Faced with the dual threat of climate change and biodiversity loss, crop improvement programs are straining to contribute to sustained global food and nutrition security. Innovation is needed to increase their efficiency, reducing the time required to develop crop varieties and improve their adoption and dissemination by farmers.
Participatory plant breeding (PPB), the active participation by farmers in plant breeding efforts, has great potential to contribute to this process of innovation. It is proven to strengthen seed systems by empowering communities to create and improve the varieties they need.
On March 30, 2021, Oxfam’s SD=HS program will host a first international workshop designed to strengthen the recognition and role of smallholder farmers in plant breeding. We are extremely pleased to welcome to the workshops a diverse group of participants from many backgrounds –farmers, breeders, researchers, donors, NGOs, private sector, and international and national agricultural research systems – who all share this long-term objective.
Three workshops
This first workshop is part of a series of three which build on each other. The emphasis is on discussion and participation, rather than on presentations: to ensure equal space to contribute, we will invite some participants to take the lead in sharing their views on the first day, and the others on the second day.
- 1st workshop, March 30th, 2021: Finding common ground for large-scale collaborative development work on breeding and seed systems. Discussions will be based on the perspectives of farmers/practitioners and donors
- 2nd workshop: Elaborating on key elements that need to be addressed to enable transformative collaboration around breeding and seed system development. Discussions based on experiences of researchers from NARS, CGIAR and NGOs
- 3rd workshop: Working together on joint program development, either by developing a single program proposal or creating explicit and strong links between complementary programs. Oxfam Novib will facilitate bilateral conversations among interested stakeholders in between workshops.
More information?
Please contact Stephanie May or Anita Dohar
