H2020 DIVERSIFOOD Project: Incorporating crop diversity and networking for high-quality local food systems.

A "life-oriented" paradigm for the agriculture of the future It's time for a change. With agricultural diversity at an all-time low, the DIVERSIFOOD consortium has been gathering valuable knowledge about forgotten and underutilized crops to build a more diverse and sustainable market where quality is paramount. Throughout the 1970s, European scientists began compiling gene banks for edible plant species. As modern varieties and farming practices took over the market, they felt they didn't have much time before entire plant varieties became extinct.

History proved them right: while around 7,000 plants have historically been used in agriculture, 75% of the world's food currently comes from just 12 plants and five animals. According to the FAO, 60% of the world's calorie intake comes from just three plants: rice, wheat, and corn. And gene banks have not evolved much since their inception. "Our project is based on two hypotheses: the first is that crop plant diversity is the basis for creating more sustainable and resilient food systems. The second is that the ultimate goal of these resilient agricultural systems is to provide high-quality food," says Dr. Véronique Chable, senior scientist at INRA and coordinator of DIVERSIFOOD (Mainstreaming Crop Diversity and Networking for High-Quality Local Food Systems).

The project's main objective is to develop a concept of food quality in this regard. Spanning the entire food chain, from genetic resources to commercialization, the consortium has been assessing the genetic resources of a dozen underutilized and neglected plant species, developing innovative breeding methods, managing diversity in community seed banks, conducting surveys, and providing recommendations for better management of seed systems and improved research organization. This is what Dr. Chable calls a "life-oriented" paradigm, which aims to boost diversity at all levels of the value chain. "Rather than breeding uniform varieties (such as inbred lines, F1 hybrids, and clones), we have been creating new varieties from populations where all plants within a single population are genetically different.

This is essential for sustainability, crop yield, food quality, and plant health,” says Dr. Chable. In addition to revitalizing diversity, the consortium hopes the project will bring about a cultural shift where living processes, rather than market laws, come first. DIVERSIFOOD’s new organizational models are expected to help sustain pioneering, multi-stakeholder processes rooted in territories and communities, and to support the emergence of diversity-based food systems that are sustainable in the long term. “Meanwhile, DIVERSIFOOD is asking what avenues can be envisioned to effectively support and finance these local and collective initiatives,” notes Dr. Chable.

The project is scheduled to end in February 2019. Thereafter, the team will seek broader implementation of its concept. "It is time to begin a transition from proofs of concept and success stories to a more systematic deployment of our collective, multi-stakeholder, multi-knowledge approach to food systems diversity. We will collectively mobilize citizens and policymakers, with a special focus on scientists who require appropriate transdisciplinary training and farmers in networks who need assistance and support to successfully carry out plant breeding and research activities."

"Neither the project financing framework nor the market can meet these needs alone. We need to look at alternative organizational and financing models that have an impact on a significantly larger scale," concludes Dr. Chable.