October 23, 2024
Mauricio Parra; Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Geidy Ortega (white shirt); Carolina Navarrete; Carolina Gonzalez; International Treaty Secretary, Kent Nnadozie
Treaty Membership Grows to 153
The Republic of Colombia deposited its instrument of ratification of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture with the Director-General of the FAO, and will become the 153rd Contracting Party.
“I warmly welcome Colombia to the Plant Treaty family. This is a significant milestone not only for Colombia but for FAO and the entire global community. By ratifying the International Treaty, Colombia strengthens its international commitment towards the conservation of biodiversity and can implement a new policy and legal framework to sustainably use the crop genetic resources that form the basis of the world’s basket, and which are indispensable for achieving global food security and climate resilience,” said Kent Nnadozie, Secretary of the International Treaty.
"The International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture is a treaty that allows us sustainable development and food sovereignty for communities and strengthens the human right to decent food," Geidy Xiomara Ortega, Deputy Minister of Agricultural Affairs of the Colombian Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said.
“Colombia, with its rich biodiversity and its experience in the management of plant genetic resources, can assume a leadership role in this area”, said Agustin Zimmermann, FAO Representative for Colombia. “Their Treaty membership will strengthen Colombia's position as a key player in promoting global food security and sustainable agricultural development,” he added.
Colombia is home to the world’s largest collections of beans, cassava and tropical forages. The national collections, conserved in the genebank of Agrosavia since 1994, include almost 30 000 accessions of orthodox seeds, 12 000 of clonal crops conserved in vitro, and around 4 000 in-field collections distributed in various departments across the country. Colombia also hosts the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, which conserves more than 67 000 different crop varieties housed in the Seeds for the Future genebank in Palmira, Valle del Cauca.[1]
“This achievement is particularly timely, as Colombia hosts the Sixteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP 16). We will also be celebrating Colombia’s membership with their Government and with the Alliance of Bioversity and CIAT at COP 16 and other invited governments and stakeholders,” said Secretary Nnadozie. “This celebration also highlights our collective global efforts to secure food security for everyone, everywhere, today and tomorrow.”
As a Contracting Party, Colombia gains access to the International Treaty’s Multilateral System of Access and Benefit-sharing, which is currently the largest global exchange mechanism of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture in the world, providing access to over 2.4 million unique PGRFA accessions. In addition, Colombia will qualify to apply for grants under the International Treaty’s Benefit-sharing Fund, which has supported 108 projects in 78 developing countries, benefitting over 1 million people, to date.
Colombia is hosting the Sixteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD COP16) from 21 October to 1 November 2024 in Cali, where governments will be tasked with reviewing the state of implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. A special event celebrating Colombia’s ratification of the International Treaty was held in Cali on 22 October 2024.
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