Recommendations from custodian farmers

A recent workshop, Custodian Farmers of Agricultural Biodiversity: Policy support for their roles in use and conservation, brought together farmers and researchers in New Delhi, India, to discuss their perspectives on the use and maintenance of agricultural biodiversity.

The 20 South and Southeast Asian farmers from Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Nepal and India, were each considered important members of their communities for their cultivation and conservation of diverse, rare or wild species of crops and fruit trees, such as one farmer who maintains 135 rare mango varieties in his orchard, another who grows over 80 varieties of rice and one who maintains a wide range of high mountain tuber crops.

The workshop represents an important first step in confirming the term ‘custodian farmer’ and their distinct and crucial role within agriculture. Custodian farmers maintain and conserve a wide range of crop species and varieties, often out of their own interest with reasons varying from nutritional benefits to family pride and heritage. They are an integral part of community-based diversity management and often the focal point for the informal exchange of seed and plant material among farmers. Custodian farmers are often not only the key providers of seed and plant material, but are also holders of local knowledge, who help link the traditional and modern seed system, and contribute to the evolutionary process of crop adaptation over time.

Synthesis of recommendations:

1. The term ‘custodian farmer’ regarding the use and conservation of agricultural biodiversity should have the same level of recognition as established terms such as ’leader‘ or progressive farmers that follow good agricultural practices.
2. Recognition of custodian farmers’ role should be established at local, national and international levels, including official recognition from their national plant genetic resources system.
3. All stakeholders, such as genebanks, agricultural ministries, research institutes, grassroots organizations and the private sector, should acknowledge the roles, responsibilities and rights of custodian farmers.
4. More custodian farmers (>1000) must be identified in the next 2 years to assess their importance in on-farm/in situ conservation of diversity.
5. A network of custodian farmers should be established to share knowledge, skills, seeds or plant materials with each other, as well as assist further research regarding the use and management of agricultural biodiversity.
6. Financial capital should be mobilized to establish Community Biodiversity Management funds to support custodian farmers at the local level.
7. Farmers’ unique materials should be registered in the farmers’ or community’s name without difficulty, following standards that are suitable for landrace material or perennial trees. 
8. Product development, market linkages and home processing activities should be carried out to support the maintenance of diversity.
9. Custodian farmers should have the right to participate in decision-making processes and benefit-sharing policies that are part of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) and the Convention on Biological Diversity.
10. National on-farm/in situ conservation strategies should be formulated with the participation of custodian farmers and other key stakeholders to ensure their voices are heard and needs addressed.

The workshop was hosted by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Bioversity International, in collaboration with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR) and Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Authority (PPVFRA).

Note/Disclaimer: The above recommendations are currently being refined, and will be officially released at a further date. A publication detailing the profiles of these custodian farmers is also currently in progress.