Genetic conservation at the grassroots level is aimed at needs that are not normally covered by large international germplasm centres or even national systems. Much of the work that has been done is at local level by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) with strong farmer participation and by grassroots movements such as community seed banking (FAO, 1996a). Most of the wild plant species that are used in local farm households have not received attention from the formal genetic resources sector, although in recent years more attention is being paid to so-called minor or underutilized crops (see p. 69 to 72) and to the wild relatives of major crops. The international centres and organizations such as FAO and the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI) should focus more attention on these grassroots needs and give assistance to farm households and local communities to help them obtain, maintain and conserve genetic material of their locally used crops and semi-domesticates. Conventional approaches to germplasm conservation have tended to concentrate on "conserving much and using little", but the interests of the small farmer are more likely to be served by making germplasm available than by storing it in gene banks for potential future use.
A number of groups have started organizing their own grassroots genetic resources programmes. Since most farm households in the developing world are cultivating plants under conditions that may be considered marginal, it may not be appropriate or possible to satisfy their needs through the traditional means of breeding for client farmers. A suggested alternative is breeding with partner farmers, which would involve deployment of advanced breeding materials, recombination with local materials and evaluation and selection by local farmers (FAO, 1996a).
In addition, it is essential to reinforce the rights of farmers:
While it is generally accepted that wild plants are best conserved in their natural habitats (in situ), genetic resources research on wild plants should be multidisciplinary and should integrate both in situ and ex situ approaches.
Wild species by definition form part of natural or semi-natural ecosystems and their exploitation, however sustainable, will inevitably have some effect on the biodiversity of these systems, leading to change or even loss. Utilization should therefore always go hand in hand with measures to ensure sustainability and conservation of the resource. Such measures include:
Conservation and genetic resource managers should recognize that in traditional farming systems, wild, semi-domesticated and cultivated plant species often form part of complex systems in which all components are interrelated. Such systems have been described as "gardens of chaos" in which evolution occurs as part of the ecology of the entire habitat. There is an argument for conserving such systems, such as home gardens, and not attempting to "clean" them into neat, well-ordered lines of crops as part of agricultural extension policy. Also important from a conservation viewpoint are areas of dynamic evolution where crops and their wild or weedy relatives on the crop margins continue to hybridize (Wilkes, 1991).
Wild plants are often components of farm households that are surviving at a subsistence level. There is enormous scope for enhancement of the wild plant component of such systems through the application of basic agro-ecological principles of diversity, adaptability and resilience, synergy, nutrient recycling and regeneration and conservation of resources (Thrupp, 1996, 1997; see Figure 8). In practice this entails:
FIGURE 8
Source: Thrupp, 1996. |
In home gardens, agricultural extension workers should:
Efforts to enhance diversity and productivity need to be complemented by improvements in the way the crop is harvested or gathered and subsequently stored, processed and handled. The following approaches (partly based on de Beer and McDermott, 1996) are recommended:
Marketing is often a limiting factor in improving farm income from the production of wild plants or their products. There is a need for:
The role of women in traditional farm systems must be given proper recognition. Not only do women provide the greater part of agricultural labour, but they have also developed general knowledge of local plant resources and specialized knowledge regarding their use, selection, conservation and management. Consultation with women should be included when development projects are being planned, to ensure that their special knowledge and particular needs are taken into account. Since women are custodians of traditional knowledge about the different uses of plants, methods of cultivation and cropping, selection, propagation, protection, harvesting and storage, it is important that they be consulted in the formulation of development and conservation policies and strategies and have a significant role in the development process. This is particularly true in regard to the place of wild plants in farm household systems.
One of the greatest difficulties affecting the use of wild species in agricultural development is a lack of basic information. The sheer numbers of species involved have prevented global surveys, so there is little appreciation by planners, developers and others of the extent of the use of wild species and the scale of the problems that their use entails. Emphasis must therefore be placed on national action and the local situation. In the analysis of local needs in relation to development projects for farm households, and also in the gathering of data for estimation of actual and potential contributions to farm households, the participation of local communities should be encouraged. Areas to explore could be the following:
Small-scale farmers have traditionally been responsible for the selection, conservation and development of the diversity of species on which they depend for many aspects of their livelihood. Research is needed into:
Hundreds of millions of people in a wide range of farm households in different regions of the world engage in activities involving wild plant species. These activities include wild-gathering, extractivism, cultivation, forestry, agroforestry, processing, trade and direct consumption. As already noted, many of the people thus engaged are rural farmers with few assets who live at or below poverty thresholds and use wild plants as part of their survival strategy.
The enhanced use of wild plant resources would provide greater income and food security, the possibility of development through small-scale investment, more profitable use of farm household labour and the avoidance or alleviation of poverty.
The role of wild plants, especially in rural farm households, is, however, very often ignored or underestimated by planners, policy-makers, aid and development agencies, banks, extension services, economists, agronomists, genetic resources organizations and others. This problem needs to be addressed in policy-making, since wild plants make an important contribution to rural and national economies, to local, national and world trade and to the material needs, income, employment and way of life of many millions of people throughout the world. To overlook them is to provide a distorted view of the situation.
Wild plants provide both on-farm and off-farm benefits to farm households. They may contribute throughout the year or seasonally, providing a buffer or alternative source of food or other needs in the case of crop shortages. Few cost-benefit analyses of the contribution of wild plants to farm household incomes have been made, largely because of the lack of data, but in the planning of farming system development projects for rural households, the role of wild plants needs to be assessed as far as possible. An attempt should be made to analyse the benefits obtained from wild plants; if they are diminished or lost as the result of a development project, the costs should be compared with the benefits obtained. In addition, the replacement costs of wild plants and their products should be assessed.
There is therefore an urgent need for a reorientation of policy to give increased attention to wild plants and their products. This in turn requires that extension workers, aid workers, agronomists, genetic resources specialists, planners and others become familiar with the role of wild plants in farming systems in general and in local economies in particular. They should make efforts to get to know the wild plants that are currently used in the areas concerned, how they are used and their economic and social roles, and they should seek ways of improving, where appropriate, the effectiveness and economic viability of such use.
Wild plants and their roles in farm systems have to be viewed holistically as part of a complex matrix of agro-ecosystems and biodiversity in which some species are wild, some incipient domesticates, some semi-domesticated and some cultivated on a small scale, with the boundaries between home or kitchen gardens and native vegetation often difficult to define. Wild plants are rarely exploited as a main occupation or source of income but form a variable component of the many activities that make up the economy of farm households.
It should be recognized that in traditional land use systems, such as agroforestry and home gardens, swidden cultivation, extractivism, agropastoralism, cropland, pasture and woodland are integrated and they should not be separated.
In line with the Seville Strategy for Biosphere Reserves drawn up at the International Conference on Biosphere Reserves in Seville, Spain in 1995, one of the management objectives of biosphere reserves and other protected areas should be to secure the support and involvement of local people, in particular through:
At the national level:
Aid and development agencies should:
The following elements have been suggested for inclusion in a protocol for species introduction (Richardson, 1996):
One of the greatest challenges for the development of wild plant resources is to introduce and apply suitable management systems. They are the key to the sustainable use of natural resources and should follow sound economic principles and take into account property rights, land tenure, local traditions and social history, environmental legislation, accountability, democratic decision-making and monitoring (cf. Prescott-Allen and Prescott-Allen, 1996). Various models have been proposed such as:
Any plan of action for enhancing the sustainable use of wild plant resources by local farm households must be tailored to the specific needs of the particular situation. As this brief account has tried to demonstrate, the detailed ways in which plant resources are gathered and used by farm households vary enormously from area to area and from region to region, and models that are effective in one location may not be suitable in another for scientific, technical, technological, social, historical and legal reasons. The examples given in this book should provide guidance to governments, aid workers, agricultural extension experts and of course farmers themselves regarding the choice of elements to include in a plan of action. Despite the difficulties involved, the parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity should give urgent attention to commissioning a strategy and plan of action that would acknowledge the fundamental importance of wild species in the lives of so many of the world's inhabitants, especially the rural poor, and that would propose concrete action for the maintenance, enhancement and sustainable use of these vital biological resources.
