A Seed Resource Box to help farmers adapt to climate change

Developed by a multidisciplinary team of Bioversity International researchers, the Resilient Seed Systems Resource Box is a tool to enhance the access and use of crop diversity to adapt to climate change.

By Ronnie Vernooy

When we meet and work with farmers from all over the world, they all give us the same message:  having better access to crop and varietal diversity helps them to adapt to climate change. Under supportive policy and socioeconomic conditions, such strengthened adaptive capacity can contribute to greater food availability throughout the year, with more nutritious and healthy crops, and income generation. 

All this sounds very theoretical, but what happens in practice? How can countries design and implement a comprehensive capacity-building strategy to access and use crop diversity more effectively to adapt to climate change? That is where the Resilient Seed Systems Resource Box, developed by a multidisciplinary team of Bioversity International researchers, comes into play.

The Seed Resource Box, available online at www.seedsresourcebox.org, includes eight modules that represent the steps of a dynamic research cycle: 

1. Situational analysis and planning

2. Data preparation and selection of software

3. Climate change analysis and identification of germplasm

4. Germplasm acquisition

5. Field experimentation

6. Germplasm conservation

7. Participatory evaluation

8. Knowledge sharing and communication. 

The Seed Resource Box is intended for plant breeders, researchers, genebank managers and policymakers with an interest in plant genetic resources; for university lecturers and advanced students with an interest in agricultural development, adaptation to climate change and seed systems; and for others involved in strengthening farmers’ seed systems and their capacity to adapt to climate change. 

This tool can be used in multiple ways - as a one-stop shop for finding selected resources to be consulted on an ad-hoc basis, as a learning tool for building capacity in facilitating, conducting and/or participating in such a research process, or as educational material for higher education classes or on-the-job training workshops.

We look forward to receiving feedback on the content and practical use of the resource box.

Discover theSeed Resource Box 

 

Contributors to the Seed Resource Box are: Guy Bessette, Jeske van de Gevel, Michael Halewood, Isabel Lopez-Noriega, Sarika Mittra, Gloria Otieno, Per Rudebjer, Jonathan Steinke, Bhuwon Sthapit, Jacob van Etten, Maarten van Zonneveld and Ronnie Vernooy.

Photo: Diversity of seeds. Credit: Bioversity International/C.Zanzanaini and R.Vernooy