Posted September 1996

Incorporating Gender-Sensitive Approaches
into Plant Genetic Resources Conservation and Use:
Background and Purpose

A. Background

This collaborative project brings together leading partners with complementary expertise in gender analysis, participatory research for development, and the conservation and use of plant genetic resources.

A key step is to convene specialists on gender analysis and plant genetic resources to review and design the basic guidelines for integrating gender analysis into plant genetic resources activities at the international, national programme and community levels.

Plant genetic resources (PGR) have been developed and maintained by farmers worldwide for over 10,000 years. They are of significant importance and economic value as they represent an irreplaceable, locally adapted source of characteristics such as resistance to pests and disease and suitability to specific micro-climatic, edaphic and environmental conditions. However, PGR are being lost at a rapid rate, in part due to the replacement of farmers' heterogenous traditional varieties with a relatively small number of homogenous, modern commercial varieties. This loss of crop genetic diversity poses a grave threat to long-term food security.

In much of the developing world, the conservation and use of plant genetic resources are and have always been the responsibility of women. As smallholder farmers, they are responsible for growing and collecting food. As providers of food and welfare for the household, it is their job to gather and use food, fodder, fuel, fibre and medicinal plants. For this reason, it is women who often determine which plant resources are conserved, used, grown, kept for home consumption or sold at the local market.

Women rely on, and where possible safeguard, the natural ecosystems and common property resources. Their fields and home gardens are important sources of genetic diversity and represent, not only a capital asset with great potential, but also a means of countering the serious threat to agricultural biodiversity. While ex situ methods of conservation are generally safe and effective, they do not provide the benefits of on-farm (in-situ) conservation which ensures continuing adaptation of the genetic resources to changing conditions.

Through practical experience, rural women have acquired a specific and in-depth knowledge of the value and diverse uses of a wide range of wild and domesticated plants. Women are often experts in the use of "neglected" and "underutilised" species and the multiple uses of crop plants. This has important implications for the conservation of genetic resources because the decision to conserve a plant variety and to favour the development of specific characteristics of certain plants, through selection and breeding, depends to a large extent on their perceived usefulness to the farm household and to the community as a whole. The experiences and practices of women as gatherers, cultivators, natural resource managers and providers of sustenance and health for their families constitute a substantial indigenous knowledge system that can contribute to the conservation and use of agricultural biodiversity.

Many formal PGR conservation and use activities have lacked a gender dimension and have thus ignored this rich source of information on the knowledge, skills, and practices of women as managers and users of diversity. Gender-differentiated knowledge on the use and management of different agricultural and forestry species is seldom considered when developing genetic resources conservation and management strategies.

A brief review of the country reports prepared for the Fourth International Technical Conference on Plant Genetic Resources (ITCPGR), held in Leipzig, June 1996, and upon which the "Report on the State of the World's Plant Genetic Resources and Global Plan of Action" are based, reveals that on the whole the primary focus has been placed on major food crops. Such a focus is justified given the future demand on global food supplies. However, more can be done to diversify the number of useful plants upon which our food supply depends and thereby to spread the risks of crop failure and increase food security. The active participation of women in conservation strategies as well as the identification of effective methodologies for increasing the participation of plant genetic resource users at the local level are important actions that deserve to be strengthened in the global system for conservation and use of genetic resources.

The successful implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity will ultimately depend upon the active and equitable participation of plant genetic resource users at all levels. It is in this light that the CBD clearly recognizes

"...the vital role that women play in the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity", and affirms "...the need for the full participation of women at all levels of policy-making and implementation for biological diversity conservation."

"the traditional methods and the knowledge of indigenous people and their communities, emphasizing the particular role of women, relevant to the conservation of biological diversity and the sustainable use of biological resources" and the guaranteed "participation of those groups in the economic and commercial benefits derived from the use of such traditional methods and knowledge" Chapter 15.4).

• establishing plans to increase the proportion of women involved as decision-makers, planners, managers, scientists and technical advisers in the design, development and implementation of policies and programmes for sustainable development (Chapter 24.);
• adopting integrated management systems, particularly for the management of natural resources, traditional or indigenous methods should be studied and considered wherever they have proved effective; women's traditional roles should not be marginalized as a result of the introduction of new management systems (Chapter 8.5);
• taking action to respect, record, protect and promote the wider application of the knowledge, innovations and practices of indigenous and local communities embodying traditional lifestyles for the conservation of biological diversity and the sustainable use of biological resources, with a view to the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising, and promote mechanisms to involve those communities, including women, in the conservation and management of ecosystems (Chapter 15.5)

As key decision-makers and users of agricultural biodiversity, women's full participation in the development and implementation of strategies and programmes for the conservation of PGR is essential. Their active involvement at all levels will enhance the effectiveness of in situ conservation programmes while ensuring that the resulting benefits accrue fairly and equitably to different members of the community. Gender analysis and the use of participatory approaches are important tools for identifying and differentiating local resource users (men and women) and for developing the mechanisms by which they can effectively contribute to and benefit from genetic resource conservation efforts.

This project will build on the combined expertise and experience of IPGRI and FAO with the assistance of relevant experts to initiate work with national PGR programmes on incorporating gender analysis into conservation and use. It is hoped that the work initiated through this project will lay the groundwork for future efforts to support local PGR users, particularly women.

B. Purpose of the consultation

It is hoped that this activity could serve as a "pilot project" to help countries implement PGR programmes in a more gender-responsive manner, particularly in light of the momentum gained by the process of the Fourth International Technical Conference on PGR held 17-23 June, 1996.