| |
| Role of plant biodiversity
in achieving the Millennium Development Goals
on Hunger and Poverty |
| |
| M.S. Swaminathan Research
Foundation (MSSRF), International Plant Genetic
Resources Institute (IPGRI) and Global Facilitation
Unit for Underutilized Species (GFU) invite you
to participate in a major consultation session
to focus on the role of plant biodiversity in
achieving the Millennium Development Goals on
Hunger and Poverty. |
| |
| In September 2005, five years
after the UN Millennium Assembly, the United Nations
Assembly will be reviewing the progress achieved
by governments towards the Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs). And this will be an important occasion
to underline importance of plant biodiversity
in adding value and improving people's livelihoods. |
| |
| Globally, food and nutritional
security and economic growth depend increasingly
on a declining number of plant species. This is
placing the future supply of food and rural incomes
at risk. Humankind has at one time or the other
used more than 7000 plant species for food. Agricultural
research, however, has concentrated on only very
few of them. Over half of the protein and food
energy we consume is now met by just three crops:
maize, wheat and rice. The narrowing base of global
food and nutritional security is limiting livelihood
options for people, particularly those in developing
countries. For instance, the recent collapse in
the prices of many major commodity crops (coffee
is a typical example) highlights the fragility
of farming systems based on few agricultural species. |
| |
| This is where plant biodiversity
plays an important role in providing household
food security. But its wider use for tackling
nutritional deficiencies and poverty is yet to
be fully realized. There is increasing recognition
of the important roles plant biodiversity (including
underutilized species) can play in ensuring food
security and better health (provision of vitamins
and other micro-nutrients to combat hidden hunger),
supporting income generation and local economy
(meeting increasing demand for diversity for food
and other products), providing non material benefits
(link to cultural traditions and local knowledge)
and ecosystem health (mitigation of adverse effects
due to environmental changes). |
| |
| The F AO 1996 Global Plan
of Action for Plant Genetic Resources for Food
and Agriculture and the recommendations of CoP7
in Malaysia earlier this year, underline these
points. While major crops and commodities receive
extensive attention in national agricultural and
development policies, other crops and species
are largely ignored and their sustainable conservation
and use is in jeopardy. |
| |
| We thus need to pay greater
attention to cultivation and use of plant biodiversity,
including locally important crops such as millets,
legumes, leafy vegetables, tubers, fruits and
medicinal and aromatic plants. This calls for
mutually reinforcing efforts directed at capacity
building, conservation and use technologies, services
and public policies, particularly those related
to pricing and marketing. |
| |
| Recognizing this, the M.S.
Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) along
with International Plant Genetic Resources Institute
(IPGRI) and Global Facilitation Unit for Underutilized
Species (GFU), in association with other partners,
is organizing an International Consultation to
highlight the role of plant biodiversity in achieving
the UN Millennium Development Goals on Hunger
and Poverty. |
| |
| The consultation will assist
the international community by demonstrating ways
to deploy more effective plant biodiversity look
towards these goals and make recommendations for
actions to be taken by national and international
organizations. |
| |
| The session will be held at
The M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation in Chennai,
India on April 18 and 19 2005 where about 80 to
100 people will be invited to participate. The
gathering will include policy-makers from various
regions (particularly from developing countries
where plant biodiversity has a strategic role
in fighting nutritional insecurity and poverty),
agriculturalists and nutritionists, media representatives
from important press, TV networks and donor representatives. |
| |
| First day will feature consultation,
presentations of regional case studies that demonstrate
the importance of plant biodiversity in nutritional
security and poverty alleviation. The second day
will showcase the presentations of policy-makers
on policies, institutional constraints and other
issues that challenge the full deployment of plant
biodiversity in their countries. |
| |
| Recommendations that emerge
from these presentations and interaction will
form the basis of a ten to 12-page document to
be produced in time for the UN Summit. The document
will present an overall assessment of progress
so far in meeting the MDG through the use of plant
biodiversity and suggest actions to move this
agenda forward over the next five years. The roles
of stakeholders (policy-makers, researchers, donors,
media and consumers) will also be addressed by
the recommendations. The final document will be
made available in the six UN languages. |
| |
| Participation by invitation
only.. |
| |
| Presentations
made...... |
| |
| Programme
Schedule .... |
| |
| |
