ABSTRACT
Plant breeding is essential to food production, climate-change adaptation and sustainable development. Farmer involvement in plant breeding can contribute to higher productivity, improved sustainability and greater empowerment. Examples of such breeding efforts can be found around the world, for a wide range of crops in various agro-ecological zones. These achievements and experiences are of great potential use to practitioners, policymakers and academics alike. In this chapter, the factors important in farmer–breeder collaboration are presented, as well as definitions of various types of plant breeding and the efforts that have been made to distinguish between them. We also present the main sections of the book: current approaches to farmer–breeder collaboration; overarching concerns and new perspectives; and collaborative approaches within international and national legal contexts. Last, we look ahead to the future of farmer–breeder collaboration and its contributions to productivity, sustainability and empowerment, by presenting some common threads from the contributions to this volume.
