biodiversity

This factsheet describes two case studies of the community seedbank strategy in South Africa. The aim of this community seedbank strategy was to support smallholder communities to revive and improve their traditional seed-saving practices for the sake of food security and sustainable agriculture and conservation of the county’s agricultural biodiversity. It also emphasizes the importance of women farmers as active custodians of agricultural biodiversity, which can be seen in particular in the Gumbu case study, where women farmers show active interest and participation in the project. »

This report provides new scientific guidelines for collecting information on food biodiversity through dietary surveys. The authors argue that information on food consumption goes hand in hand with information on food composition and both are essential building blocks for nutrition science. Rather than debate which element should come first in research, the authors argue that joint efforts are needed to gain a better understanding of consumption and composition of food biodiversity. »

This report provides new scientific guidelines for collecting information on food biodiversity through dietary surveys. The authors argue that information on food consumption goes hand in hand with information on food composition and both are essential building blocks for nutrition science. Rather than debate which element should come first in research, the authors argue that joint efforts are needed to gain a better understanding of consumption and composition of food biodiversity. »

This report by IFAD shows how IFAD-supported projects are working with smallholder farmers to protect biodiversity in five countries. Poor rural people depend on natural resources for their livelihoods, relying on a range of natural assets from their ecosystems and biodiversity for food, fuel and much else. Productive and sustainable agricultural systems need clean water, healthy soil, and a variety of genetic resources and ecological processes. »

This report by IFAD shows how drylands support important ecosystems and a great variety of biodiversity, as well as their vital role in the livelihoods and cultural identity of many smallholders. It reveals the crucial role the world’s drylands play in buffering the negative impacts of climate change, land degradation and drought. »

This report by the Global Network For The Right To Food And Nutrition concludes that transnational corporations are monopolizing control over seeds with dire consequences for human rights and biodiversity. Increasingly, seed and agrochemical businesses seek to privatize, monopolize and control seeds by patenting and commodifying this very source of life. Meanwhile, peasant and indigenous communities, who have been the developers and guardians of seeds for millennia, are finding their rights to save, use, exchange and sell seeds overshadowed by a corporate agenda that prioritizes profit over human rights and the sustainable maintenance of nature. »