IFAD and EU supported Initiative ‘Linking agrobiodiversity value chains'

2 March 2016. Proceedings are now available from an International Conference was held in Rome in April 2015 to launch the IFAD and EU supported Initiative ‘Linking agrobiodiversity value chains, climate adaptation and nutrition: Empowering the poor to manage risk’.

The conference brought together people with expertise in different areas to discuss the role of agricultural biodiversity in fostering more resilient livelihoods, and to solicit their guidance to refine the methodological framework.

The consultative process was strategic for promoting the interdisciplinary dialogue that is fundamental to the initiative, which follows a ‘holistic value chain approach’. This approach has been developed by Bioversity International during the last 15 years and has been successfully deployed for use-enhancement of minor millets in South Asia and Andean grains in Bolivia and Peru.

The initiative is applying this approach in three new contexts, working with fonio and Bambara groundnut in Mali, Mayan spinach and tepary bean in Guatemala and kodo and little millet in Madhya Pradesh.

The proceedings include abstracts of presentations on a range of topics related to the multidisciplinary initiative, and the results from working groups that provided key inputs to refine the monitoring and intervention plan for the Initiative around four themes:

1. food and nutrition security under climate change
2. value chain upgrading
3. conservation of plant genetic resources
4. empowerment of vulnerable groups.

Background:

• Download the proceedings
• This work is carried out through Bioversity International's Healthy Diets from Sustainable Food Systems Initiative. It is supported by the UN International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) , the European Union and the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS).