EAPGREN, strategic document

Regional strategy for the ex situ conservation
of plant genetic resources in Eastern Africa

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Executive Summary:

Eastern Africa is endowed with considerable inter-and intra-specific diversity of crops and is the centre of origin and/or diversity for important cereals like sorghum, finger millet, pearl millet, wheat and barley. At present a total of approximately 134,158 accessions are being conserved by the different national gene banks in the sub-region. In the last two decades, attempts were made to strengthen the plant genetic resources (PGR) activities in the region and more recently, the Eastern African Plant Genetic Resources Network (EAPGREN) has been established in 2003 with the financial support from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) with the primary function to mobilize resources and strengthen national programmes in the region to optimally conserve and use their plant genetic resources. However, these attempts are not adequate to ensure sustainable conservation and utilization of the PGR on a long-term basis, especially because a large number of the gene banks in the sub-region are built with bilateral funding, often with inadequate provision for continued financial support either by donors or host governments.

The importance of plant genetic resources to the member countries of EAPGREN is no longer a subject of contention. It is now recognized that plant genetic resources provides the major raw material for the agriculture enterprise which is the basis of the national economies in all the EAPGREN countries. Equally important is the fact that most of the member countries of EAPGREN are pursuing poverty reduction strategies that look at agriculture as the core strategy for achieving poverty alleviation and creating rural employment.

In addition to the value of PGR to meeting domestic economic, livelihood and employment needs, most of the countries have also signed and or ratified the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. The Treaty, among other things obliges the parties to put in place, policies, legislation and action plans to implement their commitments under the Treaty.

Consequently, both domestic interests and the international agenda provide compelling need for countries to engage in processes that enhance the conservation and sustainable use of plant genetic resources. The problem is that most of the EAPGREN member countries are confronted with major problems that inhibit them from making progress in this area. Although the political awareness and commitment to conservation and use of plant genetic resources are significant, the budget allocations by respective national governments are often inadequate due to prevailing economic hardships.

The Report on the State of the World’s Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture highlighted that many ex situ germplasm collections in Africa are in a state of deterioration, facing severe constraints due to increased maintenance costs, etc. (FAO, 1998)*. Crop diversity, once lost, is impossible to replace and it is important that these collections be kept in a healthy state and continually accessible for use on sustainable manner.

In this context, the Global Crop Diversity Trust’s (the Trust) initiative to support regional conservation strategies provides EAPGREN a window of opportunity to develop a regional conservation system and identify collections of priority for support complementing those from other donors and the national governments for sustainable conservation of important crop diversity from the sub-region. Therefore, the objective of this proposal is to develop the regional conservation strategy for Eastern Africa outlining the steps and resources needed to guarantee the safe management and continued availability of its most important crop diversity.

The goal of EAPGREN is to develop sufficient capacities in participating countries of the sub-region for effective conservation and sustainable utilization of their plant genetic resources, as a component of the broader vision of achieving food security, economic development and sustainable agricultural development. The network aims at strengthening collaboration, networking, and linkages between conservation and utilization of plant genetic resources at both national and sub-regional levels through the pooling of resources and use of comparative advantages available in the various institutions and countries.

The mission of the network is to harness, conserve, and to promote greater use of plant genetic resources for food security, improved health, and socio-economic advancement of the rural communities. This mission will be achieved through capacity building and developing sustainable linkages between plant genetic resources conservation and utilization among the various stakeholders including rural farming communities.

Implementation of the network activities is through five themes namely Ex situ Conservation, In-situ Conservation, Utilization, Information and Documentation, Policy and Public Awareness. Through these themes scientific support and opportunities will be provided to a wide range of stakeholders.

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