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SUSTAINING AGRICULTURAL BIODIVERSITY

Genetic, Species, Ecosystems, Cultural and Temporal dimensions


Agricultural biodiversity of all food species is a vital sub-set of general biodiversity, highly threatened by globalisation of food markets and tastes, intellectual property systems and the spread of unsustainable industrial food production. But it still provides the basis of the food and livelihood security of billions of people and the development of all food production, including for industrial agriculture and for the biotechnology (Life) industries. It is the first link in the food chain, developed and safeguarded by farmers, herders and fisherfolk throughout the world.







INTRODUCTION

Farmer exhibiting seeds to her neighbour at the 1998 Maragwa Seed Show, Kenya

Farmer exhibiting seeds to her neighbour at the 1998 Maragwa Seed Show, Kenya (PMM/ITDG)


[CLICK ON IMAGE FOR LARGER PICTURE]

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Agricultural biodiversity of all food species is a vital sub-set of general biodiversity, highly threatened by globalisation of food markets and tastes, intellectual property systems and the spread of unsustainable industrial food production, but it provides the basis of the food security and livelihood security of billions of people and the development of all food production, including for industrial agriculture and for the biotechnology (Life) industries. It is the first link in the food chain, developed and safeguarded by farmers, herders and fishers throughout the world.


WHAT IS AGRICULTURAL BIODIVERSITY?

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Although the term "agricultural biodiversity" is relatively new - it has come into wide use in recent years as evidenced by bibliographic references - the concept itself is quite old. It is the result of the careful selection and inventive developments of farmers, herders and fishers over millennia. Agricultural biodiversity is a vital sub-set of biodiversity. It is a creation of humankind whose food and livelihood security depend on the sustained management of those diverse biological resources that are important for food and agriculture. Agricultural biodiversity, also known as agrobiodiversity or the genetic resources for food and agriculture, includes:

  • Harvested crop varieties, livestock breeds, fish species and non- domesticated ('wild') resources within field, forest, rangeland and in aquatic ecosystems;
  • Non-harvested species within production ecosystems that support food provision, including soil micro-biota, pollinators and so on; and
  • Non-harvested species in the wider environment that support food production ecosystems (agricultural, pastoral, forest and aquatic ecosystems).

Agricultural biodiversity results from the interaction between the environment, genetic resources and the management systems and practices used by culturally diverse peoples resulting in the different ways land and water resources are used for production. It thus encompasses the variety and variability of animals, plants and micro-organisms which are necessary to sustain key functions of the agro-ecosystem, its structure and processes for, and in support of, food production and food security (FAO, 1999).



Agricultural biodiversity has spatial, temporal and scale dimensions especially at agro-ecosystem levels. These agro-ecosystems - ecosystems that are used for agriculture - are determined by three sets of factors: the genetic resources, the physical environment and the human management practices. There are virtually no ecosystems in the world that are "natural" in the sense of having escaped human influence. Most ecosystems have been to some extent modified or cultivated by human activity for the production of food and income and for livelihood security.



Agro-ecosystems may be identified at different levels or scales, for instance, a field/crop/ herd/pond, a farming system, a land-use system or a watershed. These can be aggregated to form a hierarchy of agro-ecosystems. Ecological processes can also be identified at different levels and scales. Valuable ecological processes that result from the interactions between species and between species and the environment include, inter alia, biochemical recycling, the maintenance of soil fertility and water quality and climate regulation (e.g. micro-climates caused by different types and density of vegetation). Moreover, the interaction between the environment, genetic resources and management practices determines the evolutionary process, which may involve, for instance, introgression from wild relatives, hybridization between cultivars, mutations, and natural and human selections. These result in genetic material (farmers' crop varieties or animal breeds) that is well adapted to local abiotic and biotic environmental variation.



So, agricultural biodiversity is not only the result of human activity but human life is dependent on it not just for the immediate provision of food and other goods, but for the maintenance of areas of land that will sustain production and for the maintenance of the wider environment.

Agro-ecosystems comprise polycultures, monocultures, and mixed systems, including crop-livestock systems (rice - fish), agroforestry, agro-silvo-pastoral systems, aquaculture as well as rangelands, pastures and fallow lands. Their interactions with human activities, including socio-economic activity and sociocultural socio-cultural diversity, are determinant. Some of the key functions for maintaining stable, robust, productive and sustainable agro-ecosystems may include the following:
  • breakdown of organic matter and recycling of nutrients to maintain soil fertility and sustain plant and consequently animal growth;
  • breakdown of pollutants and maintenance of a clean and healthy atmosphere;
  • moderation of climatic effects such as maintaining rainfall patterns and modulation of the water cycle and the absorption of solar energy by the land and its subsequent release;
  • maintenance and stability of productive vegetative, fish and animal populations and the limitation of invasion by harmful or less useful species;
  • protection and conservation of soil and water resources, for example through a vegetative cover and appropriate management practices, and the consequent maintenance of the integrity of landscapes and habitats;
  • sequestration of CO2 by plants.

(FAO, 1999)


This was discussed at an international Agricultural Biodiversity workshop organised by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) where the multiple dimensions of agricultural biodiversity were also summarised as providing for:
  • i. Sustainable production of food and other agricultural products emphasising both strengthening sustainability in production systems at all levels of intensity and improving the conservation, sustainable use and enhancement of the diversity of all genetic resources for food and agriculture, especially plant and animal genetic resources, in all types of production systems.
  • ii. Biological or life support to production emphasising conservation, sustainable use and enhancement of the biological resources that support sustainable production systems, particularly soil biota, pollinators and predators.
  • iii. Ecological and social services provided by agro-ecosystems such as landscape and wildlife protection, soil protection and health (fertility, structure and function), water cycle and water quality, air quality, CO2 sequestration, etc.
 

A DEFINITION OF AGRICULTURAL BIODIVERSITY

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The variety and variability of animals, plants and micro-organisms used directly or indirectly for food and agriculture (including, in the FAO definition, crops, livestock, forestry and fisheries). It comprises the diversity of genetic resources (varieties, breeds, etc.) and species used for food, fodder, fibre, fuel and pharmaceuticals. It also includes the diversity of non-harvested species that support production (e.g. soil micro-organisms, predators, pollinators and so on) and those in the wider environment that support agro-ecosystems (agricultural, pastoral, forest and aquatic), as well as the diversity of the agro-ecosystems themselves.

It has also been defined as:

Agricultural biodiversity encompasses the variety and variability of animals, plants and micro-organisms which are necessary to sustain key functions of the agro-ecosystem, its structure and processes for, and in support of, food production and food security. (FAO, 1999)

WHAT IS HAPPENING TO AGRICULTURAL BIODIVERSITY?

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These locally diverse food production systems are under threat and, with them, the accompanying local knowledge, culture and skills of the food producers. With this decline, agricultural biodiversity is disappearing and the scale of loss is extensive and with the disappearance of harvested species, varieties and breeds goes a wide range of unharvested species.

  • More than 90 per cent of crop varieties have disappeared from farmers' fields;
  • Half of the breeds of many domestic animals have been lost.
  • In fisheries, all the world's 17 main fishing grounds are now being fished at or above their sustainable limits, with many fish populations effectively becoming extinct.

The genetic erosion of agricultural biodiversity is also exacerbated by the loss of forest cover, coastal wetlands and other 'wild' uncultivated areas, and the destruction of the aquatic environment. This leads to losses of 'wild' relatives, important for the development of biodiversity, and losses of 'wild' foods essential for food provision, particularly in times of crisis.



WHAT ARE THE UNDERLYING CAUSES OF THE LOSSES OF AGRICULTURAL BIODIVERSITY?

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There are many causes of this decline, which has been accelerating throughout the 20th century in parallel with the demands of an increasing population and greater competition for natural resources. The principal underlying causes include:

  • The rapid expansion of industrial and Green Revolution agriculture, intensive livestock production, industrial fisheries and aquaculture (some production systems using genetically modified varieties and breeds) that cultivate relatively few crop varieties in monocultures, rear a limited number of domestic animal breeds, or fish for, or cultivate, few aquatic species.
  • Globalisation of the food system and marketing, and the extension of industrial patenting and other intellectual property systems to living organisms, which have led to the widespread cultivation and rearing of fewer varieties and breeds for a more uniform, less diverse but more competitive global market.

As a consequence there has been:

  • Marginalisation of small-scale, diverse food production systems that conserve farmers' varieties of crops and breeds of domestic animals, which form the genetic pool for food and agriculture in the future.
  • Reduced integration of livestock in arable production, which reduces the diversity of uses for which livestock are needed.
  • Reduced use of 'nurture' fisheries techniques, that conserve and develop aquatic biodiversity.
Genetic erosion is the loss of genetic diversity, including the loss of individual genes,102 and the loss of particular combinations of genes (i.e. of gene-complexes ) such as those manifested in locally adapted landraces. The term “genetic erosion” is sometimes used in a narrow sense, i.e. the loss of genes or alleles, as well as more broadly, referring to the loss of varieties. The main cause of genetic erosion in crops, as reported by almost all countries, is the replacement of local varieties by improved or exotic varieties and species. As old varieties in farmers’ fields are replaced by newer ones, genetic erosion frequently occurs because the genes and gene complexes found in the diverse farmers’ varieties are not contained in toto in the modern variety. In addition, the sheer number of varieties is often reduced when commercial varieties are introduced into traditional farming systems. While some indicators of genetic erosion have been developed, according to FAO (1996, 1998) there have been few systematic studies of the genetic erosion of crop genetic diversity which have provided quantifiable estimates of the actual rates of genotypic or allelic extinction in PGRFA. Nearly all countries say, in Country Reports to FAO in 1996, that genetic erosion is taking place and that it is a serious problem.

Variety replacement is the main cause of losses. The replacement of local varieties or landraces by improved and/or exotic varieties and species is reported to be the major cause of genetic erosion around the world. It is also cited as the major cause of genetic erosion in all regions except Africa. Examples are mentioned in 81 Country Reports, of which a number are highlighted below. • A survey of farm households in the Republic of Korea showed that of 14 crops cultivated in home gardens, an average of only 26% of the landraces cultivated there in 1985 were still present in 1993. The retention rate did not exceed 50% for any crop, and for two crops it was zero. These results are disturbing as such home gardens have traditionally been important conservation sites, especially for vegetable crops.103 • In China, in 1949, nearly 10,000 wheat varieties were used in production. By the 1970s, only about 1,000 varieties remained in use. Statistics from the 1950s show that local varieties accounted for 81% of production, locally produced improved varieties made up 15% and introduced varieties 4%. By the 1970s, these figures had changed drastically; locally produced improved varieties accounted for 91% of production, introduced varieties 4% and local varieties only 5%. (FAO 1996, 1998)

KEY PAPERS

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LINKS to SEED SAVING and AGRICULTURAL BIODIVERSITY PROGRAMMES

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  • SeedSaving ResourcesThe aim of this comprehensive and excellent new site is to provide a "one-stop-shop" of link resources for people who are interested in in-situ agricultural and horticultural plant genetic resources and their preservation and who are looking for easy access on the how & why of seedsaving, on sources (world-wide) for organic, heirloom, open-pollinated and non-GMO seed and plants, on seed-swapping with other gardeners/growers, on crop and varietal information etc.
ALSO:

LINKS to LIVESTOCK PROGRAMMES

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LINKS to FISHERIES PROGRAMMES

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