This five-year project (2012-2017) aims to strengthen biocultural innovation for food security in the face of climate change, in China, India, Kenya and Peru.

Much of the world's agrobiodiversity has been lost in the last century due to the spread of modern agriculture. Only about 30 crops now provide 95% of all human diet (FAO). The pockets of crop diversity that remain, which are often sustained by indigenous people and small-scale farmers, are vital for food security because they provide options for adaptation, now and in the future. These local varieties (or landraces), are adapted to the natural and cultural environment, are often more resilient than modern crops, and are continuing to co-evolve with farmers to adapt to change. But this diversity is in steady decline and innovation by small-scale farmers is weakening as a result of top down research and development in agriculture, which undermines their capacity to adapt.