23/10/2023

Rome, October 23, 2023 – The International Treaty released a study, The plants that feed the world – Baseline data and metrics to inform strategies for the conservation and use of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture, bringing together crucial data on over 350 food and agricultural crops, made possible in collaboration with the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT and the Global Crop Diversity Trust. This is the first time that databases from various global sources have been pooled to create a comprehensive set of metrics to help inform decision-making in managing PGRFA.

A team of international experts collaborated to present insightful metrics on the use, interdependence, demand, supply, and security status of food and agricultural crops. Sources consulted include global databases such as FAOSTAT, the Data Store of the International Treaty, FAO WIEWS, Genesys PGR, GBIF, PlantSearch, the Svalbard Global Seed Vault’s SeedPortal, UPOV’s PLUTO database, and NCBI’s Entrez database.

Interdependence and shifting demands

Overall, the study strongly highlights the interdependence between countries and regions when it comes to plant genetic resources for food and agriculture. For many of the crops studied, the germplasm that breeders, researchers and farmers work with to develop varieties is requested by and distributed to recipients in many different countries and regions. This is true not only for the staple food crops, but also for a broad range of plants used in food and agriculture.

One of the insights from this comprehensive study is that the crops that are currently being traded and transported most and those crops that are highest in demand are not necessarily those on which sufficient research is available or that are conserved and made available well enough.

Furthermore, the data in the study demonstrates that the demand for crops is shifting over time and geographically. Some crops that were barely of interest 20 years ago, when the International Treaty was adopted, are now emerging rapidly and deserve more attention by decision-makers in the public and private sectors. These include crops that are important for climate change adaptation or that gained popularity after shifts in diets or market demands, especially in our quest to confront growing malnutrition.

Expanding the basket for future food security

The study presents a baseline, with reproducible metrics that can be used to monitor trends every 5-10 years. While the metrics cannot predict precisely which crops will be in high demand 20 years from now, the study shows that this demand changes significantly over time and that it would be worth monitoring these trends to inform decision-making in the conservation, exchange and utilization of plant genetic resources.

With current climate change conditions having severe impacts on growing conditions all over the world, and with increasing loss of biodiversity, the study underlines the importance of expanding the basket of crops and crop varieties to ensure future food security. The more varied the food basket, the better, particularly for resilience in responding to such threats.

In the week of 20-24 November 2023, Contracting Parties^[1] to the International Treaty will gather at FAO Headquarters in Rome, Italy, for the Tenth Session of the Governing Body. The study can be consulted as an asset for information-based decision-making to enhance the implementation of the International Treaty and its Multilateral System of Access and Benefit-sharing.

Treaty Talks: exploring the trends and stories behind the study

Accompanying the study and database, the podcast Treaty Talks contains new episodes, with interviews delving into the trends behind the data presented in the study. In the episodes, ethnobotanist Cassandra Quave speaks with authors of the study, researchers, a farmer and chef about the developments that they witness in their respective fields.

#ItAllStartsWithTheSeed

@PlantTreaty

#Crops #FoodSecurity #CropMetrics

Publication: https://www.fao.org/3/cc6876en/cc6876en.pdf

More info: https://www.fao.org/plant-treaty/areas-of-work/the-multilateral-system/plant_genetic_metrics

Podcast: https://soundcloud.com/unfao/sets/treaty-talks