An Introduction to abc Newsletter


Welcome to the first issue of abc Newsletter!


Agricultural Biodiversity Community (abc) was initiated as part of a joint Hivos and Oxfam Novib Knowledge Programme, Agrobiodiversity@knowledged, initiated in 2011. This Knowledge Programme aims to break through the barriers that limit the scaling up, institutional embedding and horizontal extension of practices that build on agricultural biodiversity for improved livelihoods and resilient food systems. abc was constituted by diverse organisations and individuals working on agricultural biodiversity with millions of farmers worldwide, where evidence and insights are generated, shared and tested. The knowledge programme aims to synthesise knowledge from a local to a global scale, conduct research on approaches and analytical frameworks that provide new perspectives on agricultural biodiversity and its role in resilient socio-ecological food systems, and improve horizontal and vertical knowledge flows towards positive change and transformation.


The priority areas of abc are, i) Seeds, breeds and technology, ii) Markets and trade, iii) Policy and governance, iv) Information networks and v) Resilient communities. One of the five strategies-cum-goals of abc is ‘Knowledge exchange’. The members of abc exchange information, ideas, evidence and insights on changes, successes, failures, challenges, and opportunities for agricultural biodiversity conservation, use and development. Through this exchange, members learn from the experience of people and organisations with diverse disciplinary, geographical and cultural perspectives, build the evidence base for a transformation towards agricultural-biodiversity-based food production systems and advance action agendas.


To aid in this process, an e-Newsletter is being published. It will aid in exchange of information and knowledge within and outside the abc. The e-Newsletter will be shared among the members through D-group and will be uploaded to the abc website. We solicit your support and contribution to publish this e-Newsletter in a timely manner.


Happy reading!




Uncultivated Edible Greens (UCG)– A Less Explored Aspect of Contribution of Small Millet Cropping Systems (SMCS) for Nutrition of Poor Rural Families in India

Using participatory method, a study was done as part of an action research project ‘Revalorising Small Millets in Rainfed Regions of South Asia (RESMISA) to document uncultivated greens, understand the trend in consumption of such greens, local recipes and how the knowledge related to uncultivated greens gets transmitted across generations.

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Cultivating a Healthy, Bio-diverse Food System: Bringing Agricultural Biodiversity into the Centre of CBD Implementation

Commenting on the 19th technical meeting held by Convention on Biological Diversity in preparation for the next Conference of the Parties(COP) in December 2016 in Cancun, Mexico, this article provides feed-forward to reinstate the implementation of agricultural biodiversity decisions as a major action for the Convention.


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Biodiversity Conservation in the Himalaya Mountains of India


The central Himalayas in the state of Uttarakhand in India are well-known for their biodiversity, not only in wild vegetation but also in agricultural crops. Social, economic and climate change factors have been eroding the agricultural biodiversity in recent years.



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Climate Change Adaptation in Rural Areas of India

This demonstration project was realised under the Indo-German development project Climate Change Adaptation in Rural Areas of India (CCA RAI) which is jointly implemented by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, Government of India and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. CCA RAI is financed by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. For further information see: www.ccarai.org

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Using Agricultural Biodiversity and Farmers' Knowledge to Adapt Crops to Climate Change

The first participatory-evolutionary breeding programme done in Iran has demonstrated not only the agronomic advantages of cultivating diversity in the form of evolutionary populations such as better control of pests and hence reduced or no need for chemicals, but also the empowerment of farmers in the management of biodiversity and their independence in seed supply.



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Tank Ecosystem Services for Poverty Alleviation

Southern peninsular India accounts for a large number of Tanks (earthen bunded small storage reservoirs formed in the natural depressions of the land by human intervention). In addition to supporting millions of farmers in this semi arid region for their crops and cattle, the Tanks also serve as home for rich fauna and flora. These tanks need continuous upkeep and there are challenges to conserve them.



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Agricultural Biodiversity Community (abc) attends Resilience Dialogue – Addis Ababa

A group of ABC members met in Addis Ababa on 12-17 November 2015 for a resilience dialogue and to test the Communities Self-Assessing Resilience (CSAR) tool that the Resilient Communities subgroup has been developing.

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Protection of the Ankole Long Horn Cattle of Uganda

An outcome story of a project implemented to promote and protect the Ankole Long Horn cattle by empowering the breeders and keepers of the breed to protect it themselves in Uganda.



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Bringing "With Our Own Hands" back to the Pamirs

A celebration of food and life in the Pamir mountains of Afghanistan and Tajikistan





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Communities Self-Assessing Resilience

abc working group on resilience has developed a tool and process for communities to reflect on/assess resilience in agricultural biodiversity contexts. DHAN Foundation conducted a trial on Communities Self-Assessing Resilience (CSAR) for climate change adaptation in one of its rainfed farming project locations in India. This report shares the experience in the process and learning from the exercise for further value addition.

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