EGM on SDG 2: Patricia Goulart Bustamante Statement

Patricia Goulart Bustamante, Researcher, Brazilian Agricultural Research Company (Embrapa)

Session 5: Target 2.5 0 Maintain genetic diversity

Brazil is a country of incredible biodiversity, but what you might not know is that we also have rich sociobiodiversity. We have over 230 indigenous peoples speaking 180 different languages, and at least 27 recognized traditional communities. Their knowledge is a cornerstone of Brazilian identity, and it's crucial for the diversity and resilience of our crops in the face of climate change.

In 2015, the Biodiversity Law (Law 13.123/2015) was enacted, but controversies over access to traditional knowledge and benefit sharing remain. This is especially true when considering biodiversity conservation from its main "artifacts" (seeds, seedlings, semen/embryos, etc.) without considering the cultural dimension allied to the agro-eco-biological complexity of genetic diversity conservation.

Since 2015, in an unprecedented move, the Brazilian Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Agriculture have been working together to implement what we could call a "cultural-agricultural" patrimonialization and conservation policy.

Embrapa researchers are working in partnership with the National Institute of Historic and Artistic Heritage (IPHAN) to identify Agricultural Systems managed by Traditional Peoples and Communities. These systems can become allies of in situ/on farm biodiversity conservation. Instead of focusing on the conservation of seeds and seedlings, the focus will be on the conservation of the "systemic whole" of Agricultural Systems, including their cultural aspects, such as food culture.

Brazil has made progress in this sense, with the establishment of the National Program for Intangible Heritage in its Ministry of Culture. A Decree signed in 2000 allows for the valorization of traditional cultivation systems, enabling their registration as Brazilian intangible heritage.

It is important to emphasize that the target of patrimonialization is the process involved in the production of agricultural knowledge, and not the genetic material that results from it. The registration of agricultural systems allows for a better understanding of local processes that can broaden diversity and recognize local know-how, protecting them as Intangible Heritage.

Brazil already has two registered Agricultural Systems as Intangible Cultural Heritage: the first in the Amazon, in the Upper Rio Negro region, known for its cassava diversity, and the second in the State of São Paulo in quilombola territory (remnants of slave resistance areas) that conserves the biodiversity of various crops.

The FAO's Globally Important Agriculture Heritage Systems (GIAHS) Program has also contributed, at the local level, to this systemic vision of biodiversity conservation. The program considers 5 criteria for recognizing a system as a world agricultural heritage:

1. Food security;
2. Biodiversity conservation;
3. Traditional knowledge;
4. Culture and social organization;
5. Landscape management.

In Brazil, only one Traditional Agricultural System has been recognized as GIAHS, located in the Serra do Espinhaço, in the region of the city of Diamantina, in the state of Minas Gerais. Two other applications are under evaluation.

In 2024, the Brazilian government created a task force aimed at installing a National Recognition Program for Traditional Agricultural Systems, called NIAHS (National Important Agricultural Heritage Systems), which is studying including a new criterion in addition to those already considered by the GIAHS Program: the Food Culture criterion, which has the potential to raise awareness among the population about the value of healthy food to a larger number of Brazilians.

It is important to highlight that the Food and Nutrition Security Council was recreated in Brazil in 2023 within the General Secretariat of the Presidency of the Republic. The Council upholds food sovereignty as a crucial principle, which entails the right of peoples to define their own policies with autonomy over what to produce, for whom to produce, and under what conditions to produce.

Food sovereignty means guaranteeing the sovereignty of farmers, fishermen and fisherwomen, among other groups, over their culture and the goods of nature. It also ensures their participation in socio-economically sustainable agrifood systems.

Achieving food and nutrition security requires intersectoral actions to guarantee:

1. Access to urban and rural land and territory;
2. Access to natural resources, including seeds;
3. Access to water for consumption and food production;
4. Adequate public health, education, and transportation services, among others;
5. Actions to prevent and control obesity;
6. Strengthening of family farming and organic and agroecological production;
7. Protection of agroextractivist systems;
8. Specific actions for indigenous peoples, black populations, quilombolas, and traditional peoples and communities.

For a healthy diet, we must recognize the essential role of family farming, peasants, and traditional peoples and communities in the conservation of biodiversity.

I would like to highlight a recent decree issued by the Brazilian presidency on March 5, 2024, which established the composition of the BASIC FOOD BASKET with more in natura or minimally processed foods. This change aims to promote health, protect the environment, and generate income for small rural producers.

With this change, the basic food basket will include more foods from the Brazilian biodiversity, expanding its conservation and offering alternatives in the menu that diversify food and cultivation. This seeks to address the current food monotony, where six products (rice, wheat, corn, potatoes, soybeans, and sugarcane) account for more than 75% of the vegetable calories offered globally.