EU - The European Union is contributing €5 million ($6.5 million) towards the Benefit-sharing Fund which helps farmers in developing countries manage crop diversity for food security and climate change adaptation, the FAO announced at a ministerial meeting at the Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development. As the single largest contribution, it will help to increase the capacity of smallholder farmers to manage traditional crops like potato, rice, cassava, wheat and sorghum. "Plant genetic biodiversity is a key factor for sustainable agriculture. We share the commitment to ensuring that the world's ecosystems, and in FAO's specific case the world's agro-ecosystems, are healthy and sustainable," said José Graziano da Silva, FAO Director-General, at the 2nd High-Level Round Table on the International Treaty for Food and Agriculture at Rio+20. The meeting focused on delivery of the Treaty's potential benefits for biodiversity, climate change mitigation, and sustainability. FAO hosts the Secretariat of the International Treaty which entered into force in 2001. The European Union joined the Treaty in 2004 and this is the first time that a member of the Treaty which is not an individual country has contributed to the Fund.

Link: http://www.thecropsite.com/news/11340/eu-gives-5-million-to-maintain-crop-biodiversity

Attachement: