Farmers gather round each other's collections at a diversity seed fair in Niger

This year’s International Day for Biological Diversity has a theme worthy of a horror movie: Invasive Alien Species. These species are plants, insects and animals that have spread or been introduced outside their natural habitat and threaten biodiversity in their new environment. They wreak havoc in ecosystems, decimating local wildlife and people’s livelihoods. Countries on every continent are fighting complex and costly battles against alien invaders like the water hyacinth, the small Indian mongoose and the coffee berry borer.

Invasive alien species as a group also serve as a hydra-like reminder of why we so urgently need to protect biodiversity against natural and human enemies.

“In agriculture, our ability to face unforeseen outbreaks of pests and diseases and to adapt to the world’s changing climates, is stored in the genepool,” says Alessandro Meschinelli, Research Officer at IFAD.

“If we cultivate only a handful of varieties of cereals, for example, and allow scores of other varieties to disappear, when conditions change, a blight occurs or an alien species invades, we have nowhere to look for resistant strains.”

IFAD works with small farmers to protect and enhance biodiversity and improve livelihoods

Women farmers analyse crop performance in a diversity field in Niger

IFAD supports research and development projects that enable small farmers in developing countries to preserve and exchange the landraces of the crops they cultivate and the animals they rear. The aim is threefold:

• to preserve and enhance biological diversity through its use.
• to strengthen food security, by ensuring that farmers have access to a choice of varieties that thrive in their environment and match their socio-economic circumstances.
• to maximize smallholders’ ability to adapt to climate change.

The IFAD-supported Diversity Field Fora and Seed Fairs programme began in a single village in Mali 10 years ago in collaboration with Bioversity International, FAO and other international and local partners. By 2008 it had spread to 25 villages in the same country and to 40 other sites in Burkina Faso and Niger. The programme’s activities started in one experimental field where for an entire cropping season – from planting to harvest – farmers from a cluster of nearby villages, extension agents and researchers gathered weekly to study local cultivars of sorghum, millet, cowpeas and groundnut. Most of the varieties were contributed by the farmers and the researchers also brought a few.

Some varieties were resistant to pest infestation, others were tolerant to water stress, some were adapted to limited soil fertility, others were quick to mill, some were particularly tasty, and others matured early. As the different cultivars grew, the farmers and researchers met to measure their performance. The farmers learned how to observe and compare the characteristics of the different varieties and the researchers learned how to listen to the farmers’ knowledge and participate in collaborative research.

The programme then scaled up its activities, organizing regional seed diversity fairs to bring together farmers from different villages located far way from each other. At the fairs, farmers presented their seeds to each other and exchanged varieties. The farmers with the widest range of seeds who presented their knowledge most effectively were awarded prizes.

These activities have led to an increased availability of different varieties at the field level. This has improved the resilience of farming systems, and stabilized production, access to food and livelihoods.  

A win-win solution preserving biodiversity and empowering small farmers

Inspecting crops in a diversity field in Mali.

As the diversity field forums and seed fairs grew in Mali and were scaled up in Burkina Faso and Niger, the coordinators became aware of an added dimension to the work.

“As the farmers learned how to better communicate their knowledge to others, and how to work in a group assessing the comparative merits of different varieties, they became more self-confident,” said Meschinelli.

“As they saw that the researchers, extension officers and other farmers were learning from their knowledge and experience, they began to feel that they were not just poor farmers in need of help, but they were people with something to contribute.

“This shift in attitude is a first step on the road to empowerment, to gaining the confidence to take part in community management activities, to speaking up in village meetings, to putting your needs and resources on the agenda,” Meschinelli said.

In partnership to create markets for neglected species

Activities such as the diversity field forums and seed fairs focus to a large extent on subsistence farmers, enabling them to reduce vulnerability and improve their resilience in the face of climate change. Other IFAD-supported biodiversity projects in Africa and other regions of the world are grappling with the problem of how to create markets for neglected species.

A grant programme funded by IFAD and the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Ecuador, Morocco and Senegal is taking an innovative and holistic approach to working with poor farmers through market linkages and the promotion of biodiversity. The programme intervenes along the value chain at different points and in both local and international markets. During an initial research phase, neglected crops with the potential for development have been identified in each country: Andean grains in Ecuador, wild aromatic plants in Morocco and baobab in Senegal. Fair Trade is now studying how to introduce products made with these crops to international markets.

“The approach we use to create a market niche for neglected crops focuses on awareness-building and uses the cultural elements of foods to connect with consumers,” said Barbara Marziali, the programme’s communications expert.

“Just as in the north we have been rediscovering the value of traditional crops, not just for their market value but also for their cultural value, so in the south the same can be done.”

Programmes like this one bring together many partners. “One of the most important aspects of this programme is the strong partnership between IFAD, the Italian NGOs – Ucodep, Movimondo and Acra – local NGOs in the developing countries and other stakeholders,” said Marziali. “IFAD, NGOs, research centres, fairtrade organizations, museums, responsible tourism associations and other partners contribute with their own competencies creating a comprehensive approach for the promotion of agrobiodiversity.”

A range of new products is expected to be launched next year during the International Year of Biological Diversity.

Indigenous peoples and biological diversity “Indigenous peoples have an irreplaceable store of knowledge about the plant and animal life of the ecosystems where they live,” says Antonella Cordone, Coordinator for Indigenous and Tribal Issues at IFAD. “Now more than ever, in the face of climate change and the powerful interests that encroach on their territories, they need support to protect and preserve that biodiversity, which humanity as a whole is in need of.” Indigenous peoples around the world can be keepers and custodians of biological diversity. IFAD recognizes this in its work with indigenous peoples in support of ‘development with identity’. More than 20 per cent of IFAD ongoing loans and grants benefit indigenous peoples’ communities, particularly in Asia and Latin America. Furthermore, through the Indigenous Peoples Assistance Facility (IPAF), IFAD gives small grants directly to indigenous peoples’ organizations to implement their own development projects. During 2008, a large number of these focused on biological diversity. Many of the projects proposed to the facility took an integrated approach to development, for example linking work to protect indigenous peoples’ rights to activities that strengthen their identity and preserve the plant species that are intrinsic to their way of life and worldviews. In Kenya, an IPAF grant supported ongoing work by the Kereita Forest and Wildlife Conservation Association to rehabilitate the forest. The small grant enabled local people to replant 30 hectares of degraded woodland with indigenous tree species. The project worked through groups of forest users. It successfully regenerated large areas of woodland, increased incomes from the sale of indigenous tree seedlings, honey and other forest resources, and raised awareness among the indigenous community of the importance of sustainable forest management. During the project, the number of forest user groups doubled. Other activities carried out by IPAF-funded projects to safeguard biodiversity include cataloguing indigenous medicinal plants, creating plots and gardens where endangered species can be cultivated and conserved, and raising awareness about the value of biodiversity among indigenous peoples themselves. “Indigenous peoples are providing a service, not just for themselves and their children,” says Cordone. “They are doing a huge service for all of humanity.”