Bhuwon Sthapit and Pablo Eyzaguirre

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Farmer-Led Documentation FAO 28 Sept 2007
Approaching Engaging the Community Community
Biodiversity Registers

• Bhuwon Sthapit and Pablo Eyzaguirre
• b.sthapit_at_cgiar.org
• p.eyzaguirre_at_cgiar.org

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Conserving diversity Raising awareness

• Increasing public awareness includes returning
  information and project results to the
  communities who participated
• Sharing information helps ensure resource
  conservation, local economic development and
  distribution of the benefits from biodiversity
  top those who pay the direct costs for its
  maintenance.
• Techniques for sharing information
• Public meetings and workshops
• Exchange visits
• Use of radio, film and paper media
• Diversity fairs
• Traditional food fairs
• Use of poetry, songs, essays and drama
• Courses, exhibits, games in schools
• Local museums

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Conserving diversity Raising awareness
Rural Diversity Drama

• sharing of ideas between local artists team
• field visit for picking up local story base
• drama in rural setting
• Impact-reaching a wide range of people across
  age, gender, wealth and ethnic groups

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Conserving diversity Raising awareness
Rural Poetry Journey

• Orientation on project concept and goals
• Overnight field visit by a team of poets
• Creation of poems about value of biodiversity
• Recite in situ for local people
• Impact popular and good documentation

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Conserving diversity Raising awareness

• Diversity fair
• ..community based competitive event to display
  local crop diversity
• locating diversity and recognizing custodians
• enhance exchange of materials and knowledge
• rapid assessment of varietal diversity
• sensitize community
• enhance farmer participation
• collection of germplasm

Impact awareness increased diversity
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Conserving diversity Raising awareness

• Diversity blocks
• non-replicated blocks (by ecological domain)
  under farmers management
• characterization and evaluation of farmers
  varieties and preferred traits
• assessment of consistency of farmers descriptors
  in naming and describing cultivars
• selection for parent
• seed multiplication for diversity kits
• community sensitization

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Conserving diversity Raising awareness

• Diversity kits
• a set of small quantity of seeds for informal
  research and development
• encourage farmers to search, select and maintain
  preferred local genetic resources
• deployment diversity for managing pests and
  disease stresses
• strengthening seed networks for improved gene
  flow
• enhance farmer participation

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Community-based genetic resource management
linking farmers to genebank and utilization
Formal Breeding
Options
Community bio-diversity register

• VA

• PPB

Diversity fair/ block
Farmers seed
supply system
Community-based PGR management
(Source Sthapit and Jarvis, 1999)
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Community Biodiversity Register

• A register (farmer information database)
  maintained by community based organizations for
  keeping inventory of biodiversity and associated
  knowledge holders and monitoring local crop
  diversity for the community benefits and needs.

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Community Biodiversity Register
Difference in approach?

• recognition that community controls information,
  materials and decision making process
• strengthen local capacity for conservation and
  utilization decisions
• decentralization of farmer information database
  at community level
• local commitment and a sense of ownership
• address the needs of rural livelihoods and income
• code of conduct for access to and benefit sharing

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Community Biodiversity Register
Objectives

• documentation
• monitoring
• marketing
• exchange
• fight biopiracy
• ownership

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Minimum data set required at house-hold level

• What do we have?
• Why do we need to conserve them?
• How do we utilise them?
• What are the values of the materials?
• Who has traditional knowledge and how is it
  transmitted?
• What are genetic resources that can be shared
  within and outside the community?
• What are the most valued TK and resources that
  should be kept as community-specific trade secret
  or prior informed consent?

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Steps for implementing farmer information
database, CBR
Analysis and sharing of information and link
with RD
Recording of CBR for understanding diversity
Agreement on roles and responsibilities and code
of conduct for sharing information and benefits
Steps/ Process
Setting objectives of CBR with community
Training for CBR documentation
Diversity fair for locating diversity and
custodians
Sharing ideas with community and grassroots
institutions
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Using CBR information for plant conservation
On-farm conservation common
Using four-cell analysis
Large area Many households
Large area Few households
Small area Few households
Small area Many households
Ex situ conservation rare
Germplasm enhancement Participatory plant
breeding Value addition Market links Awareness
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Conserving diversity Local initiatives

• Community genebanks Link conservation to
  production at community level
• Distribute seeds on a loan basis
• Income generation
• Address farmers needs for access to crop genetic
  diversity
• Ensure sustainable supply of planting materials
• Facilitate market access

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Strengthening capacity of local institution as
community resource centre

• Support CBM programme
• Community seed bank e.g. ADCS, Nepal
• Support network of nurseries e.g. home garden in
  Ilam
• Support the annual work plan of CBOs, women
  groups and NGOs etc

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Nepal Community biodiversity register
Transferring knowledge from one generation to the
next
Thank you.