Agrobiodiversity, livelihoods and markets: Introduction

A common feature among conservation and development organizations supporting community biodiversity management (CBM) is that they strengthen the capabilities of farming communities in marketing what we refer to as agrobiodiversity products (i.e. those based on the local crops and varieties that farmers cultivate, and on non-timber forest products that they gather from their agricultural landscape). In many cases, value addition is incorporated into the CBM processes to increase the income generated from this specific livelihood asset of farming households or communities. Market-based actions have become part of the CBM methodology to create incentives for farming communities to continue to use local crops and varieties (Jarvis et al., 2011). The chapters in Part IV share some experiences from Asia and Europe; a number of chapters throughout this book approach the value addition and marketing of agrobiodiversity products in Ethiopia, Ecuador and various regions of Brazil as an individual component of a larger process of CBM or participatory crop improvement.