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"Agricultural biodiversity is a matter of life and death for us. ...We cannot separate agrobiodiversity from food security."
-- Zambian delegate to the Conference of the Parties, Convention on Biological Diversity, May 1998

WASHINGTON - October 28 -  Each day, worldwide, close to one billion people suffer from hunger. The availability of enough food to feed burgeoning populations, and the maintenance of stable economies are constant concerns for most countries. These concerns are addressed in the new report Cultivating Diversity: Agrobiodiversity and Food Security released by the World Resources Institute, which highlights the key principles, policies and practices necessary to maintaining agrobiodiversity and to assuring long-term food security.

Cultivating Diversity, written by Dr. Lori Ann Thrupp, presents a comprehensive synthesis of the ecological basis and economic value of biodiversity, and documents the trends of agrobiodiversity erosion worldwide and identifies the root causes of such losses. The report notes that biodiversity is a fundamental basis of food security and agricultural productivity globally, and describes how humanity has benefited from a great diversity of biological resources crucial to nutrition and survival and essential for innovations in food production technologies. Agrobiodiversity consists of a rich basket of resources -- ranging from varieties of crops and livestock, to beneficial insects, microscopic organisms, and genetic materials -- that make up healthy soils and enable production of nutritious food.

Yet, Thrupp warns, under current patterns of development globally, valuable agricultural biodiversity is being seriously jeopardized and lost. This deterioration is threatening food security in many parts of the world and is aggravating hunger for many people. Thrupp explains that "changes are urgently needed to overcome the serious threats from erosion of genetic resources and agrobiodiversity," and, she adds, "if [these changes] are not undertaken, the world's food supply will continue to be seriously jeopardized, and people's suffering from hunger will only worsen."

As such, Cultivating Diversity outlines agrobiodiversity-friendly policies and best-practice recommendations for international agencies, national institutions, NGOs, and farmers. These recommendations provide "win-win" solutions to the multiple challenges of achieving long-term food security, building economic productivity, and maintaining healthy ecosystems. These recommendations, directed to decision-makers in international institutions, agricultural ministries, resource managers, farmers, and private enterprises note that they should:

• Develop policies and institutional changes that support agrobiodiversity, ensure food security, and protect farmers' rights, and eliminate policies that promote uniform monocultural systems.
• Adapt agricultural practices and land use to local agroecological and socioeconomic conditions adjusted to local diverse needs and aspirations, and building upon local successful experiences.
• Empower farmers and communities to protect their rights to resources, support their knowledge and cultural diversity, and ensure their participation in decision-making and conservation.
• Support sustainable ecological agriculture that includes the goals of food security, social equity and health, economic productivity, and ecological integrity as a framework for enhancing agrobiodiversity.
• Develop an ecosystems approach, using agroecology as a guiding scientific paradigm, to support and validate the sustainable use and enhancement of agrobiodiversity.

Finally, the report explains that lessons from experience show that practices and approaches to enhance agrobiodiversity pay off for large- and small-scale farmers; they also serve the interests of food security and conservation, which benefit the broader public. As Thrupp says: "If appropriate reforms are made in policies concerning intellectual property rights, they also can contribute to broad social interests. In sum, policies and actions to support agrobiodiversity at many levels are needed, and will lead to multidimensional economic and ecological gains in both the short term and the long term."

The World Resources Institute is a Washington, DC-based center for policy research and technical assistance on global environmental and development issues. It provides objective information and practical proposals for policy change that will foster environmentally sound development. WRI works with institutions in more than 50 countries to bring the insights of scientific research, economic analysis and practical experience to political, business and non-governmental organization leaders globally. For additional information, visit WRI's website at "http://www.wri.org/wri/".

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