ABSTRACT
Participatory approaches to plant breeding can serve as tools for implementing the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (the Plant Treaty). This chapter focuses on two articles of the Plant Treaty – Article 6 on sustainable use of plant genetic resources and Article 9 on Farmers’ Rights – and their relationship to participatory approaches. Both articles are central to the maintenance and management of crop genetic diversity, and are thus also closely related. This chapter provides an overview and analysis of how participatory approaches to plant breeding have been viewed within the Plant Treaty system and to what extent they have been recognized as central to implementation by the Governing Body, up to and including its seventh session in 2017. Both articles attracted relatively little attention in the first few years after the Plant Treaty entered into force, but have since been the subject of increasing attention; the recognition accorded to participatory approaches to plant breeding partly reflects this. The chapter also discusses potential consequences for the organization of participatory plant breeding efforts if they are to contribute to implementation of Articles 6 and 9 of the Plant Treaty.
