“Agrobiodiversity: a tool forcoping with the impacts of
climate change”
Toby HodgkinPlatform for Agrobiodiversity Research
IFAD, October, 2008
1st Stakeholder meetingRome, Italy - May 2006
• NARS, IARC, CSO, practitioners, universities, networks, UN agencies
• Topics:Platform aims, objectives, governance, activities, resources, operations
Platform goal
“To enhance the sustainable management and use of agrobiodiversity for meeting human needs by improving our knowledge of all its different aspects”
Platform objectives• Support development of an adequate
knowledge base
• Identify ways in which agrobiodiversity can contribute to global challenges
• Identify and facilitate new research partnerships
• Avoid duplication• Support integration and synthesis of
knowledge from different areas• Identify knowledge gaps• Involve farmers and communities, respect
and strengthen traditional knowledge• Respond to international agendas• Multidisciplinarity• Link custodians, managers and
beneficiaries
Some key features
Platform activities• Supporting linkages and sharing experiences• Exchanging information• Providing discussion fora• Supporting preparation of reviews• Making information available• Identifying policy issues• Making available methodologies and good
practices• Strengthening research collaboration• Supporting cross cutting research and new
partnerships
Platform focal areas
• Global issues• agrobiodiversity & hunger, malnutrition • climate change, desertification, bird flu• sustainable agriculture
• Strengthen knowledge in cooperation with farmers• role of agrobiodiversity in intensification• tools to help monitor, manage and use
agrobiodiversity
• Develop agrobiodiversity knowledge• combine different components of agrobiodiversity• ecosystem approach• capture value of agrobiodiversity at different levels
Building the Platform
www.agrobiodiversityplatform.org
To become a member, sign in on the web site or contact:
Toby Hodgkin, [email protected]
Paul [email protected]
Quelle: http://www.grida.no/climate/ipcc_tar/slides/ppt/05.19.ppt (courtesy Axel Drescher)
Reality and scale of climate change
Jarvis, FAO meeting, 2008
What do the 21 models say?
Jarvis, FAO meeting, 2008
Guarino, FAO Meeting, 2008
Magnitude of Climate Change
Agrobiodiversity, or agricultural biodiversity, includes all the variability among living organisms contributing to food and agriculture.
This includes the diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems.
Agrobiodiversity
The nature and extent of Threats– agro-ecosystems and landscapes
Source: Pinedo
Biodiversity benefits to agriculture through ecosystem services
Provisioning Regulating Supporting Cultural
Food and nutrientsFuelAnimal feedMedicinesFibres and clothMaterials for industryGenetic material for improved varieties and yieldsPest resistance
Pest regulationErosion controlClimate regulationNatural hazard regulation (droughts, floods and fire)Pollination
Soil formationSoil protectionNutrient cyclingWater cycling
Sacred groves as food and water sourcesAgricultural lifestyle varietiesGenetic material reservoirsPollinator sanctuaries
The functions of agrobiodiversity
• Production and productivity• Coping with biotic and abiotic stresses• Stability and risk management• Maintaining regulating and supporting services
in agro-ecosystems• Resilience• Nutrition and health• Maintaining adaptability and the capacity for
change
Agrobiodiversity and climate change
What the IPCC has yet to deal with – the missing phrase in the WG reports………
“agricultural biodiversity”
Species Change in area of distribution (%)
Predicted state in 2055
batizocoi -100 Extinctcardenasii -100 Extinctcorrentina -100 Extinctdecora -100 Extinctdiogoi -100 Extinctduranensis -91 Threatenedglandulifera -17 Stablehelodes -100 Extincthoehnii -100 Extinctkempff-mercadoi -69 Near-Threatenedkuhlmannii -100 Extinctmagna -100 Extinctmicrosperma -100 Extinctpalustris -100 Extinctpraecox -100 Extinctstenosperma -86 Threatenedvillosa -51 Near-Threatened
Potential threats of climate change –wild peanuts
Aboveground: planned, managed biodiversity
(potentially mobile)
Belowground: unplanned, unmanaged biodiversity
(not mobile)
From Louise Jackson, FAO meeting, 2008
Impacts of climate change on crops
From Lobell et al., 2008
From Lobell et al., 2007
Types of loss• Direct environmental changecrop wild relatives, NUS, livestock breeds,
useful species• Variability and stochastic eventsespecially local breeds and varieties• Mismatches Pollinators, insect distribution patterns,
crop/livestock distribution• Trophic decouplingSoil organisms