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Theme: Diversity
and Environmental Sustainability
Project name: Sustaining Local Food Systems, Agricultural Biodiversity and Livelihoods
See also: www.diversefoodsytems.org
Dates / Duration: 2001-2005, ongoing
Introduction:
The Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) call for the “Mobilization of farming communities, including indigenous and local communities, for the development, maintenance and use of their knowledge and practices in the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity in the agricultural sector” and encourage countries “to set up and maintain local level forums for farmers, researchers, extension workers and other stakeholders to evolve genuine partnerships.” (COP CBD Decision III/11, 1996).
This research aims to analyse how and under what conditions can decentralised governance, farmer participation and capacity building promote the adaptive management of agricultural biodiversity in the context of local food systems and livelihoods.
Objectives:
The overall objectives of the action research are to:
- Identify forms of decentralised governance, co-management agreements, markets and property right institutions that can sustain agricultural biodiversity and livelihoods in the context of localised food systems and rural economies
- Identify ways of strengthening the capacities of farmers and other actors, including producer organisations and local fora, for the adaptive management of agricultural biodiversity so as to increase their benefits, and promote awareness and responsible action by producer organisations, agro-enterprises and policy makers
- Identify and develop indicators (social, ecological, economic…) to analyse the
dynamic links between livelihoods and agricultural biodiversity, with a special emphasis on the indicators used in local adaptive management and local definitions of well being, equity and culture
- Develop and apply Participatory Assessment Methodologies for comprehensive valuations of agricultural biodiversity and the various systems (livelihoods, food systems, rural development…) in which local biodiversity is embedded
- Identify and recommend effective policies and processes based on the research findings that may be used to build capacities and institutionalise the adaptive management of agricultural biodiversity in the context of localised food systems and rural economies.
Key findings/ progress to date:
- An example of ongoing work: IRAN (1.7 MB)
- Participatory dialogues in India, Peru and Indonesia have identified country research priorities. A code of ethics for collaborative research has been adopted to define the roles, rights and responsibilities of partners and IIED
- A combination of citizen jury and scenario workshop methods were used in Andhra Pradesh (India) to include small farmers and indigenous peoples in participatory assessments of different visions of food, farming and rural development futures. Prajateerpu was a deliberative and inclusive process in which the poorest of the poor voiced their priorities for policy futures on food systems, livelihoods and environment (including agricultural biodiversity)
- A cultural and technical exchange was organised between Indian farmers and indigenous communities in the Andes of Peru. The farmer to farmer exchange focused on capacity building for the local level management of agricultural biodiversity, the documentation of indigenous knowledge in the form of Community Biodiversity Registers and training in digital video technology.
View/download report in PDF format [792k]
- The project contributed to The Growing Diversity Initiative by providing support and conceptual inputs to an International Workshop in Brasil, in which participants reviewed emerging issues and challenges for the decentralised management of agricultural biodiversity in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
Key Publications:
- Barter Markets: Sustaining people and nature in the Andes Read more...
- Traditional Reources Rights and Indigenous
People in the Andes Read more...
- Sharing
Power: Learning by doing in co-management of natural resources
throughout the world
- Prajateerpu: a Citizens Jury/Scenario Workshop on Food and Farming Futures in Andhra Pradesh, India
More Publications...
Links to partners:
ANDES (Associacion Quechua-Aymara para la Conservation de la Naturaleza y el Desarrollo Sostenible) (andes@andes.org.pe), Peru
DDS (Deccan Development Society), India
FIELD Foundation (Farmer Initiatives in Ecological Literacy and Democracy), Indonesia
CENESTA
(The Centre for Sustainable Development ), Iran
Project supported by:
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The Netherlands Ministry for Development Cooperation (DGIS) |
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The MacArthur Foundation, USA |
Contact:
Dr Michel Pimbert, Project Co-ordinator, IIED
michel.pimbert@iied.org
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