Agrobiodiversity

For the past 50 years, the industrialization of food and seed systems, and the globalization of trade and supply networks led to a significant decrease in plant diversity. 

As direct results of this global loss of agricultural biodiversity, diet quality is getting worse, farmers are exposed to greater climate risks, and ecosystem services are being lost or degraded.

The Alliance is addressing this crisis by enabling a better, smarter, more resilient use of agricultural biodiversity.   

Building on our experience and network of partnerships in genetic resource conservation and use, and through research, policies, and education, we are boosting the use of biodiversity for food and agriculture.

Together with our partners at the national, regional, and global level, we bridge the knowledge gap on the potential of neglected crops, crop wild relatives, landraces, tree species. We also ensure access and availability of this material to farmers, through efficient seed systems. 

Further, we contribute to the design of policies and institutions, to improve the way agricultural biodiversity is both commercially exploited and conserved.

TRAINING AND CAPACITY BUILDING

With masterclasses, training programs, and summer courses—often organized with partnering institutions spanning FAO and La Sapienza University in Rome— we have discussed key global issues such as climate change and biodiversity loss, and enhanced capacities on agrobiodiversity, crop conservation, regenerative agriculture.

WILD CROPS CONSERVATION IN SOUTH AFRICA

A 3-year initiative supported by Darwin Initiative and funded by DEFRA, Bridging agriculture and environment: Southern African crop wild relative regional network focuses on enhancing food security through better conservation and access to crop wild relatives (CWR). With mechanisms that allow farmers to benefit from conserving CWR gendered capacity building opportunities, and increased access to germplasm, this program is underpinning Southern African food security and poverty reduction.

COLLECTING MISSIONS

Bioversity International, now a part of the Alliance, is home to 3200 unique original field report documents which are now available online. This collection is an invaluable history of plants that may have been lost from their fields and natural habitats, painstakingly recording information about more than 200,000 landrace and crop wild relative samples collected all over the world for almost forty years. Learn more

BOOK SERIES: ISSUES IN AGRICULTURAL BIODIVERSITY

The aim of the series is to review the current state of knowledge in topical issues associated with agricultural biodiversity, to identify gaps in our knowledge base, to synthesize lessons learned and to propose future research and development actions. Learn more