Highlights for Wednesday, 20 February 2019
A photography exhibition titled 'Guardians of Seeds' highlights the important role that subsistence farmers play in maintaining biodiversity while ensuring food security
On Wednesday, delegates continued their deliberations on plant, forest, animal and micro-organism and invertebrate genetic resources for food and agriculture (GRFA).Highlights of the day included:
A debate on the implications of seed policies and regulations for on-farm conservation;
A discussion on a proposed guide for the implementation of genebank standards for plant GRFA;
A review of the implementation the Global Plan of Action on Forest Genetic Resources (GPA-FGR);
An update on the preparation of the second report on the State of the World’s Animal Genetic Resources (SOW-AnGR);
Discussions on guidelines for sustainable livestock value chains and methods for valuing ecosystem services provided by livestock; and
An initial discussion on future work on micro-organisms and invertebrate GRFA.
In contact groups, delegates also continued discussions on follow-up to the report on the State of the World’s Biodiversity for Food and Agriculture (SOW-BFA), access and benefit-sharing (ABS) and “digital sequence information” (DSI) on GRFA.For more details on the day's events and to hear what delegates said in the corridors, see our daily Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB).
IISD Reporting Services, through its Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB) Meeting Coverage, provided daily web coverage, daily reports, and a summary and analysis report from the 17th Session of the FAO Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. The summary and analysis report is now available in HTML and PDF.
Photos by IISD/ENB | Kiara Worth
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Morning Plenary
View of the dais during the morning plenary
Axel Diederichsen, Canada
John Wasswa Mulumba, Uganda
Shawn McGuire, Plant Production and Protection Division, FAO
Mario Marino, International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGR)
Aulikki Hulmi, Finland
Hedwig De Coo, Oxfam Novib
William Wigmore, CGRFA 17 Chair
Svanhild-Isabelle Batta Torheim, Norway
Kudzai Kusena, Zimbabwe
Stefano Diulgheroff, Plant Production and Protection Division, FAO
Afternoon Plenary
Delegates during the afternoon plenary
Paul Boettcher, Animal Production Officer, FAO
Sipke Joost Hiemstra, Chair, Intergovernmental Technical Working Group on Animal Genetic Resources
Bounthong Bouahom, Lao People's Democratic Republic
Elżbieta Martyniuk, Poland
Duangduen Sripotar, Thailand
Hussain Ali Soaud, Iraq
Patricia Mayuni, Malawi
Tammi Jonas, International Planning Committee for Food Sovereignty
Christine Dawson, US
Jean-Marie Batiebo, Burkina Faso
Contact Groups throughout the Day
Open-ended contact group on Agenda Item 7 - the State of the World’s Biodiversity for Food and Agriculture
Contact group on DSI
Around the Venue
Delegates speak informally before the start of the meeting
Delegates from South Africa
Delegates from Canada and the US
Salah Chouaki, Algeria, speaks with delegates
Dan Leskien, CGRFA Secretariat, speaks with Irene Hoffmann, CGRFA Secretary, FAO
Delegates from Belarus
Facilitators of the the contact group on biodiversity
Delegates speak informally
David Cooper, CBD Deputy Executive Secretary