Posted November 1997

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Secretariat to the Convention on Biological Diversity

Rome
19-20 June 1997

Technical Workshop on Farming Systems Approaches for the Sustainable Use and Conservation of Agricultural Biodiversity and Agro-Ecosystems:
Executive Summary and Conclusions

Executive Summary

2. Ideas were shared on the impacts (positive and negative) of trends in agriculture on agricultural biodiversity, and constraints and opportunities for the conservation and sustainable use of agricultural biodiversity, and the equitable sharing of benefits, at different levels. Examples were exchanged of integrated multi-dimensional and multi-disciplinary approaches, in terms of policies, programmes and actions. This led to discussions on appropriate mechanisms and actions at national and international levels including information and public awareness, as well as, legal, economic and policy measures to address the farming systems and ecosystems dimensions of agricultural biodiversity, both within FAO and with other partners, at all levels.

3. In addition to sharing of ideas, experiences and lessons learnt, the Technical Workshop further developed recommendations for actions addressing the above issues, in three areas:

• Increasing information and awareness
• Support to Governments; and
• International level coordination.

These actions take into consideration the broadened mandate and recent recommendations of the CGRFA, and the scope of activities described in COP Decision III/11. They also build on the priority activity areas of the GPA. An important conclusion was that the CBD, particularly through its emphasis on the ecosystem level of agricultural biodiversity, offers a challenge for developing sustainable agricultural systems at the national and local level. In this context, it was recognized that more attention should be given to understanding and enhancing the genetic variety, within and between harvested and non-harvested plant, animal and microbial species. Also, more attention should be given to enhancing the complementary and synergetic relationships between species, and the sustainability, as well as the productivity (which has hitherto received more attention), of agro-ecosystems. This implies that a range of best practices should be identified and made available, with a view to their further development in an integrated manner in specific local situations. It was stressed, however, that an integrated approach must build on and complement sectoral activities. An integrated approach can promote better understanding of how the different disciplines perceive agricultural biodiversity and how they could contribute to sustainable agriculture, and needs to lead to improved collaboration between the disciplines.

Recommendations for Actions

ii) At the national level, the conclusions focused on the mechanisms and processes needed to support countries. For example, a) the provision of guidance for conducting and harmonizing assessments of resources and of relevant sectoral and cross-sectoral capacities and priorities; b) the identification and enhancement of relevant legal instruments and mechanisms; and c) the identification of areas of focus in order to determine priorities for programmes and action plans for the conservation and sustainable use of agricultural biodiversity at all levels and across all sectors. The need to set up mechanism for improved coordination between different national focal points for the range of international Conventions, Commissions and agreements (for example: the CGRFA, FAO, COP-CBD, GEF, WTO-CTE, and so on) was emphasized. There was consensus that an initial objective must be to encourage different sectors to meet and agree on the need to collaborate and establish mechanisms to ensure that agricultural biodiversity is properly incorporated into national instruments, for example, National Environmental Action Plans (NEAPs), National Biodiversity Strategies, National Agricultural Strategies and Plans and National Forestry Action Plans.

iii) At the international level, the meeting concluded that support to countries, in the identification, assessment and development of strategies and programmes, should be coordinated. In particular, that the COP should be asked to contribute ideas to the CGRFA on the scope of the next country-driven global assessment of genetic resources as a follow-up to the first report on the State of the World’s Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. This will require the development of agreed criteria and indicators and will need coordinated inputs by many different actors, including all relevant government departments, research institutes, farmers’ groups and NGOs. FAO and CBD agreed to strengthen cooperation on the conservation and sustainable use of agricultural biodiversity, and will take various initiatives, through consultation and information exchange among others, in order to develop a joint work programme. In this process other relevant international organizations, such as the World Bank, UNEP, UNESCO, IPGRI, etc. will be invited to make their contribution. It was also recommended that there should be international cooperation on, and coordination of, approaches to funding agencies including the GEF to ensure adequate resourcing for the development and implementation of the multi-year programme of activities on agricultural biological diversity and the mechanisms needed for its development.

Conclusions of the workshop

Increased information and awareness

• Case studies, documenting existing literature, developing inventories, surveying ongoing (field) work and making an analysis and objective comparison of systems of production with regard to agricultural biodiversity conservation and sustainable use and relevant economic and legal aspects.
• Policy position papers, derived from this information and from other relevant research, should be directed to the COP and CGRFA.
• Technical issue papers and training could also be developed by FAO, CBD, CGIAR, among others, and provided to Governments, Parties to the CBD and Member Nations of FAO. These could include information about the importance of, and methods for, developing appropriate indicators to measure, inter alia, contributions and threats to agricultural biodiversity as well as performance of activities and measures implemented under COP Decision III/11.

6. Electronic and conventional media should be used to share information, including e-mail conferences, where appropriate, and through conferences and workshops at all levels.

Increased public awareness raising could focus around, for example, importance and specificities of agricultural biodiversity, marketing plans for the use of a wider range of agricultural biodiversity, and campaigns to highlight nutritional, cultural and aesthetic food qualities.

Support to Governments - Guidance at National Level

8. The mechanisms and processes needed to determine priorities for programmes and plans and to support countries in this process were discussed and the following conclusions were arrived at.

• Guidelines for assessments should be developed for, for example:
• Agricultural biodiversity at all levels (agro-ecosystem, species and genetic) and the positive and negative impact of agricultural practices on this;
• Relevant sectoral and cross-sectoral capacities and priorities;
• The identification of relevant legal instruments and mechanisms; and
• The areas of focus required for the implementation of activities.
• An outline framework and process for providing guidance to governments, for addressing agricultural biodiversity at a national level, and within this, at agro-ecosystems levels needs to be developed. This could be carried out as part of the CBD and FAO collaboration, with the assistance of other organizations such as IPGRI. It could provide ideas regarding locally-relevant definitions and scope of agricultural biodiversity and agro-ecosystems, and further recommend a process for moving forward in an integrated way, ensuring collaboration between environment and agricultural sectors and sub-sectors, taking into account ongoing processes and responding as well to action plans such as the GPA, and so on.
• Improved coordination between different national focal points could also be achieved through this mechanism. There was consensus that an initial requirement is to encourage different sectors and focal points to meet and agree, not only on the need to collaborate and but also on the development and implementation of integrated programmes of activities. An appropriate mechanism could be through meetings of formal and informal sector organizations at regional, sub-regional or national levels.

• National level platforms are required to enhance effective coordination between all relevant focal points in all the relevant ministries and agencies, as well as with other actors. The CSD/Agenda 21 mechanisms could also be utilized as a possible entry point to enhance collaboration between sectors, although this should not dilute the attention to agricultural biodiversity as a key entity in its own right. It was also agreed that National Biodiversity Strategies and Programmes need to take account of the specific and distinctive nature of agricultural biological diversity, not only at agro-ecosystems levels but also at species and genetic levels.

International Coordination

10. Mutual reporting between the governing bodies of the COP and the CGRFA should continue at all relevant meetings as well as the development of general mechanisms for cooperation between CBD and FAO Secretariats. These should continue to be discussed and monitored through meetings twice each year. Other exchanges of relevant information on ongoing projects and programmes and the systematization of documentation and experiences between the two bodies, should be formalized. Such exchanges of information should lead to greater harmonization of programming and the involvement of other relevant organizations, wherever possible.

11. Support to Governments by FAO and CBD should be coordinated. Among many potential activities it was noted that there is a particular opportunity in the development of the next country-driven global assessment of genetic resources. The COP should contribute ideas to the CGRFA on the scope of this assessment. It was also noted that such an activity would contribute to the implementation of Decision III/21 (Decision III/21: The Conference of the Parties requests the Executive Secretary to continue to coordinate with the secretariats of relevant biological diversity-related conventions, institutions, and processes, with a view to: facilitating the exchange of information and experience; exploring the possibility of recommending procedures for harmonizing, to the extent desirable and practicable, the reporting requirements of Parties under those instruments and conventions; exploring the possibility of coordinating their respective programmes of work; and consulting on how such conventions and other international legal instruments can contribute to the implementation of the provisions of the Convention on Biological Diversity.)

12. Country-driven global assessment, as described above, could be widened eventually to become the State of the World’s Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, including all agricultural biodiversity, in so far as this is possible, and based on agreed indicators, mechanisms for the development of which are urgently needed. It was felt that this process might also assist in the development and coordination of national Focal Points as well as in the development of agreed national policies, plans and programmes, and the development of regional resource networks, within a globally agreed framework. This will need the coordinated input of many different actors, including all relevant government departments, farmers’ groups and NGOs. The development of regional resource networks might be assisted through the participation of all relevant actors in regional and sub-regional meetings.

13. In the evolution of the CBD Clearing-house Mechanism (CHM) with respect to agricultural biodiversity, it was concluded that care should be taken to ensure cooperation and complementarity especially with existing information systems, particularly those maintained by FAO, a lead agency for agricultural information. Among others, these include:

• WIEWS on plant genetic resources developed and maintained by FAO;
• CROPINFO, now under development, is an integrated crop information and management support system built upon FAO and other databases and including WIEWS, SIS (Seed Information System), FAOSTAT, CHD (Crop Husbandry Database), ECOCROP (Crop Environmental Requirements Database), Digital Soil Map of the World, and so on;
• REFORGEN global forest genetic resources information system, housed in and maintained by the Forestry Department;
• DAD-IS Domestic Animal Diversity Information System maintained by the Agriculture Department;
• FishBase a collaboration between the Fisheries Department and ICLARM.

In this regard, it was recommended that the CBD Secretariat should be invited to participate in the planned review of the WIEWS. It was noted that the CBD Secretariat would be organizing a series of regional workshops on the Clearing-house Mechanism in the second half of 1997. Likewise, regional consultations organized by different sectors, for example on the Global Strategy for the Management of Farm Animal Genetic Resources, could be utilized to further consider mechanisms for interlinking information and assessment and reporting.

14. International cooperation on, and coordination of, approaches to funding agencies including the GEF should be enhanced. This should ensure adequate resourcing for the multi-year programme of work on agricultural biological diversity and the mechanisms needed to develop it. Recognizing the decisions of the COP - Decision III/5: Additional Guidance to the Financial Mechanism, and Decision III/6: Additional Financial Resources which, inter alia, urges all funding institutions, including bilateral and multilateral donors as well as regional funding institutions and non-governmental organizations, to strive to make their activities more supportive of the Convention, it was also concluded that stakeholder meetings should be organized between CBD, FAO and donors in order to increase awareness and develop ideas between the various partners. In these discussions, existing financial resources, as well as the existing programmes of various international organizations, should also be taken into account.

Summing up

• Humankind is going to have to utilize sustainably every type of agricultural biodiversity at all levels, genetic, species and agro-ecosystem, if, as is required for universal food security, sustainable food production is to be achieved across the whole range of production environments.
• To achieve this will require the implementation of existing and new intergovernmental processes in order to stimulate national level activities for enhancing the conservation of agricultural biodiversity through its sustainable use within agro-ecosystems as well as at species and genetic levels.
• All relevant organizations, institutions and individuals, from policy makers to producers, will need to be actively involved, through the provision of knowledge, expertise and resources. This should ensure implementation of activities under Decision III/11 (and other relevant decisions of the COP) as well as other relevant mechanisms such as the World Food Summit Plan of Action, the Global Plan of Action for the Conservation and Sustainable Utilization of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture and other sectoral strategies, plans, programmes, codes of conduct and so on, covering farm animals, forestry, fisheries, and so on.
• The development of the joint FAO-CBD programme of work is an important and positive development and should give a powerful signal to the international community and to national level institutions.
• This programme of work will need to build on and complement established sectoral activities, promoting a better understanding of how different disciplines can work together.
• Through the agreed activities of this joint programme, participants at the Workshop agreed that significant progress will be made in the development of mechanisms and processes to operationalize the multi-year programme of activities on the conservation and sustainable use of agricultural biological diversity, at local, national and international levels.