This workshop put on in collaboration with Bioversity International and LI-BIRD aims to bring together custodian farmers from across Nepal that specialize in the conservation of NUS along with plant genetic resources experts, gender specialists, and policy experts in order to pursue three specific objectives, viz:

Developing tools, mechanisms and intervention options to support custodian farmers in the safeguarding of crop diversity and knowledge.

Options to be covered will include, inter alia, facilitating linkages between the CSBs and custodian farmers to strengthen the maintenance, adaptation and promotion of crop diversity at individual and community scales (Annex I), potential incentive mechanisms to encourage on-farm conservation and climate change adaptation (Annex II), and the establishment of a nation-wide platform to allow farmers to share lessons and experiences about deploying resilient crops to cope with climate change. 

Exploring policy options to establish an enabling environment for on-farm conservation.

The meeting will explore institutional, policy and regulatory options needed in order to support on-farm conservation, as well as to raise the visibility and recognition of custodian farmers in the management of plant genetic resources.

Developing understanding of custodian farmers’ characteristics and status.

Building on the work from custodian farmer meetings in India (Sthapit et al 2013) and in Nepal earlier this year, continue to develop understanding regarding custodian farmers, who they are and how they differ from other farmers, how their demographics have changed or are changing over time, what are their roles and contribution to the national plant genetic resources system, what are the challenges, needs and opportunities related to ensuring the sustainability of their invaluable (and so poorly acknowledged) contribution to NUS conservation and use.