Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture

The Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture is an intergovernmental forum, originally established by FAO in 1983 as the Commission on Plant Genetic Resources to deal with issues related only to plant genetic resources for food and agriculture. Since 1995, as a result of the expanded mandate agreed as a result of the coming into force of the Convention on Biological Diversity, the work of the Commission covers all components of biodiversity of relevance to food and agriculture - plants, animals, forests, aquatic and marine flora and fauna, invertebrates and micro-organisms. This biodiversity for food and agriculture includes "the biological diversity present in or of importance to agricultural, pastoral, forest and aquatic production systems. It encompasses the variety and variability of animals, plants, [invertebrates ] and micro-organisms at the genetic, species and ecosystem levels that sustain the structure, functions and processes of production systems. This diversity has been managed or influenced by farmers, pastoralists, forest dwellers and fisherfolk for hundreds of generations and reflects the diversity of both human activities and natural processes." [1]

The Commission's membership is 177 countries and the European Union.

The Commission is the only permanent forum for governments to discuss and negotiate matters specifically relevant to biological diversity for food and agriculture, including policies for the sustainable use and conservation of genetic resources for food and agriculture and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits derived from their use. Since its establishment, the Commission has overseen global assessments of the state of the world’s genetic resources for food and agriculture and negotiated major international instruments.

In 2001, after seven years of negotiations in the Commission, the FAO Conference adopted the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (Resolution 3/2001), a legally binding treaty that covers all plant genetic resources for food and agriculture, recognises Farmers’ Rights and establishes a Multilateral System to facilitate access to plant genetic resources for food and agriculture, and to share the benefits derived from their use in a fair and equitable way.

The Commission has adopted global assessments, and associated Global Plans of Actions,[2] of the state of the world’s plant,[3] animal[4] and forest genetic resources,[5] is preparing an assessment on aquatic genetic resources for food and agriculture, and is embarking on a landmark assessment of the State of the World's Biodiversity for Food and Agriculture, due to be finalised in 2017. The latter will be a significant contribution by FAO to the United Nations Decade on Biodiversity.

In 2013, the Commission celebrated 30 years with a series of meetings and events. A number of related interviews and presentations have been posted on its website.

References

  1. ↑ Definition provided in the introduction to the webpage about the preparation of the State of the World's Biodiversity for Food and Agriculture www.fao.org/nr/cgrfa/biodiversity/sowbfa/en/
  2. ↑ Global Plan of Action for the conservation, sustainable use and development of forest genetic resources. Rome: FAO. 2014.
  3. ↑ The second report on the state of the world's plant genetic resources for food and agriculture. Rome: FAO. 2010.
  4. ↑ The state of the world's animal genetic resources for food and agriculture. Rome: FAO. 2007.
  5. ↑ The state of the world's forest genetic resources. Rome: FAO. 2014.

External Sources