Policy pointer role of agricultural biodiversity in adapting to climate change

POLICY POINTERS Role of agricultural biodiversity in adapting to climate change Climate change is already having an impact on agricultural production systems around the world, including in the Caribbean. Seasons are changing, temperatures are rising, rainfall is becoming more erratic, pests and diseases are changing.

CTA has been supporting the work of the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute in developing policy recommendations for adapting to climate change in the Caribbean since 2010. One core area of this work has focused on the need to conserve, share and use agricultural biodiversity – including crops, livestock and farmed fish – to safeguard the region’s food and nutrition security.

KEY POINTS • Increase investment in existing gene banks and establish new collections for underrepresented crops.

• Collect, characterise, evaluate, conserve and document germplasm of crops and livestock of economic importance in the region.

• Invest in participatory plant and animal breeding programmes to develop climateresilient crops and livestock, with emphasis on tolerance to heat for crops and livestock and drought and waterlogging for crops.

• Join and ratify the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture.

• Develop and implement national policy frameworks for plant and animal genetic resources, including legal and institutional instruments for: – effectively managing, conserving and using genetic resources – farmers’ and breeders’ rights for access to and exchange of protected germplasm – ensuring production and distribution of quality germplasm of improved varieties and breeds to farmers.

• Harmonise genetic-resources-related legislation (e.g. plant protection and phytosanitary regulations) across countries and enforce it.

• Develop a regional genetic resources network to support information sharing, strengthen national and regional genetic resources programmes, encourage safe movement of germplasm and support the development of policies that promote the conservation and use of genetic resources.

MAIN FINDINGS • Caribbean food security and resilience depend on having access to a wide range of well-documented and characterised animal and plant genetic resources. Farmers need to know what crops and livestock are available to them and their characteristics; breeders need to know which plant or breed has the specific characteristics they need for their breeding programme. And both need to know where they can obtain the breeds or seeds they are interested in.

“Diverse production systems are less likely to suffer from catastrophic failures as a result of pest infestation, disease outbreak or harsh weather conditions” The Hague Conference on Agriculture, Food Security and Climate Change1 stated that “The preservation of genetic resources of crops and breeds and their wild relatives is therefore fundamental in developing resilience. … Generating varieties and breeds which are tailored to ecosystems and the needs of farmers is crucial.”

The danger of using a narrow range of crop diversity is well illustrated by the devastation of the Samoan taro crop in 1993 by taro leaf blight. All the taro varieties grown in Samoa – indeed, everywhere in the Pacific – were closely related, so when taro leaf blight attacked, it wiped out the crop, a staple of the Samoan diet. It took a massive effort of screening crop diversity and targeted breeding to develop new, resistant cultivars and rebuild Samoa’s taro sector – and even then, the country’s export market had been lost to neighbouring Fiji, leading to longterm economic losses to the country.

Agricultural biodiversity provides the foundation to future food security. It gives breeders access to the genetic diversity they need to develop plants and animals that are more tolerant of heat, drought, salinity and other stresses, or that have particular characteristics that consumers want or need – including enhanced levels of vitamins and other micronutrients. It gives farmers a choice of crops to grow and livestock to raise – diverse production systems are less likely to suffer from catastrophic failures as a result of pest infestation, disease outbreak or harsh weather conditions.

But promoting the conservation and use of agricultural biodiversity depends on a number of key issues, including profitable markets for the products (farmers will grow only what brings them the best return for their efforts) and a favourable and conducive policy environment.

• There are two core issues that need to be addressed in relation to conservation of biodiversity: first, how to stop the loss of more diversity; and second, how to bring agricultural biodiversity back into the agricultural-development mainstream.

“National policy frameworks do not adequately support the management, conservation and use of animal and plant genetic resources” • Few Caribbean countries have systematic inventories of their plant and animal genetic resources. Without these it is impossible to know what resources are present or at risk and what options there are for their use.

• Regional institutions have begun research on the development of climate-resilient food crops, but plant protection and phytosanitary

regulations differ across countries in the region, hampering movement of plant genetic resources and breeding material across the region.

• Not all Caribbean countries have signed up to international agreements that underpin sharing of plant genetic resources (PGR) (e.g. International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture [ITPGRFA]), and some of those that have do not have the capacity to implement them. This further hampers movement of germplasm both within and into the region.

“Farmers need to know what crops and livestock are available to them and their characteristics” • National policy frameworks do not adequately support the management, conservation and use of animal and plant genetic resources. In some cases they do not exist; in others they are incomplete and lack supporting legislation and regulations.

ABOUT THIS POLICY POINTER

ABOUT CTA

This policy pointer was prepared by the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) as a contribution to policy discussions at the Caribbean Week of Agriculture 2014. The aim is to highlight policy actions needed to encourage and support uptake of findings of work supported by CTA and its partners.

The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) is a joint international institution of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States and the European Union (EU). Its mission is to advance food and nutritional security, increase prosperity and encourage sound natural resource management in ACP countries. It provides access to information and knowledge, facilitates policy dialogue and strengthens the capacity of agricultural and rural development institutions and communities.

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For further information, contact: Oluyede Ajayi (ajayi@cta.int)

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Notes 1 FAO. 2010. “Climate-smart” agriculture policies, practices and financing for food security, adaptation and mitigation. The Hague Conference on Agriculture, Food Security and Climate Change.

Rome, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.