Special Event: The Contribution of Biodiversity for Food and Agriculture to Resilience and
16th Session of the FAO Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (CGRFA 16)

The CGRFA 16 closing plenary convened on Friday afternoon where delegates adopted the meeting's report and reflected on the meeting's deliberations, including its decisions. Delegates made numerous amendments to ensure that the report adequately reflects the outcome of the deliberations held during the week, including on digital sequence information on genetic resources for food and agriculture, animal genetic resources and the MYPOW.

In their closing statements, all regions praised the Chair and the Secretariat for a successful meeting. They reiterated the important role that genetic resources can play in climate change adaptation and resilience and achieving the SDGs. Several expressed their appreciation for FAO’s enhanced efforts on biodiversity.

Chair Cho Chang Yeon thanked all participants and gaveled the meeting to a close at 7:17pm.

CGRFA 16 delegates met in plenary to hear reports from informal and contact group deliberations on the Report on the State of the World’s Biodiversity for Food and Agriculture (SOW-BFA); access and benefit sharing (ABS) and the Commission’s Strategic Plan and Multi-year Programme of Work 2018-2027 (MYPOW), followed by discussions on the draft strategic plan and MYPOW. They also discussed: cooperation with other international organization and agreements; other matters; and a draft resolution on the CGRFA’s contribution to the SDGs.

Deliberations on ABS were held in a contact group throughout the day and in plenary in the evening.

CGRFA 16 delegates met in plenary to continue discussing sectoral matters including: review of implementation of the second Global Plan of Action on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (GPA-PGR 2); preparation of the third report on the State of the World’s PGRFA (SOW-PGR 3); review of implementation of the GPA for the Conservation, Sustainable Use and Development of Forest Genetic Resources (GPA-FGR); and status of the Commission’s work on microorganisms and invertebrates.

The contact group on access and benefit-sharing (ABS) met at lunchtime and in the evening to discuss intersessional work on ABS elements in agricultural subsectors. The Committee on the Strategic Plan and Multi-year Programme of Work 2018-2027 met in the evening.

CGRFA 16 delegates met in plenary to continue discussing cross-sectoral matters, including: access and benefit-sharing (ABS) for genetic resources for food and agriculture (GRFA); review of the work programme on climate change and GRFA; and review of implementation of targets and indicators for GRFA.

Delegates also addressed sectoral issues, including: the outcomes of the first meeting of the Ad Hoc Intergovernmental Working Group on Aquatic Genetic Resources (ITWG-AQGR) and the draft of the first report on the State of the World’s Aquatic Genetic Resources (SOW-AQGR); the outcomes of the ninth meeting of the ITWG on Animal Genetic Resources (ANGR); and the review of implementation of the Global Plan of Action (GPA) on ANGR.

The open-ended Committee on the Commission’s Strategic Plan and Multi-year Programme of Work (MYPOW) 2018-2027 met in the evening.

The sixteenth session of the Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (CGRFA 16) opened on Monday, 30 January 2017, at the headquarters of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) in Rome, Italy. Delegates met in plenary to address cross-sectoral matters under the Commission’s Multi-Year Programme of Work (MYPOW), including the preparation of the report on the State of the World’s Biodiversity for Food and Agriculture (SOW-BFA); the role of genetic resources for food security; and access and benefit-sharing (ABS) for genetic resources for food and agriculture (GRFA). Delegates also agreed to establish an open-ended committee to discuss the Commission’s Strategic Plan 2018-2027 and elements to be included in the next version of the Commission’s MYPOW covering the same period.

Participants to the Special Event on the Contribution of Biodiversity for Food and Agriculture to Resilience, organized by the Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (CGRFA), discussed how biodiversity and ecosystem services help protect food production against the impact of long-term environmental changes and shocks created by natural and human-made disasters.

Approximately 120 attendees from government agencies, farmers, the private sector and civil society considered the role that biodiversity for food and agriculture can play for emergency relief, including how the conservation and sustainable use of plant, animal, forest and aquatic genetic resources can help address damage from disasters and contribute to disaster risk reduction (DRR).

The group agreed on several key messages to be transmitted to the CGRFA for further consideration, including the need for: better metrics for biodiversity and approaches to quantify the role of biodiversity and traditional knowledge for DRR and resilience; making genetic resource conservation an integral approach of agricultural resilience strategies; guidance on selecting, accessing and breeding appropriate genetic resources; more collaboration among agricultural sectors; investment in gene banks and breeding for DRR; and awareness raising. Participants also underlined that heterogenous landscapes provide better buffers in case of disasters because they deliver a wider variety of ecosystem services.