We Manage What We Measure: an Agrobiodiversity Index to Help Deliver the Sustainable Development GoalsM. Ann Tutwiler, Director General, Bioversity InternationalInternational Agrobiodiversity Congress, New Delhi, India6 November 2016 #IAC_2016 @AnnTutwiler

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The 20th Century Challenge Over the past century, farmers and breeders have used genetic diversity to breed high-yielding varieties. The Green Revolution brought new varieties and production methods to developing countries, with significant results.

FAO Save and Grow, 2011 FAO Save and Grow, 2011

Cost 1: Planetary Boundaries are Exceeded

Steffen et al., 2016

Cost 2: Global MalnutritionOnce considered a high income problem, overweight and obesity are on the rise in low and middle-income countries, especially in urban settings. At the same time, 1 billion people suffer from ‘hidden hunger’.

Cost 3: Production Systems Losing Diversity

Data source: RBG Kew, 2016; FAO, 1997

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21st Century Goals More Complex and Interconnected

If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got!

Food systems are a critical agent of a world transition to global sustainability:

• Diverse highly nutritious and resilient species and varieties integrated into our diets and value chains.

• Diverse, highly nutritious and resilient varieties and species integrated into our food production systems.

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The Old Model

Yield per hectare

Sufficiency in dietary energy

Proportion of children receiving a vitamin A capsule

Number of accessions in genebanks

Photos: Flickr/G. San Martin, Moss; CIAT/N. Palmer, CIFOR/R. Martin

Quantity of seed produced’ or ‘seed replacement rates’

Nutritious & diverse diets

Productive, low-input and

resilient farms and

landscapes

Farmers’ access to

quality, diverse seeds

Conservation of agrobiodiversity

for future options and

today’s needs

New Improved Model

Photos: Bioversity International/A. Camacho, P.Lepoint, A. Sidhu, N.Capozio

We Need New Metrics!

A consistent long-term monitoring system for agrobiodiversity to be applied across four sustainable food system components:

Nutritious, diverse diets

Productive and resilient farms and

landscapes

Farmers’ access to quality, diverse

seeds

Conservation of agrobiodiversity

for future optionsPhotos: Bioversity International/A. Camacho, P.Lepoint, A. Sidhu, N.Capozio

Counting More Than Calories – Nutritional Yield

What are the Linkages Between Producing and Consuming Agricultural Biodiversity?

Photo: Kenyan farmer in her home garden. Credit: E. Demartis

Links Between Nutrition and Production Systems

Source: Kehlenbeck K, McMullin S. 2015. Fruit tree portfolios for improved diets and nutrition in Machakos County, Kenya. ICRAF

Supportive Policies are Essential Example - Millets in India

Nutritious & drought resistant millets once part of traditional diets.

Working with partners for 15 years to promote millet use resulting in: • 2013 India’s food security act adds millets

into public distribution system• Millets on menu in restaurants, sold on

streets • Inclusion of millets in school lunches in 12

districts in Central & Southern India.

Photos: The Hindu newspaper clipping; Minor millet products. Credit: Bioversity International/S. Padulosi

The Links Between Resilient, Productive Farms and Biodiversity – Not Just Yield of Commodities

Photo: Ecosystem services in a rice system in Java. Credit: CIFOR/A. Erlangga

↑ Soil stability↓ Soil

erosion

Agricultural biodiversity and complex

vegetation structure

Soil structure

Diversity at Field and Farm Level

↑ Ecosystem services

Above-ground biodiversity

+Below-ground

biodiversity

Soil function and nutrient

cycling

Diversity in Landscapes Stops Pests in Their Tracks

Photos: Coffee landscape and damage of a coffee borer beetle. Credit: Bioversity Internationl/F. De Clerck and C. Zanzanaini

Genetic Diversity in Beans in Uganda Reduces Food Losses Ho

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Number of varieties grown per household

Angular Leave Spot Anthracnose

Number of varieties grown per household

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How Seed Systems Contribute to Diversity

• Innovation• Seed production and

distribution• Regulation• Seed access support• Conservation

Photo: Women in a seedbank, India. Credit: Bioversity International/P. Bordoni

Seed Systems and Diversity -How Innovation Drives Diversity in Food Systems

Photo: Farmers score wheat varieties according to their preferred phenotypical traits in a field trail in Northern Ethiopia. Credit: Bioversity Internationl/J. van de Gevel

Seed Systems and Diversity: How Seed Regulation and Quality Control Influence Diversity

Photo: Stephan Weise and Surya Adhikari, a Nepalese innovator and farmer. Credit: Bioversity Internationl/B. Sthapit

How Does Farmers’ Access to Seed Diversity Influence the Sustainability of Food Production and the Quality of Diets?

Photo: A farm on the side of Mount Kenya. Credit: CIAT/N. Palmer

Seed Systems and Diversity: How Seed Production Influences Diversity

Photo: A seedbank manager at the Jogimara Community Seedbank, Dhading, Nepal. Credit: Bioversity International/R. Vernooy

Farmers select and use local materials

Policies, institutions and information systems are in place

Genetic materials continue to evolve

Farmers continue to use genetic materials in diets and

farming systems

Materials are adequately characterized and evaluated

Favourable dynamic evolutionary forces persist

Ex situ conservation On-farm conservation In situ conservation

Germplasm of high value (better adapted, nutrient-dense, resistant to pests and diseases) is available to farmers and breeders

Conserving genetic resources for sustainable food systems

Maintain genetic materials unchanged for perpetuity

On-farm Conservation for Farmers’ Strategies

Photo: A home garden in Nepal. Credit: Bioversity International/B. Sthapit

In Situ Conservation for Evolution in the Wild

Photo: Bioversity International and Indonesian national partners survey wild mango diversity. Credit: Bioversity International/B. Sthapit

Ex Situ Conservation

Photos (L-R): Coconut field bank. Banana seedlings in test tubes. Kenyan woman demonstrates seed diversity conserved in gourds. Credit: Bioversity International/P. Batugal, N. Capozio, Y. Wachira

Conservation - Enabling Environment

Photos (L-R): Community biodiversity register of mango. Custodian farmers of ragpur lime and rough lemon rootstocks, India. Credit: Bioversity International/B. Sthapit

The Agrobiodiversity Index

A consistent long-term monitoring system for agrobiodiversity to be applied across four sustainable food system components:

Nutritious, diverse diets

Productive and resilient farms and

landscapes

Farmers’ access to quality, diverse

seeds

Conservation of agrobiodiversity

for future options

Next Steps

• Mainstreaming Agrobiodiversity in Sustainable Food Systems: Scientific foundations for an Agrobiodiversity Index book coming out in early 2017 on expert and stakeholder consultations

• Initial design of ABD Index

• Verification of the feasibility of measuring bond and corporate performance using an ABD Index

• Pilot in two countries (Ethiopia and Peru)

• ICT infrastructure development.

Thank you

www.bioversityinternational.org/subscribe

@BioversityInt

Ann Tutwilera.tutwiler@cgiar.org

@AnnTutwiler