CGIAR Systemwide Program on
Collective Action and Property Rights
Genetic resources refer to genetic material in plants and animals that determine useful traits that can be conserved, characterized, evaluated and used by people to meet their needs. Recent advances in molecular biology, genetics, and applied science in crop and livestock breeding and fisheries have made the use of genetic resources widespread and more valuable. It has also been recognized that genetic diversity of crop and livestock varieties plays a key role in sustainable agricultural practices. Despite some controversy around the relationship between agricultural development and conservation of plant genetic diversity, there is a rich and diverse knowledge base about genetic resource conservation that indicates that loss of biodiversity can reduce food security and increase economic risk, threatening the viability and sustainability of many agricultural systems. More specific dangers of reduced biodiversity include: increased vulnerability to insect pests and diseases, negative effects on nutrition due to decline in the variety of foods, reduction in possibilities for adaptation and use for future generations, and loss of local knowledge about diversity , all of which can directly threaten the livelihood of rural communities not only in the present but for generations to come.
This workshop brought together researchers from various social and natural science disciplines who have been investigating issues surrounding local-level conservation of crop varieties and livestock species and identifying the factors associated with maintenance of biodiversity at the local level.
Many factors affect the conservation of biodiversity, including demographic changes, technological development, economic factors, and national agricultural policies. However these factors alone are not sufficient to explain observed overall trends in conservation, or to explain different patterns of conservation among communities subject to similar demographic, economic, and political conditions. To date, institutional aspects of local plant genetic conservation have largely been ignored, with the possible exception of formal institutional issues surrounding intellectual property rights (IPR), mostly applied to the developed country setting. In this workshop, we will address the dual, and often inter-related, roles of property rights and collective action for local-level genetic resource conservation in the developing country setting.
Main objectives of the workshop were to:
Workshop agenda:
Papers presented at the conference are currently undergoing revision to be released as CAPRi Working Papers. The versions presented at the conference are accessible below as drafts not for citation, since revisions are expected.
The conservation of agricultural biodiversity in Uzbekistan: The impacts of the land reform process
by Eric Van Dusen, Marina Lee, Evan Dennis, Jarilkasin Ilyasov and Sergey Treshkin
Local governance of coral reef ecosystems: A pattern of local community in protecting marine biodiversity: Lessons from Gili Indah, Lombok, Indonesia
by Aceng Hidayat
The community registry as an expression of farmers’ rights: Experiences in collective action against the plant variety protection act of the Philippines
by Alywin D. M. Arnejo
The role of local institutions in the conservation of plant genetic diversity
by Evan Dennis, Jarilkasin Ilyasov, Eric Van Dusen, Sergey Treshkin and Marina Lee
The dynamics of seed flow among maize growing small-scale farmers in the Central Valleys of Oaxaca, Mexico
by Lone B. Badstue, Mauricio R. Bellon, Julien Berthaud, Alejandro Ramírez, Dagoberto Flores and Xóchitl Juárez
Local organizations involved in conserving crop genetic resources in Ethiopia and Kenya: What role for on-farm conservation?
by John Mburu adn Edilegnaw Walc
A review of Ugandan national laws and policies that relate to plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (PGRFA)
by John Mulumba Wassva and Fiona Bayiga
Institutional Innovations Towards Gender Equity in Agrobiodiversity Management: Collective Action in Kerala, India. Martina Aruna Padmanabhan. CAPRi Working Paper 39. Washington DC: IFPRI. 2005.
Facilitating Collective Action and Enhancing Local Knowledge: A Herbal Medicine Case Study in Talaandig Communities, Philippines. Herlina Hartanto and Cecil Valmores. CAPRi Working Paper 50. Washington DC: IFPRI. 2006.
Local community participation in reversing trends of genetic erosion: The community seed bank approach from Ethiopia
by Bayush Tsegaye
The distribution of traditional knowledge about maize in indigenous Maya communities of highland Chiapas, Mexico
by Hugo Perales R., Bruce F. Benz, Teresa Santiago V. and Stephen B. Brush
Farmers' Rights and Protection of Traditional Agricultural Knowledge. Stephen B. Brush. CAPRi Working Paper 36. Washington DC: IFPRI. 2005.
The Voracious Appetites of Public versus Private Property: A View of Intellectual Property and Biodiversity from Legal Pluralism. Melanie G. Wiber. CAPRi Working Paper 40. Washington DC: IFPRI. 2005.
Geographies of risk and difference in crop genetic engineering and agrobiodiversity conservation
by Kathleen McAfee
Formal and informal systems in support of farmer management of agro-biodiversity: some policy challenges to consolidate lessons learned. Marie Byström. CAPRi Working Paper 31. Washington DC: IFPRI. 2004.
Property Rights and the Management of Animal Genetic Resources. Simon Anderson and Roberta Centonze. CAPRi Working Paper 48. Washington DC: IFPRI. 2006.
From the Conservation of Genetic Diversity to the Promotion of Quality Foodstuff: Can the French Model of ‘Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée’ be Exported? Valérie Boisvert. CAPRi Working Paper 49. Washington DC: IFPRI. 2006.
The impacts of collective action and property rights on plant genetic resources
by Pablo Eyzaguirre and Evan Dennis