People benefit from ecosystems in many ways, these are known as ecosystem services. In agriculture, these services include pollination, the provision of clean water, natural pest and disease control, nutrient cycling and more.
Yet despite the importance of ecosystem services to farming communities, markets, policies and research often focus on specialization and economies of scale where biodiversity is seen as an impediment to crop productivity and farm income.
Solution
Bioversity International researches how agricultural biodiversity can improve the provision of ecosystem services to create productive and resilient agricultural ecosystems.
We work at both the genetic, farm and landscape scale to develop solutions with multiple stakeholders by encouraging dialogue and the use of traditional and scientific knowledge systems.
