Publications

Proceedings of the International Workshop on Access and Benefit-Sharing for Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture
06/2018
The International Workshop on Access and Benefit-Sharing for Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, addressed one of the key challenges policy-makers face in the development and implementation of access and benefit-sharing measures.

Voluntary guidelines for the conservation and sustainable use of crop wild relatives and wild food plants
09/2017
These Guidelines are aimed as reference material for national governments conservation and sustainable use preparing a National Plan for the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Crop Wild Relatives and Wild Food Plants. The focus is on in situ conservation and fostering linkages between it and the ex situ conservation and ultimately, the use of CWR and wild food plants.

Voluntary Guidelines for Mainstreaming Biodiversity into Policies, Programmes and National and Regional Plans of Action on Nutrition
12/2016
The Guidelines aim to support countries in the development of nutrition-sensitive agriculture practices that consider the nutrient composition of biodiversity for food and agriculture to address malnutrition in all its forms.

Proceedings of the FAO International Symposium on the Role of Agricultural Biotechnologies in Sustainable Food Systems and Nutrition
07/2016
The proceedings provide the main highlights of the symposium which covered a broad range of biotechnologies, from low-tech approaches such as those involving use of microbial fermentation processes, biofertilizers, biopesticides and artificial insemination, to high-tech approaches such as those involving advanced DNA-based methodologies and genetically modified organisms.

Guidelines for Development of Integrated Multipurpose Animal Recording Systems
05/2016
These guidelines focus prim arily upon the process rather than the methods and the technology (e.g. details of the equipment and measurements), since the latter is sufficiently covered by other guidelines. Where necessary, the guidelines are formulated to suit low or medium input production environments.

Guidelines for Developing a National Strategy for Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture
11/2015
These guidelines shall assist countries to implement the Second GPA in harmony with other relevant national and international commitments. Cognizant of each country’s needs, capacities and constraints, national strategies for PGRFA should identify a national vision, goals and objectives, and the corresponding plan of action, including responsibilities, resources, and timeframes for activities relevant to the conservation and sustainable use of PGRFA.

Voluntary guide for national seed policy formulation
09/2015
This guide explains what seed policies are and how they differ from seed laws; describes the participatory process of seed policy formulation; the nature and layout of seed policy documents; key elements contained in seed policies; and addresses issues involved in their implementation.

Voluntary guidelines to support the integration of genetic diversity into national climate change adaptation planning
09/2015
The Guidelines address the genetic resources dimension of adaptation planning. They take into account the characteristics of different genetic resources for food and agriculture, which face different challenges and opportunities in respect to climate change.

The Second Report on the State of the World’s Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture
07/2015
This report draws on 129 country reports, it presents an analysis of the state of livestock diversity, the influence of livestock-sector trends on the management of animal genetic resources, the state of capacity to manage animal genetic resources, including legal and policy frameworks, and the state of the art in tools and methods for characterization, valuation, use, development and conservation.

Coping with Climate Change – The Roles of Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture
12/2014
At the request of the Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, FAO prepared thematic studies on the interactions between climate change and plant, animal, forest, aquatic, invertebrate and micro-organism genetic resources. This publication summarizes the results of these studies.