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NordGen Participate in International Congress on Plant Genetic Resources in Kigali

Date: 2017.10.31

Oil, diamonds and coal are natural resources you probably are familiar with. But did you know that fresh air, clean water and plants are part of this category as well? Right now, NordGen participate in an international conference to discuss how we are to ensure that the global community can all benefit from the plants’ genetic resources – and who has the access to and can benefit from this important natural resource.

Right before eating your cereals this morning, maybe you put on your favourite sweater. After lunch you perhaps got a wee bit of a headache, and took a painkiller. And after fetching your kids at the newly built pre-school you gave them some bananas and wrote a shopping list on a piece of paper.

Plants gives us shelter, fresh air, fuel and medicines. They are vital for our survival, not the least for producing food. When living in a society of surplus, food is easily taken for granted. But for the first time in a decade, the number of hungry in the world is rising, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, FAO.

– The good news is there are concrete efforts afoot to reduce current impacts and prevent possible disasters through the responsible management, use and sharing of the benefits from the world’s life-giving food plants, the organisation states.

NordGen in Kigali

NordGen director, Lise Lykke Steffensen, is now in Kigali to attend the Seventh Session of the Governing Body of International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources. The treaty is a global pact, where the member parties, for example countries, NGO’s and experts, work together to conserve and facilitate the sustainable use of the world’s plant diversity for food and agriculture. Through the International Treaty, members work together to ensure the availability of basic material needed to grow food, fibre and other plant based products. As an example, NordGen, as well as other gene banks throughout the world, are committed to provide genetic material for research, training and other purposes for food and agriculture.

– The world is challenged with a changing climate that impact our agricultural systems and we need new genetic traits to find sustainable solutions for the future. In Kigali, we are working on optimisations of the current global systems to further facilitate access to crop diversity and share the benefits arising from these resources, says Lise Lykke Steffensen.

Svalbard Global Seed Vault in side event

Whilst in Rwanda, NordGen will also host a side event about Svalbard Global Seed Vault, along with the Norwegian Government and Crop Trust.

– We are to give a summary on the ten first and amazing years of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. Since 2008 we have safeguarded almost one million seed samples and taken important steps for the food security of our world, Lise Lykke Steffensen says.

The Seventh Session of the Governing Body of the International Treaty is held in Kigali, Rwanda, from 30 October to 3 November 2017.

Read more about the event at FAO’s web.