Impact figures
To date, the Benefit-sharing Fund invested in 108 projects in 78 developing countries and has reached more than 1 million people directly and indirectly, including small-scale farmers, researchers, breeders, gene bank curators, governmental officials, students and academics.
The BSF supports plant breeding efforts that include the participation of farmers and helps to strengthen capacities to develop high-quality varieties that are particularly adapted to socio-environmental conditions.
Key results include:
- At least 31 000 plant genetic materials have been tested, developed and adapted to different locations and agro-ecological environments around the world.
- Some 400 new varieties have been developed to meet farmers’ preferences in terms of taste, nutrition, yield, economic and cultural values.
- More than 6 300 plant genetic resources, including landraces and underutilized crops have been collected by partners. This material is being conserved in community seed banks and national gene banks, and in some cases in the international collections and the Svalbard Global Seed Vault.
- Through the Multilateral System of the International Treaty, the BSF has enabled the access to and use of PGRFA, which in turn has generated almost 20 000 new materials in the Multilateral System, thereby reinforcing the system.
- More than 26 000 Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs) have been assigned to PGRFA, helping to provide access to information on seeds and other crop material for research, training and plant breeding.
- Almost 94 000 people built or increased their capacities to conserve and sustainably use PGRFA, with a majority of farmers, but also including researchers and breeders and students, at both masters and doctoral degree levels.
- Around 170 repositories of local seed diversity have been established, facilitating increased access to diverse seeds. Many of these seed reserves are linked to national genebanks.
- Over 200 Farmer Field Schools served as interactive, bottom-up learning platforms to research and deploy climate-resilient crops in farmers’ fields.
- Throughout four project cycles, the BSF partnered with more than 500 organizations and worked directly with more than 100 institutions representing relevant stakeholders in the spectrum of in-situ and ex-situ PGRFA management and conservation.
Impact figure BSF