Humans rely on a shockingly low number of plants for the majority of our daily calories. In fact, of the thousands of fruit and vegetable species cultivated for food, fewer than 200 make up a substantial part of food produced globally. But what if climate change, invasive species, pollution, city sprawl or overuse of land cause these species to weaken, lowering their ability to produce or survive into the future?
Thousands of plant species and varieties that fed our ancestors are already extinct, and we are losing more every day. Diversity is our food’s life insurance. It is crop biodiversity that keeps our food systems strong and resilient against these real and menacing threats.
Indigenous and local communities around the world are the major conservationists of agrobiodiversity. They have deep, traditional knowledge of different crop varieties and how to farm them. Yet, these communities themselves are often vulnerable, living in areas particularly exposed to climate change or subject to degraded resources. The Benefit-sharing Fund , established through the FAO International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, supports these farmers in developing countries to safeguard and use plant genetic diversity for food security and help these communities cope with climate change. The collaboration is also a vital way of preserving indigenous knowledge and promoting access and exchange of resilient crop varieties, adapted to their needs.
Here are five examples of ongoing Benefit-sharing Fund projects and the importance of seed biodiversity.
1. Protecting native crop varieties in Ecuador
In the district of Cotacachi in the Ecuadorian Andes, family farming, mostly led by women, is the main source of food and income. The area is a microcenter of agricultural diversity due to its traditional crops adapted to the Andean high altitudes, and it was recently designated as an FAO Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System. Despite the wide availability of natural resources, the 45 indigenous communities in this area are contending with climate change and land degradation, deteriorating the availability of native crops. Through the Union of Farmer and Indigenous Organizations of Cotacachi, the Benefit-sharing project is working with these communities to address the loss of local crop diversity and identify varieties that are adapted to climate change.
Two bio-knowledge centres are being established to facilitate access to locally adapted seeds, and 30 farmers are being trained as seed producers. The project is benefitting more than 1 500 farmers and reintroducing native and better-adapted plant species for household consumption and commercialization.