A global Agenda on NUS Emile Frison, Director General, Bioversity International 11 December 2012

1. A global Agenda on NUS Emile Frison, Director General, Bioversity International 11 December 2012

2. Narrowing of world’s food basket Increased reliance on major crops furthered by globalization trends

3. A highly concerning global challenge National Geographic 2011 Study conducted in 1983 by the Rural Advancement Foundation International gave a clue to the scope of the problem. It compared USDA listings of seed varieties sold by commercial US seed houses in 1903with those in the US National Seed Storage Laboratory in 1983. The survey, which included 66 crops, found that about 93 percent of the varieties had gone extinct. GENETIC EROSION

4. NUS: going beyond the semantics • Orphan, abandoned, new, underutilized, neglected, lost, underused, local, minor, traditional, forgotten, alternative, niche, promising, underdeveloped, development opportunity crops (DOC) and many more.

5. NUS: typical features Nutritional value appreciated by people Hardiness, good adaptability, versatility in use Rich associated food culture and traditions Poor economic competitiveness with commodity crops Lack of improved vars. & enhanced cult. practices Drudgery in value addition Disorganized or non-existent market chains Perception of being “food of the poor” Cultivated and utilized relying on IK Scarcely represented in ex situ collections

6. NUS: scarcely represented in ex situ collections… 7.4 millions accessions in 1,740 ex situ gene banks: major crops well covered, gaps for landraces, CWR, neglected and underutilized species (FAO 2010) Disparity to increase because of the attention of the FAO Treaty/Global Conservation Trust on staple crops.

7. …and conserved largely by farmers through their continued cultivation… • Mrs. Adelaja, a champion custodian of quinoa (125 accessions maintained in her farm in Puno, Peru)

8. ..or safeguarded in Community seed banks such as this in Kachorwa, Nepal.

9. Nutritional benefitsCase of African leafy vegetables

10. Case of vitamin A in NUS fruits* * mg/100 g fresh edible portion

11. Case of minor millets Crop Calorie Protein Fiber (g) Ash (g) Calcium Phosphorus - Iron K Cal (g) (mg) (mg) (mg) Rice 345 6.8 0.2 0.6 10 160 0.7 Wheat 346 11.8 1.2 1.5 31 306 5.3 Maize 342 11.1 1.2 1.5 10 348 2.3 Finger millet 328 7.3 3.2 2.6 35.8 250 9.9 Foxtail millet 331 9.9 10.0 3.5 31 290 4.9 Little millet 341 7.7 7.6 1.5 27 220 7.0 Barnyard millet 346 10.8 14.7 4.0 20 280 2.9 Proso millet 340 10.6 12.2 3.2 24 206 3.5

12. Case of Andean Grains (processed items)

13. From awareness to action: milestones • 1996: FAO Promoting development and commercialization of NUS (Activity 12, GPA) • 1997: EU Projects (s.a RESGEN 95/29-96/97) • 1999: Endorsement of NUS by CGIAR Policy Committee • 2001: First UN global effort on NUS (IFAD NUS Project) • 2002: IPGRI Strategy on NUS published • 2002: Establishment of GFU • 2003. GTZ Conference on underutilized species, Leipzig, Germany • 2004: The International Treaty on PGRFA (ref to Art 6.2e) • 2005:The Chennai Platform for Action • 2005: Recognition role of NUS by SBSTTA/CBD and COP7 • 2008: First International Conference on NUS (Arusha, Tanzania) • 2009: Establishment of CFF (GFU+ICUC) • 2010: Suwon Declaration and Framework • 2011: Second Int. Conference on NUS (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) • 2012: NUS theme embedded in CGIAR Consortium Agenda (CRP2, CRP4, CRP7)

14. FAO September 2012- Draft- • Out of the 20 guiding principles: 13. Increasing production of nutrient-dense foods particularly locally-adapted varieties rich in micronutrients (which covers underutilized foods such as indigenous crops). • ACF, FAO, HLTF, IFPRI, UN SCN, WB: often powerful nutritional resources because of their nutrient content • ACF, FAO: highlight the resource use efficiency and reduced inputs of producing indigenous food crops • UN SCN: noted their role in climate change adaptation due to superior productivity response against local stresses • Bioversity International: underutilized crops, often controlled by women and may increase women’s empowerment.

15. Empowerment of vulnerable groups through establishment of associations (SHG), skill enhancement and introduction of simple technology

16. Strengthening Associations and Cooperatives India: IFAD NUS Project (2001-2010) Intervention: 56 Self Help Groups (SHG) established in 27 villages (386 persons/ 214 women, 2001-2010 period) Outcome: additional income for improved finger millet flour, semolina and malt generated by SHG have been USD 25, 100 and 430 per ton of product respectively.

17. Bolivia: first ever cañihua vars. released! As a whole several tons of high quality seeds produced by farmers trained by the project and distributed to communities..

18. Novel food recipes: technology development and capacity building from food technology experts Capacity Building Training on Value Addition at Home Sciences College, UAS- Banagalore facilitated by Prof. Vijalakshmi & Dr. Geetha

19. Greaterefficiency in de-saponification • (from 1-4 hrs tojust 7 minutes!) Bolivia: drudgery in processing quinoa

20. India: profitable income food items from NUS

21. Marrying income generation and better nutrition in one goal Joint venture with private sector (Sobre la Roca) led to more attractive food products targeting particularly children Outcome: popularization of nutritious food among children and inclusion of amaranth-based food items in school meals (Sucre and Serrano) Impact: Estimated income of at least 3 mil Bs /year for amaranth value chain sector in 2010 as a result of amaranth school meal policy in Chuquisaca Department alone.

22. Changing the food-of-the-poor stigma: strategic role of the partnership between local producers and private sector – Alexander Coffee (Bolivia)

23. Strengthening Collective Actions: Agrobiodiversity Fairs

24. The way forward

25. Fundamental approaches in promoting NUS effectively • Community-based • Highly participatory • Sharing at local/nat./int. level • Special focus on women • Trans-disciplinary • Inter-sectorial • Multi-stakeholder • Holistic ‘from farm to fork’

26. Conservation issues Urgent interventions needed to support on farm conservation and custodian farmers who maintain genetic diversity and IK- need to more on who are custodians of seed of local crops? How they maintain this diversity? What are their seed networks? Who are the nodal farmers? How to strengthen their linkages and roles? Support documentation and monitoring through decentralized/ community based approaches Inclusion of NUS in Annex I of the International Treaty Protection of farmers’ IPR on diversity and IK

27. Testing non-IUCN use-based monitoring system STAGE 2 Five Cell Analysis CELL A Large Area Many HH CELL C Large Area Few HH STAGE 1 General assessment and inventorying Status and Trends Selection of focus species CELL B Small Area Many HH CELL D Small Area Few HH Red List CELL E Lost varieties National PGR Conservation Strategy STAGE 3 First validation of Red List (fairs, extension work, schools etc) Vulnerability List National Documentation STAGE 4 Second validation of Red List (use of descriptors, molecular tools) Community Documentation & Monitoring (CBR, DB, others) Regional Consolidation

28. Bridging the gap between ex situ and in situ conservation

29. Farm-to-Fork approach Better varieties Best practices High Quality Seed Novel food items Recipes (old/new) Quality standards Nutrition awareness Enabling Policies Promotions Education Improved nutrition, incomes and other livelihood benefits from NUS Marketing Final use Genetic diversity Selection cultivation Harvest Value addition Rescued diver. Maps diversity IK Document. Conservation (ex situ/ in situ) Eff. value chains Commercialization Branding Platforms of coop. Improved technology Up scaling and mainstreaming through enabling policies for wider impact beyond project sites

30. Partnerships with private sector: key to success Bolivia: 43 partners • Financial tiers • Provision of Training • Information Exchange • Research tiers Linkages Financial Training Information Research

31. Enhancing Capacities of NUS among young scientists

32. Strengthening synergy and lesson sharing • Funding is needed to support networking (CFF, DOC, Regional crop or theme based regional networks dealing with NUS) • Support National and International Conferences on NUS / their opening up to broader set of disciplines and actors • Mechanisms and policies in support of capacity building of women • Validate potential of NUS diversity in nutrition • Blend IK with scientific approaches

33. Strengthening capacities of both researchers and farmers: manuals and cultivation guides blending IK and scientific findings Sustainable production is knowledge intensive

34. Multi-stakeholder Platforms: bridging the gap between local and national actors • Foster use of stakeholders’ potentials/ synergy • Promotecollaboration and linkagesacrossvaluechainactors • Participatoryassessment of constraintsacrossthevaluechain • Facilitatedissemination of bestpractices • Jointplanning and upgrading of sharedstrategy

35. Supporting the understanding, appreciation, use of NUS for livelihoods An interdisciplinary and multi-stakeholder effort to create more awareness, promote policies, foster and facilitate a network of practitioners • Awareness raising and fostering a network of practitioners • Formulate recommendations to development workers and policy makers • Research supply and demand for underutilised species and cut across individual crops (e.g. product development, market access, high-value differentiation), • Documentation through innovative Internet-based tools • Develop capacities for more effective research, curriculum development and degree training focusing on underutilised species, • Identify research gaps and advocate policy change that enables the use of underutilised species in seed systems, genetic resources conservation, value chains and trade, • Provide a global voice to the dispersed community working on underutilised species

36. Thank you