papua New Guinea called the BSF-4 Workshop “a rare opportunity for those seeking the grant to have direct interaction with those providing the grant” and said such discussions should help result with the success of the projects.

“This International Treaty Workshop has been quite eye-opening for me, because I could learn about different project proposals coming from across the world,” said Rinchin Dorji, National Biodiversity Centre, Ministry of Agriculture and Forests of Bhutan. “I think it was also a good opportunity to build a network of relevant organizations from around the world.”

“We have learnt how we should link up with the farmers whom we feel are the custodians of most of the local varieties, as well as the landraces,” said Kennedy Katazo Muimui of the Zambia Agriculture Research Institute. “We have also learnt how to bring gender issues into our projects.”

The call for proposals for the 4^th cycle of BSF projects was launched in December 2017, and are expected to commence by early 2019.

To date, the International Treaty’s Benefit-sharing Fund has invested more than USD 20 million in 61 projects in 55 developing countries over three project cycles, positively impacting the lives of about 1 million people. BSF projects have supported the development, testing and use of climate ready crops, resulting in more than 1000 accessions with adaptive traits that are now available to the international scientific and breeding community under the International Treaty’s Multilateral System of Access and Benefit-sharing. 

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