Transcript Session 1: Presentation 1

Session 1: Presentation 1 - Part 1
Rationale for the Treaty
The
Treaty on Plant
Resources
for Genetic
Food and
Agriculture:
Learning Module
LawInternational
& Policy of Relevance
to theGenetic
Management
of Plant
Resources
- 2.5.1
Why the Treaty is important
for food and agriculture
 The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)
applies to all genetic resources, including plant
genetic resources.
 The CBD provides for the conservation and
sustainable utilization of genetic resources and a
regime for access and benefit-sharing.
 The CBD has almost universal application
(193 parties).
 Why do we need a new International Treaty on
Plant Genetic Resources for Food and
Agriculture?
The
Treaty on Plant
Resources
for Genetic
Food and
Agriculture:
Learning Module
LawInternational
& Policy of Relevance
to theGenetic
Management
of Plant
Resources
- 2.5.2
What makes PGRFA different?
 Special nature of plant genetic resources for
food and agriculture (PGRFA)
 Importance of PGRFA for food security
 Interdependence of countries on PGRFA
The
Treaty on Plant
Resources
for Genetic
Food and
Agriculture:
Learning Module
LawInternational
& Policy of Relevance
to theGenetic
Management
of Plant
Resources
- 2.5.3
Special nature of PGRFA
PGRFA are different from medicinal plants
found in the rain forests.
Agricultural crops are essentially man-made:
 Developed by farmers over the millennia.
 Many cultivated crops could not survive in
the wild without human intervention.
The
Treaty on Plant
Resources
for Genetic
Food and
Agriculture:
Learning Module
LawInternational
& Policy of Relevance
to theGenetic
Management
of Plant
Resources
- 2.5.4
Special nature of PGRFA (cont.)
Maize, with its tight ears, cannot seed itself.
Compared to the original wild teocinte, maize is
almost unrecognizable.
teocinte
maize
The
Treaty on Plant
Resources
for Genetic
Food and
Agriculture:
Learning Module
LawInternational
& Policy of Relevance
to theGenetic
Management
of Plant
Resources
- 2.5.5
Special nature of PGRFA (cont.)
 The value in agricultural genetic resources lies in
diversity within a crop, not at a species level.
 Intra-specific diversity is important for resistance
to diseases and environmental challenges, as
well as for maintaining yields.
The
Treaty on Plant
Resources
for Genetic
Food and
Agriculture:
Learning Module
LawInternational
& Policy of Relevance
to theGenetic
Management
of Plant
Resources
- 2.5.6
Importance of PGRFA for food security
 Over 1 billion people suffer from chronic hunger
and malnutrition.
 The world population will increase to over
9 billion by 2050.
 Agricultural production must increase by 70%.
 70% of the increase in cereal production is
expected to come from increased yields.
 Plant genetic resources are essential for future
food security.
The
Treaty on Plant
Resources
for Genetic
Food and
Agriculture:
Learning Module
LawInternational
& Policy of Relevance
to theGenetic
Management
of Plant
Resources
- 2.5.7
Importance of PGRFA for breeding
 PGRFA are the basic building blocks for plant breeding.
 Farmers and breeders select and breed plants to breed out
unwanted traits and breed in desirable characteristics.
 They may need to screen thousands of germplasm samples
to find useful new traits.
 Veery wheat was the product of 3170 crosses involving 51
parent varieties from 26 different countries.
 Breeders work with existing cultivars, advanced (elite) lines,
but may also need landraces (farmers’ varieties) and wild
crop relatives.
 Intra-specific diversity is essential for maintaining yields and
resistance to disease and environmental challenges.
The
Treaty on Plant
Resources
for Genetic
Food and
Agriculture:
Learning Module
LawInternational
& Policy of Relevance
to theGenetic
Management
of Plant
Resources
- 2.5.8
Countries interdependent on PGRFA
 Agricultural genetic resources have always been freely
exchanged, inter alia in order to preserve intra-specific
genetic diversity.
 They are not only exchanged among farmers at the local
level but also across the globe from continent to continent.
 Wheat, maize, potatoes, yams and rice are now world
crops. Wherever farmers have adapted them to their
climates and needs, they have created new genetic
diversity, which has been widely shared.
 The countries from which the richest biodiversity comes
are usually in the semi-tropics.
The
Treaty on Plant
Resources
for Genetic
Food and
Agriculture:
Learning Module
LawInternational
& Policy of Relevance
to theGenetic
Management
of Plant
Resources
- 2.5.9
Centres of Diversity
The
Treaty on Plant
Resources
for Genetic
Food and
Agriculture:
Learning Module
LawInternational
& Policy of Relevance
to theGenetic
Management
of Plant
Resources
- 2.5.10
Crops often do better outside their
centres of origin
 When things go wrong, however, it is crucial to
go back to the centres of origin and diversity to
find solutions, including resistance to diseases.
 The Irish potato famine in the 1830s occurred
because limited diversity had come from the
Americas with Europe’s first potatoes.
 Only when resistance could be found in South
America could the European potato recover.
The
Treaty on Plant
Resources
for Genetic
Food and
Agriculture:
Learning Module
LawInternational
& Policy of Relevance
to theGenetic
Management
of Plant
Resources
- 2.5.11
All countries interdependent on PGRFA
 As a result, all countries are now interdependent
on each other for PGRFA: they all depend for
their food and agriculture on crops that
originated elsewhere.
 On average, 70% (and, in some places, up to
100%) of their agricultural crops originated
elsewhere.
The
Treaty on Plant
Resources
for Genetic
Food and
Agriculture:
Learning Module
LawInternational
& Policy of Relevance
to theGenetic
Management
of Plant
Resources
- 2.5.12
Exchange of PGRFA essential for
agriculture
 Special needs for access to PGRFA:
 Need to allow for continued exchange of PGRFA
and access to PGRFA in centres of origin and
diversity
 Need to allow access as easily as possible and to
reduce transaction costs
 Need for easy, efficient and equitable system of
benefit-sharing
The
Treaty on Plant
Resources
for Genetic
Food and
Agriculture:
Learning Module
LawInternational
& Policy of Relevance
to theGenetic
Management
of Plant
Resources
- 2.5.13
Region of origin
Summary of international flows:
Regional inter-dependency…
Region of destination
E
M
N
N
O
S
SW
SS
Asia Europe America Africa America Pacific America S Asia Asia Africa
E.Asia
13%
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Europe
–
–
–
–
–
17%
–
–
–
–
M.America
–
–
–
–
–
14%
–
–
–
33%
N. Africa
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
25%
A.America
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
O. Pacific
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
S. America
–
–
–
–
16%
–
–
–
27%
39%
S. Asia
15%
11%
13%
16%
15%
11%
17%
14%
44%
46%
SW. Asia
–
–
12%
–
–
–
26%
25%
21%
54%
SS. Africa
11%
10%
13%
10%
15%
11%
21%
32%
29%
43%
Unknown
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
45804 82396
39312 37720 57872
14592
43423 448288 47168 134233
22136
31818
43506
28252
50049
4549
69553
289575
116837
250346
44187
Source: CGIAR System-wide Information Network for Genetic Resources (SINGER), personal communication, 2005.
Note: CIMMYT wheat data not included.
The
Treaty on Plant
Resources
for Genetic
Food and
Agriculture:
Learning Module
LawInternational
& Policy of Relevance
to theGenetic
Management
of Plant
Resources
- 2.5.14
Summary of international flows of rice
ancestors in selected countries
Country
Bangladesh
Brazil
Burma
China
India
Indonesia
Nepal
Nigeria
Pakistan
Philippines
Sri Lanka
Taiwan
Thailand
United States
Vietnam
Total landrace
progenitors in all
released varieties
Own landraces
Borrowed
landraces
233
460
442
888
3917
463
142
195
195
518
386
20
154
325
517
4
80
31
157
1559
43
2
15
0
34
64
3
27
219
20
229
380
411
731
2358
420
140
180
195
484
322
17
127
106
497
Source: Fowler, C. and T. Hodgkin. 2004. Plant genetic resources for food and agriculture: Assessing global availability.
Annual Review of Environmental Resources 29:10.1-10.37 (based on D. Gollin. 1988. Valuing farmers’ rights. In R.E.
Evenson, D. Gollin and V. Santaniello (eds), Agricultural values of plant genetic resources. Wallingford, UK: CAB
International.
The
Treaty on Plant
Resources
for Genetic
Food and
Agriculture:
Learning Module
LawInternational
& Policy of Relevance
to theGenetic
Management
of Plant
Resources
- 2.5.15
Food security and climate change
 Climate change will impact negatively on agriculture in most
developing countries.
 Climate change will change growing conditions for crops.
 For many countries, mean temperatures for growing seasons
over next 50 years will be different from those for last 50 years.
 All countries will need to adapt their crops to new conditions.
 Many countries will need to seek PGRFA from other countries
where growing conditions may be similar.
 Climate change will increase the interdependence of countries
on PGRFA.
The
Treaty on Plant
Resources
for Genetic
Food and
Agriculture:
Learning Module
LawInternational
& Policy of Relevance
to theGenetic
Management
of Plant
Resources
- 2.5.16