Phase 1

Project Activities

Within the national projects various field activities were undertaken involving a considerable number of crops (rice, maize, sorghum, beans, potatoes and other root and tuber crops; indigenous vegetables and medicinal plants) and farming systems (irrigated and rain-fed, traditional or modern, integrated or organic). Several of The following activities were central to the national projects:

inventory and study of existing genetic diversity (farmers' varieties);
development of documentation systems and seed databases;
development of community seed banks;
promotion of a wider use of biodiversity;
participatory variety selection using stable lines from the informal and formal sector;
promotion of participatory plant breeding using segregating plant populations;
increasing awareness of the value of agro-biodiversity;
strengthening the sustainable utilization of non-domesticated and semi-domesticated biodiversity, including forest resources;
linking experiences from the formal and informal sectors and promoting recognition and attention for the role of on-farm conservation by the informal sector in education and public relations;
addressing the role of gender in the conservation and utilization of agrobiodiversity and targeting project activities to all stakeholders involved, including female farmers.