A global Agenda on NUSEmile Frison, Director General, Bioversity International11 December 2012

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Narrowing of world’s food basket

300,000

100,000

30,000

7,000

120

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• Known plant species

• Used by humankind

• Edible

• Used as food at local level

• Important at national scale

• Provide 90% of plant calories

• Provide 60% (rice, wheat, maize, potato)

Increased reliance on major crops

furthered by globalization

trends

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National Geographic 2011Study 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 1903 with 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

A highly concerning global challenge

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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.

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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

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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.

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…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)

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

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Nutritional benefitsCase of African leafy vegetables

Per 100 gm

Amaranth(leaf)

Cleome Nightshade Cabbage

Iron mg 8.9 6.0 1.0 0.7

Calcium mg 410 288 442 47

ß carotene ųg 5716 10452 3660 100

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* mg/100 g fresh edible portion

Physalis peruviana Cape goosberry 1000-5000Eugenia uniflora Surinam cherry 1200-2000Pouteria campechiana Yellow sapote 533-2000Matisia cordata Matisia 1000-1760Fortunella spp. Kumquat 2530Pereskia aculeata Barbados goosberry 3215Artocarpus heterophyllus Jackfruit 175-540

Case of vitamin A in NUS fruits*

340

346

341

331

328

342

346

345

CalorieK Cal

3.5206243.212.210.6Proso millet

2.9280204.014.710.8Barnyard millet

7.0220271.57.67.7Little millet

4.9290313.510.09.9Foxtail millet

9.925035.82.63.27.3Finger millet

2.3348101.51.211.1Maize

5.3306311.51.211.8Wheat

0.7160100.60.26.8Rice

Iron (mg)

Phosphorus -(mg)

Calcium (mg)

Ash (g)Fiber (g)Protein (g)

Crop

Crops Phenylalanine Histidine Isoleucine Leucine Lysine Methionine Threonine Tryptophan Valine Arginine

Rice 2.80 1.30 3.00 5.00 2.30 1.50 2.30 0.80 3.80 4.80

Wheat 2.80 1.30 2.20 4.10 1.70 0.90 1.80 0.70 2.80 2.90

Maize 2.90 1.60 2.40 7.20 2.00 1.20 2.80 0.40 3.00 2.90

Finger millet 6.2 2.6 5.1 13.5 3.7 2.6 5.1 1.3 7.9 5.2

Italian millet 5.3 2.3 5.0 13.3 2.1 2.6 3.9 1.5 5.2 6.1

Proso millet 5.2 2.2 4.5 12.9 2.2 2.0 3.4 0.9 5.1 4.4

Kodo millet 5.8 1.8 5.4 10.2 3.3 1.7 2.9 0.8 5.6 4.2

Recommended 6.0 - 4.0 7.0 5.5 3.5 4.0 1.0 5.0 -

Case of minor millets

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Case of Andean Grains (processed items)

Análisis Nutricional(productos procesados)

CerealAmaranto con miel

Pop de amaranto

Kallpa energética amaranto

maca

Galletas de amaranto

Barra energética

maca amaranto

Barra energética

quinua, maca, amaranto

Calorías Kcal./100 g 430 422 393 468 414 378

Proteína % 20.1 13.2 10.1 9.22 9.28 5.57Grasa % 13.8 10.4 5.47 17.9 8.18 1.95

Carbohidratos Totales % 56.3 69.1 75.9 67.5 75.8 84.4

Fibra g/100 g 3.05 6.15 4.20 2.98 4.39 1.17

Calcio mg-Ca/100 g 68.3 99.7 107 36.3 89.4 21.9

Hierro mg-Fe/100 g 4.29 5.23 7.38 1.39 2.95 3.31

Vitamina C mg/100 g 7.14 3.42 9.10 6.50 10.1 4.42

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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)

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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.

FAO September 2012- Draft-

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

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Strengthening Associations and CooperativesIndia: 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.

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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..

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Capacity Building Training on Value Addition at Home Sciences College, UAS- Banagalore facilitated by Prof. Vijalakshmi & Dr. Geetha

Novel food recipes: technology development and capacity building from food technology experts

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Bolivia: drudgery in processing quinoa

Greater efficiency in de-saponification (from 1-4 hrs to just 7 minutes!)

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India: profitable income food items from NUS

Name of the product Quantity Cost of prod. (Rs.)

Selling price (Rs.)

Total income Rs Profit %

Polished foxtail millet 1 Kg 34 40/Kg 40 17.64

Polished little millet 1 Kg 34 40/Kg 40 17.64

Diabetic mix 1 Kg 80 100/Kg 100 25.00

Bisibelebath mix 1 Kg 90 100/Kg 100 11.11

Kusubi savi rice mix 1 Kg 60 100/Kg 100 40.00

Ragi Malt 1 Kg 65 100/Kg 100 54.00

Ragi Malt Drink 500 ml 106 3/100 ml 150 68.00

Savi Paddu 100 nos 70 5/4 nos 125 78.00

Biscuits/Muffins 4 Kg 200 80/Kg 320 33.00

Savi Chakkali 1.2kg 85 100/Kg 120 41.17

Savi Shevu 1.2kg 85 100/Kg 120 41.17

Tengalu 1.2kg 85 100/Kg 118 38.82

Little millet papad 200 nos 150 200 200 50%

Besan Laddu 1.250 Kg 80 160 200 150%

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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.

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

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Strengthening Collective Actions: Agrobiodiversity Fairs

The way forward

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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’

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Conservation issues

1) 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?

2) Support documentation and monitoring through decentralized/ community based approaches

3) Inclusion of NUS in Annex I of the International Treaty

4) Protection of farmers’ IPR on diversity and IK

STAGE 2 Five Cell Analysis

STAGE 1General assessment

and inventorying

Status and Trends

Selection of focus species CELL B

Small AreaMany HH

CELL CLarge Area

Few HH

CELL DSmall Area

Few HH

Red List

Vulnerability List

STAGE 3 First validation of Red List

(fairs, extension work, schools etc)

STAGE 4 Second validation of Red List

(use of descriptors, molecular tools)

Community Documentation & Monitoring (CBR, DB, others)

National Documentation

Regional Consolidation

National PGR Conservation Strategy

CELL ALarge AreaMany HH

CELL E Lost varieties

Testing non-IUCN use-based monitoring system

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Bridging the gap between ex situ and in situ conservation

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Improved nutrition,

incomes and other

livelihood benefits from

NUS

Farm-to-Fork approach

Geneticdiversity

Selectioncultivation

Harvest Value addition

Marketing Finaluse

Rescued diver.Maps diversityIK Document.Conservation

(ex situ/ in situ)

Better varietiesBest practicesHigh Quality

Seed

Improved technology

Novel food itemsRecipes (old/new)Quality standards

Eff. value chainsCommercializati

on Branding Platforms of

coop.

Nutrition awareness Enabling Policies

PromotionsEducation

Up scaling and mainstreaming through enabling policies for wider impact beyond project sites

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Partnerships with private sector: key to success

Linkages

FinancialTrainingInformationResearch

Bolivia: 43 partners• Financial tiers• Provision of Training• Information Exchange• Research tiers

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Enhancing Capacities of NUS among young scientists

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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

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

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• Foster use of stakeholders’ potentials/ synergy• Promote collaboration and linkages across value chain

actors• Participatory assessment of constraints across the value

chain • Facilitate dissemination of best practices• Joint planning and upgrading of shared strategy

Multi-stakeholder Platforms: bridging the gap between local and national actors

• 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

Supporting the understanding, appreciation, use of NUS for livelihoodsAn interdisciplinary and multi-stakeholder effort to create more awareness, promote policies, foster and facilitate a network of practitioners

www.bioversityinternational.org

Thank you