29/06/2009

The governing body of the International Treaty for Plant Genetic Resources, meeting this week in Tunis, announced today it would fund more than half-million US dollars in awards aimed at helping 11 developing countries protect existing collections of seeds and other genetic resources that are vital in efforts to prepare for hundreds of millions more mouths to feed in the next 30 years and the threat of climate change and emerging plant diseases. I

n announcing the awards, members of the governing body noted that no country is self-sufficient in food crops; all depend on genetic diversity in crops from other countries and regions, so the success of the projects in protecting vulnerable varieties of corn, sorghum, wheat and citrus will have an impact globally.

“International cooperation and open exchange of genetic resources are therefore essential for food security,” the board noted in making their decision. “The fair sharing of benefits arising from the use of these resources has for the first time been practically implemented at the international level through the Treaty and its Standard Material Transfer Agreement.”

The new benefit-sharing scheme, part of the International Treaty, is to come on stream thanks to the generous donations of Norway, Italy, Spain and Switzerland.