scholarly journals Protecting Traditional Knowledge through Biocultural Community Protocols in Madagascar: Do Not Forget the “B” in BCP

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (18) ◽  
pp. 10255
Author(s):  
Manohisoa Rakotondrabe ◽  
Fabien Girard
Keyword(s):  
Traditional Knowledge ◽  
Value Chain ◽  
Plant Genetic Resources ◽  
Benefit Sharing ◽  
Special Importance ◽  
Access And Benefit Sharing ◽  
Social Conventions ◽  
Food And Agriculture ◽  
Ethnographic Studies ◽  
Wide Range

As in many other countries in the south, the traditional knowledge (TK) of local communities in Madagascar is facing extinction. Biocultural community protocols (BCP), introduced in Madagascar following the implementation of the Nagoya Protocol (2010) and defined by the Mo’otz Kuxtal Voluntary Guidelines as “a wide range of expressions, articulations, rules and practices produced by communities to indicate how they wish to engage in negotiations with stakeholders”, holds out hopes for TK protection. By analysing two pilot BCPs in Madagascar, one established around the Motrobe (Cinnamosma fragrans) with a view to strengthening the existing value chain (BCP in Mariarano and Betsako) and the second initially established around plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (BCP of the farmers in Analavory), this study aims to assess the place and value ascribed to TK in the overall BCP development process and to analyse whether or not the process has helped to strengthen and revitalise TK at the community level. The ethnographic studies show commonalities in both BCP, in particular their main focus on access and benefit-sharing mechanisms, this against the backdrop of an economic model which stresses the importance of financial and institutional incentives; and conversely, a relative disregard for what relates to the biocultural dimension of TK. Local taboos (fady) as well as traditional dina (social conventions), which have long allowed for the regulation of access to common resources/TK, are scarcely mentioned. Based on these findings, we conclude that in order to revitalise TK, the process of developing BCPs should recognise and give special importance to TK, considering it as a biocultural whole, bound together with the territory, local customs, and biological resources; or else, TK is likely to remain a commodity to be valued economically, or a component like any other.

scholarly journals Farmers’ Rights and Digital Sequence Information: Crisis or Opportunity to Reclaim Stewardship Over Agrobiodiversity?

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel Wynberg ◽  
Regine Andersen ◽  
Sarah Laird ◽  
Kudzai Kusena ◽  
Christian Prip ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Resources ◽  
Biological Diversity ◽  
Plant Genetic Resources ◽  
Benefit Sharing ◽  
Convention On Biological Diversity ◽  
Sequence Information ◽  
Access And Benefit Sharing ◽  
Food And Agriculture ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Way

Contestations about the way in which digital sequence information is used and regulated have created stumbling blocks across multiple international policy processes. Such schisms have profound implications for the way in which we manage and conceptualize agrobiodiversity and its benefits. This paper explores the relationship between farmers’ rights, as recognized in the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, and the dematerialization of genetic resources. Using concepts of “stewardship” and “ownership” we emphasize the need to move away from viewing agrobiodiversity as a commodity that can be owned, toward a strengthened, proactive and expansive stewardship approach that recognizes plant genetic resources for food and agriculture as a public good which should be governed as such. Through this lens we analyze the relationship between digital sequence information and different elements of farmers’ rights to compare and contrast implications for the governance of digital sequence information. Two possible parallel pathways are presented, the first envisaging an enhanced multilateral system that includes digital sequence information and which promotes and enhances the realization of farmers’ rights; and the second a more radical approach that folds together concepts of stewardship, farmers’ rights, and open source science. Farmers’ rights, we suggest, may well be the linchpin for finding fair and equitable solutions for digital sequence information beyond the bilateral and transactional approach that has come to characterize access and benefit sharing under the Convention on Biological Diversity. Existing policy uncertainties could be seized as an unexpected but serendipitous opportunity to chart an alternative and visionary pathway for the rights of farmers and other custodians of plant genetic resources.

Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture: Legal and Institutional Frame and New Perspectives

2011 ◽  
pp. 41-76
Author(s):  
Irene Superina
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Resources ◽  
Biological Diversity ◽  
Plant Genetic Resources ◽  
Benefit Sharing ◽  
Convention On Biological Diversity ◽  
Access And Benefit Sharing ◽  
International Protection ◽  
International Treaty ◽  
Food And Agriculture ◽  
Research Sector

This document begins by describing and analysing the international institutional framework, within which both the Convention on Biological Diversity (Cbd), the Trip's about international protection of intellectual property and the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (Itpgrfa) had been originated. The regimes on access and benefit sharing applying to Pgrfa's (plant genetic resources for food and agriculture) are looked into in detail. Then, the new proposal under finalization within Cbd (Cbd Abs) is analized, which could become effective very soon. Finally, a particular focus is put on the research sector on Pgrfa's and how it has been treated and regulated. In connection to this, Itpgrfa 2001 is compared with the forthcoming new Cbd Abs regime, that could open new scenarios and new perspectives for this sector.

Plant genetic resources for food and agriculture for sustainable development

2021 ◽  
pp. 3-34
Author(s):  
Chikelu Mba ◽  
◽  
M. Ehsan Dulloo ◽  
Kent Nnadozie ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Resources ◽  
Plant Genetic Resources ◽  
Sustainable Use ◽  
Benefit Sharing ◽  
Access And Benefit Sharing ◽  
Food And Agriculture ◽  
The Face ◽  
Global Coordination ◽  
Food Security And Nutrition ◽  
Technological Methods

Plant genetic resources for food and agriculture, a common concern of all countries, are critically important for the sustainable production of the significantly more nutritious food needed to feed an ever-growing population in the face of climate change and other drivers. This entails the translation of the potentials encoded into their genetic blueprints into improved productivities. The relevant international agreements, instruments and mechanisms, which address the conservation, sustainable use and access and benefit-sharing for these resources, are reviewed along with their remarkable contributions to food security and nutrition. The chapter also highlights the state-of-the-art for the scientific and technological methods used to conserve and add value through genetic gains to these resources. Underscoring the importance of collaborations at various scales, we call for continued global coordination and partnerships on the internationally agreed activities for conserving effectively and deriving the most benefits sustainably from these irreplaceable resources.

Marine Genetic Resources in Areas beyond National Jurisdiction: Access and Benefit-Sharing

2012 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 375-433 ◽  
Author(s):  
Petra Drankier ◽  
Alex G. Oude Elferink ◽  
Bert Visser ◽  
Tamara Takács
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Resources ◽  
Biological Diversity ◽  
Plant Genetic Resources ◽  
Benefit Sharing ◽  
Convention On Biological Diversity ◽  
Access And Benefit Sharing ◽  
Food And Agriculture ◽  
Food And Agriculture Organization ◽  
National Jurisdiction ◽  
Legal Frameworks

Abstract This report examines whether it is possible for the research and use of marine genetic resources in areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ) to follow an approach based on the system that is being used with plant genetic resources in areas within national jurisdiction, as developed by the Food and Agriculture Organization. Part IV of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture contains the multilateral system of access and benefit-sharing. In addition, the report considers the implications of relevant provisions as contained in the Law of the Sea Convention, the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Antarctic Treaty System, as well as instruments on intellectual property rights. The report concludes with an assessment of the options within existing legal frameworks for accommodating an access and benefit-sharing system for marine genetic resources originating from ABNJ, and provides suggestions to move the international debate forward.

scholarly journals Germplasm Acquisition and Distribution by CGIAR Genebanks

Plants ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (10) ◽  
pp. 1296 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Halewood ◽  
Nelissa Jamora ◽  
Isabel Noriega ◽  
Noelle Anglin ◽  
Peter Wenzl ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Genomic Sequence ◽  
Plant Genetic Resources ◽  
Benefit Sharing ◽  
Sequence Information ◽  
Access And Benefit Sharing ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Food And Agriculture ◽  
Supportive Role ◽  
Level Information ◽  
United Nations Food

The international collections of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (PGRFA) hosted by 11 CGIAR Centers are important components of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization’s global system of conservation and use of PGRFA. They also play an important supportive role in realizing Target 2.5 of the Sustainable Development Goals. This paper analyzes CGIAR genebanks’ trends in acquiring and distributing PGRFA over the last 35 years, with a particular focus on the last decade. The paper highlights a number of factors influencing the Centers’ acquisition of new PGRFA to include in the international collections, including increased capacity to analyze gaps in those collections and precisely target new collecting missions, availability of financial resources, and the state of international and national access and benefit-sharing laws and phytosanitary regulations. Factors contributing to Centers’ distributions of PGRFA included the extent of accession-level information, users’ capacity to identify the materials they want, and policies. The genebanks’ rates of both acquisition and distribution increased over the last decade. The paper ends on a cautionary note concerning the potential of unresolved tensions regarding access and benefit sharing and digital genomic sequence information to undermine international cooperation to conserve and use PGRFA.

scholarly journals The Potential of Private Standards for Valorizing Compliance with Access and Benefit Sharing Obligations of Genetic Resources and Traditional Knowledge

Agronomy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 1823
Author(s):  
Hanna Schebesta
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Resources ◽  
Biological Diversity ◽  
Plant Genetic Resources ◽  
Research Strategy ◽  
Benefit Sharing ◽  
Convention On Biological Diversity ◽  
Access And Benefit Sharing ◽  
Nagoya Protocol ◽  
Food And Agriculture ◽  
Private Standards

International legal instruments such as the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization to the Convention on Biological Diversity (“Nagoya Protocol”) and the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (“ITPGRFA”) are meant to create incentives for fairly sharing the benefits of the utilization of genetic resources. These commitments have, however, been assessed by many stakeholders as an obstacle rather than an incentive to commercial activities. If this is indeed the case, ABS obligations may do more harm than good and raises the fundamental question: can ABS obligations be translated from an obstacle into an opportunity? The article discusses consumer-based mechanisms as positive drivers for benefit sharing by using private standards to incentivize ABS obligation compliance. This approach goes further than using private standards as implementation tools, and suggests that they could leverage advantages for industry from the consumer perspective, specifically a consumer-facing label on products. We suggest a research strategy addressing this approach.

scholarly journals Unele aspecte privind implementarea tratatului internațional privind resursele genetice vegetale pentru alimentație și agricultură incluse în raportul național privind conformitatea cu prevederile acestuia

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriela Romanciuc ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Resources ◽  
Plant Genetic Resources ◽  
National Level ◽  
Sustainable Use ◽  
Benefit Sharing ◽  
Forage Crops ◽  
Access And Benefit Sharing ◽  
Country Report ◽  
Republic Of Moldova ◽  
Food And Agriculture

The International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources (ITPGRFA) was adopted in 2001 during the Thirty-first Session of the Conference of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. It aims to achieve the conservation and sustainable use of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture and the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits derived from their use to achieve sustainable agriculture. The treaty has implemented a Multilateral System (MLS) of access and benefit sharing, for a list of 64 of some of the most important food and forage crops essential for food security. Republic of Moldova has ratified the ITPGRFA in 2001, based on Law nr. 94 of 14-05-2015 on the accession of the Republic of Moldova to the ITPGRFA. In order to put in evidence the weaknesses and strengths of ITPGRFA imple-mentation at national level, the country report on compliance – ITPGRFA was developed.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document