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Coping with climate change

The importance of genetic resources for food security








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    Book (stand-alone)
    Coping with Climate Change – The Roles of Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture 2015
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    Genetic resources for food and agriculture play a crucial role in food security, nutrition and livelihoods and in the provision of environmental services. They are key components of sustainability, resilience and adaptability in production systems. They underpin the ability of crops, livestock, aquatic organisms and forest trees to withstand a range of harsh conditions. Climate change poses new challenges to the management of the world’s genetic resources for food and agriculture, but it also un derlines their importance. At the request of the Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, FAO prepared thematic studies on the interactions between climate change and plant, animal, forest, aquatic, invertebrate and micro-organism genetic resources. This publication summarizes the results of these studies.
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    Sustainable use and conservation of microorganisms of relevance to ruminant digestion 2024
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    The Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, at its Seventeenth Regular Session, adopted its Work Plan for the Sustainable Use and Conservation of Micro-organism and Invertebrate Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. In response to the workplan a study on the use and conservation of microorganisms relevant to ruminant digestion was prepared. The study aims to provide policymakers, researchers and livestock nutritionists and producers with: an introduction to microorganisms of relevance to ruminant digestion and their roles; an overview of trends in the diversity of microorganisms of relevance to ruminant digestion, the significance of these trends, and the factors driving them; an overview of the current status of the sustainable use and conservation of microorganisms of relevance to ruminant digestion worldwide; an overview of the current status of policies, legislation and institutional arrangements relevant to the management of microorganisms of relevance to ruminant digestion worldwide; an overview of organizations relevant to the sustainable use and conservation of microorganisms of relevance to ruminant digestion worldwide, covering gaps and weakness in terms of collaboration in this field, potential means of addressing these gaps and weakness, and an overview of potential ways in which the Commission and its Members could contribute to addressing gaps and weaknesses in the sustainable use and conservation of microorganisms of relevance to ruminant digestion.
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    Book (series)
    Innovations in cryoconservation of animal genetic resources
    Practical guide
    2023
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    The livestock sector faces a range of challenges, including climate change, emerging diseases, competition for natural resources and evolving demand for animal-source foods, which is increasing globally, especially in developing countries. Genetic diversity of livestock is a key resource for allowing livestock keepers to address these challenges, but this diversity has been in a state of decline. The diminishing genetic diversity thus represents yet another obstacle for sustainable livestock production. Cryoconservation (i.e. ex situ – in vitro conservation) of genetic resources through gene banking provides one of the most powerful tools governments and other stakeholders have to manage genetic diversity in both the short and long term and thereby provide future generations with the tools to meet the challenges ahead. Gene banking genetic resources fits within the context of the Global Plan of Action for Animal Genetic Resources, which was developed and adopted by FAO Member Nations. Specifically, Strategic Priority 9 of the Global Plan of Action is “Establish or strengthen ex situ conservation programmes” and Strategic Priority 11 urges countries to “Develop approaches and technical standards for conservation. To assist countries in the implementation the Global Plan of Action, FAO worked with experts from around the world to prepare technical guidelines. In 2012 FAO published FAO Guidelines on Cryoconservation of animal genetic resources. Gene banking is a long-term effort that needs to be viewed in terms of decades rather than years, as demonstrated by similar systems for agricultural crops. The responsibility for establishing such resources lies squarely within governments’ roles of providing public goods and food security. Gene banking of animal genetic resources is a technology-intense undertaking and the associated technologies are in a continual state of research and development. The livestock sector also continues to evolve rapidly. Since the development and release of the previous guidelines, numerous changes have taken place. Critical among these is a greater appreciation of the opportunities for actively utilizing cryopreserved material to enhance management of in vivo populations, rather than as simply an “insurance policy” to protect breeds against extinction. This key development has led to further changes in gene bank management. First, interaction with users of the stored material has increased. This in turn has created a need to involve stakeholders more closely in the management of genetic collections and to better monitor and document the processes of gene banking to ensure quality management.

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