Vernooy, R. 200. Seeds that Give: Participatory plant breeding. IDRC. ISBN 1-55250-014-4. 100 pp.Today’s agriculture is like a huge inverted pyramid; globally, it rests on a precariously narrow base. Less than three percent of the 250 000 plant varieties available to agriculture are in use today. The top-down system of agricultural research, where farmers are seen merely as recipients of research rather than as participants in it, has contributed to this dependence on a relatively few plant varieties. This trend, and the increasing industrialization of agriculture, are key factors in what can only be called genetic erosion.A new approach to agricultural research and development is needed in order to conserve agricultural diversity, improve crops, and produce food of quality for all. This publication examines this new approach to agricultural research in light of 10 years of support by IDRC for projects promote agricultural biodiversity and participatory plant breeding. It examines key issues in detail, from the research questions, design of on-farm research to farmers’ and plant breeders’ rights. It argues for the development of new, supportive policies and legislation. A series of project stories illustrates how farmers and plant breeders are working together in remote regions from the Andes to the Himalayas and beyond. Analysing the results — both the successes and the shortcomings — of a decade of research, the author comes up with a series of specific recommendations for governments and organizations involved in agricultural research and development. Finally the author takes a speculative look 10 years into the future of participatory plant breeding.This book also serves as the focal point for an IDRC thematic web site on participatory plant breeding: www.idrc.ca/seeds. The full text is available online and leads the reader into a virtual web of resources that explores a decade of research on agrobiodiversity and participatory plant breeding.

Pound, B., S. Snapp, C. McDougall and A. Braun (Eds). 2003. Managing Natural Resources for Sustainable Livelihoods: Uniting Science and Participation. Earthscan/IDRC.Management of local resources has a greater chance of a sustainable outcome when there is partnership between local people and external agencies, and agendas relevant to their aspirations and circumstances. Managing Natural Resources for Sustainable Livelihoods analyses and extends this premise to show unequivocally that the process of research for improving natural resource management must incorporate participatory and user-focused approaches, leading to development based on the needs and knowledge of local resource users.Drawing on extensive and highly relevant case studies, this book presents innovative approaches for establishing and sustaining participation and collective decision-making, good practice for research, and challenges for future developments. It covers a wide range of natural resources – including forests and soils, and water and management units such as watersheds and common property areas and provides practical lessons from analysis and meta-analysis of cases from Asia, Africa and Latin America. It offers insights on how to make research participatory while maintaining rigour and high-quality biological science, different forms of participation, and ways to scale up and extend participatory approaches and successful initiatives.This book will be invaluable for those professionally involved in natural resource management for sustainable development, and an essential resource for teachers and students of both the biophysical and social science aspects of natural resource management.

Aarnink, W., S. Bunning, L. Collette, P.Mulvany. 1998. Sustaining Agricultural Biodiversity and Agro-ecosystem functions: Opportunities, incentives and approaches for the conservation and sustainable use of agricultural biodiversity in agro-ecosystems and production systems . Report of International Technical Workshop organized by FAO and the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, with the support of the Government of the Netherlands. 2 - 4 December 1998, FAO, Rome, Italy.

Almekinders, C., 2003. Institutional changes for integrated manament of agricultural biodiversity. In: CIP-UPWARD, Conservation and sustainable use of agricultural biodiversity: a sourcebook. International Potato Center. Users' Perspectives with Agricultural Research and Development, Los Banos, Laguna, Philippines. p. 571-577.Recognition alone of the importance of agricultural biodiversity is not enough for its effective use and conservation. Farmers’ skills and capacity for sustainable agricultural production and access to resources must be developed. Agricultural research and development institutions must review their approaches and activities to support agricultural biodiversity management. Furthermore, linkages among institutions must be established and collaborative efforts must be sustained. Such undertaking also entails change within the organizational structure and culture of involved plant genetic resources (PGR) institutes. It asks for a different institutional culture in which there is space for participatory approaches and mutual learning.

Almekinders, C.J.M. (comp.), 2002. Incentive measures for sustainable use and conservation of agrobiodiversity. Experiences and lessons from Southern Africa. Proceedings of a workshop, Lusaka, Zambia, 11-14 September 2001.These proceedings share the results of a Workshop that was the first of its kind in the SADC region dealing with identification of incentive measures to enhance the sustainable use and conservation of agrobiodiversity. The subject ‘incentive measures’ was chosen because of its high political importance. Article 11 of the Convention of Biological Diversity stipulates that “Each contracting party shall as far as possible and as appropriate, adopt economically and socially sound measures that act as incentives for the conservation and sustainable use of components of biological diversity”. This implies that contracting parties need to implement incentive measures. Other articles of the CBD are of importance, e.g. Art.13 (provision of information), art.15 (benefit sharing), and Art. 16 (technology transfer). Despite a growing global awareness of the importance of agrobiodiversity little attention has been paid to the need for incentive measures to manage agricultural genetic resources such that they can play a role in poverty alleviation and sustainable development. Next to incentives for farmers, this workshop wanted to specifically include the need for incentives that indirectly support farmers’ use of agrobiodiversity, such as in marketing, policy, education and public awareness. The introductory part of the proceedings contains an introduction to the workshop by the organizing group, the workshop statement by the participants, and the opening addresses. The following part of the proceedings contains the papers underlying keynote and case presentations in the workshop.

Van Mele, P. (ed.) 2003. Way Out of the Woods: Learning How to Manage Trees and Forests. CPLPress, Newbury, UK, pp. 143.The Way Out of the Woods is an account of how the success of forestry and agroforestry projects in Nepal, Kenya and Bolivia depends on understanding biological, social and cultural diversity and applying this knowledge to meet the needs of rural people.The solutions to sustainable management lie in using local and scientific knowledge. ISBN 1-872691-67-6