National 3 (Spotlight Weekly)

Biodiversity For Security

Experts worry about the loss of biodiversity and subsequent impact on food security

By SANJAYA DHAKAL

Farmers : Primitive technology

If Nepal is rich in something it is biodiversity. Although it occupies a tiny space of this planet, it is home to thousands of species of fauna and flora. Around 4216 species of non-flowering and 5833 species of flowering plants are available here.

Likewise, 185 species of fishes; 847 species of birds, and 185 species of mammals are found in the country. Moreover, over 400 species of agricultural and horticultural crops and 200 species of vegetable are found here. Over 500 species of edible crops are available here. Out of them, farming of over 200 food crops are done. Rice, maize, barley, wheat, millet are the major food crops grown in the country.

In fact, most of the poorest sections of Nepalese depend on the biodiversity for food as they eat various species of edible plants found in the wild.

However, experts predict that all this stand threatened because of fast depletion of biodiversity.

Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that about three quarters of the genetic diversity of agricultural crops have been lost over the last century; and of 6300 animal breeds, 1350 are already extinct.

The alarming loss in biodiversity is going to have a serious consequence on the food security matters. “Unfortunately, among various factors contributing to this trend, protection accorded to intellectual property is one. Paradoxical as it may sound, the global race for the protection of intellectual property has led to and will continue to lead to loss of biodiversity. Due to the advent of biotechnology and global patent regime exclusively securing the rights of inventors, the threat to bio-resources is mounting,” said Ratnakar Adhikary, executive director of the South Asia Watch on Trade, Economics and Environment (SAWTEE).

Adhikary, who is also associated with the National Alliance for Food Security (NAFOS), believes that the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPS) of the WTO will hurt the control of local communities over their surrounding biodiversity. “There are possibilities for multinational companies to slightly modify the native species and then patent it securing their exclusive rights over them,” he said.

Because of the significance of the biodiversity on the food security, the FAO had coined the slogan “Biodiversity for Food Security” for this year. “At present, there are nearly 1 billion people in the world who suffer from hunger. The time has come for farmers all over the world to unite and demand food sovereignty,” said Bamdev Gautam, former deputy prime minister and president of All Nepal Peasants Association (ANPA). “And this sovereignty can be guaranteed only if the farmers’ rights over land, forest and water is fully established.”

Gautam expressed concerns over the inadequate preparation of Nepal even though it has become the member of the WTO. “We have not recorded our biodiversity and legally established them as our property. Now we are hearing that some Japanese scientists are claiming Titepati (an endemic medicinal plant found in Nepal) as their own,” he said.

Gautam goes to the extent of saying that WTO should be prohibited from entering into agriculture. “Otherwise, a day will come when the global multinationals will exploit our biodiversity for their own benefit and we will be left stranded.”

Adhikary, too, believes that Nepal should refrain from joining the UPOV agreement under the WTO, which he says will trigger the loss of farmers’ rights. “In the past, the NAFOS was able to convince the government against signing the UPOV. We must keep on lobbying in this direction,” he said.

Adhikary also cautioned the farmers from falling into the trap set by multinationals and refrain from using genetically modified (GM) seeds. “Such seeds may be beneficial on short-term but when the farmers begin to realize that they are being ripped off by a handful of companies, it would be too late as they would have stopped conserving the local breeds,” he said.

Around 40 percent of Nepal’s GDP is covered by agriculture. It provides employment to nearly 80 percent of population. Mostly, the agriculture in Nepal is subsistence-based and not commercialized.

Although, there are many possibilities for Nepal to gain from the WTO, it has not made adequate preparations in this regard. “The government has realized the need to register patents. The government is soon coming up with a new agriculture policy, which will give adequate attention towards commercialization of agriculture and promotion of biodiversity for our maximum benefit,” said Agriculture Minister Hom Nath Dahal.