Bioversity International

Historic seed treaty promotes food security

Rice is one of the crops listed in Annex 1 of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. E. McGaw/Bioversity International.

Meetings are as commonplace as mosquitoes in the tropics and few have the potential to change the world for the better. But last June, Spain hosted an historic congress that may do just that.The Governing Body of the...

Call for global initiative on biodiversity and nutrition

Traditional fruits and vegetables may hold the solution to many problems of nutrition and health. Sebastián Rojas enjoys a sapote fruit. These fruits are mainly consumed fresh: the attractive, aromatic orange pulp is chewed from the seeds. Sapote is rich in pro-vitamin A (carotenoids), vitamin C and phosphorous. A.Camacho/ Bioversity International

The Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity have called on Bioversity International and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to mount an initiative to address a major symptom and cause of...

Kenyans flock back to traditional leafy vegetables

Mary Wangari works at the Tusker supermarket in Nairobi, Kenya. Tusker is one of the supermarkets in Nairobi that stocks traditional leafy vegetables. A major public awareness campaign supported by Bioversity International helped to boost the popularity of leafy vegetables in Nairobi.S. Mann/Bioversity International

Sales of traditional African leafy vegetables at supermarkets in Nairobi have rocketed an astonishing 1100% in the past two years. Informal market sales have increased too, as supermarket sales have legitimized products long...

Seed treaty confirms essential role of Crop Trust

The Trust’s goal is to ensure the conservation and availability of crop diversity for food security worldwide.FAO/5417/P. Johnson

The Global Crop Diversity Trust continues to make significant strides towards its goal of conserving the world's crop diversity forever.In June 2006 the Governing Body of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for...

Arctic vault to safeguard future food

Its remote location and consistently cold climate have made Svalbard the ideal location for housing the world’s first ever fail-safe seed vault. The Global Crop Diversity Trust

As polar bears prowled the small island of Svalbard near the North Pole, five heads of state laid the cornerstone for a fail-safe seed vault that could prove to be a major hedge against catastrophe—part of a global strategy to...

Geographical indication protection a strategy for neglected crops

Parmigiano Reggiano, a traditional Italian cheese protected by the geographical indications system.iStock International

National and international markets are increasingly demanding novel food products in response to emerging consumer trends toward exotic foods and healthful or functional ingredients.Shifting demands provide new opportunities for...

Green and yellow foods linked to healthier arteries

Giant swamp taro diversity. Note the differences in stem colour.L.Englberger

A recent study shows the positive link between diets rich in green and yellow foods and reduced development of atherosclerosis, a condition where fatty substances, such as cholesterol, and calcium collect along the inner lining...

Blue fruit and novel tastes selling agroforestry delicacies in central Africa

A roadside stall in Cameroon selling roasted bananas and safou. Roasted safou has a tangy, nutty flavour and is considered a delicacy by any in Central Africa. ICRAF

It may be the most widely consumed fruit in central Africa, but until now people in that region have kept the secret of safou very much to themselves.

“It's a tasty, beautiful blue fruit with enormous regional and...

Meeting a new threat to the world's favourite fruit

Smallholders currently have few options for responding to the ravages of Panama disease. R. Markham/Bioversity International

Do you remember bananas tasting better when you were a child? (This question is addressed to the over-50s.) Do your parents or grandparents reminisce that bananas tasted better in their childhood? (This is addressed to the...

Total makeover for crop diversity conservation in Peru

The laboratories and genebanks of the Sub-Directorate of Genetic Resources and Biotechnology (SUBDIRGEB) outside Lima, Peru, were provided with a whole new set of equipment. INIEA-Peru

A successful international collaboration has provided Peru with the modern genebank and research facilities it needs to protect and use its rich heritage of crop diversity.Peru lies at the heart of the Andean cradle of plant...

Conservation on a shoestring

Farmers in East and West Africa often store seeds in clay pots, gourdes and cloth bags. Using such technologies in national genebanks could signifiantly reduce the costs of ex situ conservation in poor countries. Y.Morimoto/Bioversity International

If you were asked to picture a genebank (assuming you knew what that meant), you might conjure up an image of a high tech conservation facility, complete with robots, test tubes and vats of liquid nitrogen for low-temperature...

A global platform for agrobiodiversity research

Integrating livestock into farming systems can help increase the income of poor people. S. Mann/Bioversity International

A new initiative is providing a neutral space for exploring the often politicized issues associated with agrobiodiversity.

The initiative, known as the Platform for Agricultural Biodiversity Research, provides an opportunity...

A case of accidental extinction: the importance of farm animal conservation

A girl herding water buffalo, INdia. Farm animals are crucial to the livelihoods of poor people all over the world. FAO/5417/P.Johnson

Mangal Sunani, a farmer in eastern India, was thrilled to learn that the government would give him a special cow as part of a dairy development scheme to reduce poverty.He thought that the cow, impregnated with Jersey semen,...

Ocean blues: urgent action needed to protect deep seas

This coral reef died in 1998 due to a rise in water temperature, believed to be caused by global warming. When inspected a year later by marine biologists, no recovery was detected Fredrik Naumann/Panos Pictures

Over-fishing, pollution and climate change are causing irreversible damage to the world's marine areas.This is the conclusion of a recent report by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Conservation Union...

Underwater mountain houses marine treasures

The sea mount rises from the dark, abyssal depths; its crest in the shallow water reached by light bears vast expanses of rich marine life. Saba Bank Atoll, Netherlands Antilles. Diane Littler/ Conservation International

Scientists have discovered an underwater mountain harbouring some of the richest diversity of marine life in the Caribbean.

The Saba Bank Atoll, located in the Netherlands Antilles, is the third largest atoll in the world....

Rejuvenating the Sahelian parklands

Baobab trees growing in the Sahel, Mali. W. Easdown/ICRAF

Desertification, infertile soils and droughts that last for years are among the challenges facing nearly 50 million people living in the Sahel region of West Africa. One of the secrets to the people's survival is an indigenous...

Eucalypts and climate change diversity could suffer major impacts

Eucalypt plantations have increased dramatically over the years, and are an important source of revenue for communities around the world. ATSC/CSIRO

Recent studies predict that climate change poses a major threat to many eucalypts—tree species belonging to three closely related genera: Angophora, Corymbia and Eucalyptus.In 1996, ecologist Lesley Hughes and colleagues carried...

Cultivating peace through rice

Rwanda is the most densely populated country in Africa, with few natural resources besides arable land. WARDA

After many years, the hills of Rwanda are once again alive with the sound of music: farmers singing in the fields as they go about sowing and harvesting their crops.The anguished cries of the 1994 genocide, which resulted in the...

Mixed news on AIDS

Eighty-year-old Lozaj Nabitutilett looks after her six orphaned grandchildren in Uganda. Her five daughters all died of AIDS. Rob Cousins/Panos Pictures

Despite evidence that the global AIDS epidemic has begun to slow in some countries, the disease continues to have a devastating impact on agriculture around the world.HIV/AIDS typically strikes during a person's most productive...