The special information seminar on “Biodiversity for food and agriculture: taking stock for the future” was held at the headquarters of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Rome, Italy, on 13 April 2013.
Linda Collette, CGRFA Secretary, welcomed participants to the seminar. Dan Gustafson, Deputy Director-General for Operations, FAO, opened the seminar and stressed that genetic resources are critical elements of FAO’s five strategic objectives: eradicating hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition; increasing and improving the provision of goods and services from agriculture, forestry and fisheries in a sustainable manner; reducing rural poverty; enabling more inclusive and efficient agricultural and food systems at local, national and international levels; and increasing the resilience of livelihoods to threats and crises.
He emphasized the importance of the preparation of the first SoW-BFA as a tool to elevate the discussion on genetic resources and to show why an integrated presentation of information on the different aspects of genetic resources is important to policy makers. In this regard, he stressed partnership as a key element for the preparation of the SoW-BFA, in terms of participation by countries and collaboration with national and international research institutions, the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), and the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES).
Brad Fraleigh, CGRFA and Seminar Chair, emphasized the SoW-BFA as an opportunity to communicate biodiversity issues to a larger community by providing a global overview. He noted the seminar will help delegates prepare for the forthcoming SoW-BFA discussions at the CGRFA session.
Toby Hodgkin, Seminar Facilitator and Coordinator of the Platform for Agrobiodiversity Research, presented the programme for the day and encouraged participants to take advantage of the information-sharing opportunity provided by the seminar.
The morning panel discussion addressed the state of the world’s biodiversity for food and agriculture, including presentations on related global environmental challenges, the economic value of biodiversity for food and agriculture, human livelihoods and the importance of global assessments.
In the afternoon, a panel discussion on “The contribution of biodiversity for food and agriculture: taking stock” addressed: the specificities, challenges and achievements of different components of biodiversity for food and agriculture, including animal, plant, forest and aquatic genetic resources; and issues related to information and indicators on biodiversity for food and agriculture. Discussion then focused on challenges and opportunities for biodiversity for food and agriculture and the production of the report on the State of the World’s Biodiversity for Food and Agriculture (SoW-BFA).
Participants also highlighted the main opportunities provided by the preparation of the SoW-BFA, including: adopting an integrated, systemic and participatory approach; reaching out beyond the agriculture constituency; reconciling the agriculture and conservation sectors; incorporating the social aspects of biodiversity conservation and use and recognizing the importance of cultural diversity; and providing arguments for policy makers on the value of biodiversity.
Chair thanked all participants for the open and fruitful discussion and the useful insights for deliberations on the SoW-BFA.
