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A Comprehensive and Participatory Approach to the Valorisation of Biodiverse Products

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Food Diversity Between Rights, Duties and Autonomies

Part of the book series: LITES - Legal Issues in Transdisciplinary Environmental Studies ((LITES,volume 2))

Abstract

Preserving agro-biodiversity can contribute to the broader goal of protecting and enhancing biodiversity. Acknowledging and managing the complexity of values connected to agro-biodiversity, translating them in coherent practices, is the key to its conservation and valorisation. These processes may take place at different stages of agro-biodiversity management and interact with other factors, dynamics and processes that intervene in it.

This study presents the EU funded DIVERSIFOOD project as an exemplification of the comprehensive approach that is needed to effectively preserve and enhance agro-biodiversity. The main objective of the project is to deepen the factors and processes of various nature that can support the reintroduction of biodiversity in cropping systems, improve its management and promote a social and economic valorisation of final food products. To that end, the project explores the processes underlying the re-shaping of practices according to the objective of agro-biodiversity enhancement in all the stages of the food chain.

The need to consider the different perspectives on values and ways of preserving agro-biodiversity, together with the development of new shared knowledge and practices underlies the adoption of participatory, multi-actors approaches to each of these stages. Similarly, an inter-disciplinary approach, aimed at combining natural sciences and social sciences characterises the work of researchers.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Ash and Fazel (2007) and Mayes et al. (2011).

  2. 2.

    Pimentel et al. (1992), Ash and Fazel (2007) and Mayes et al. (2011).

  3. 3.

    OECD (2008).

  4. 4.

    Historically, humans have exploited thousands of plant species for food; today, however, most people on Earth depend on 20 types of plants and three staple crops (rice, wheat, and corn). See Laverty and Sterling (2003), Gruère et al. (2006) and Padulosi et al. (2013).

  5. 5.

    Ash and Fazel (2007).

  6. 6.

    Ceccarelli and Grando (2007), Morris and Bellon (2004) and Johns et al. (2013).

  7. 7.

    DIVERSIFOOD is a four-years project funded by the European Union within the Horizon 2020 Programme under Grant Agreement no 633571. It involves 21 partners, belonging to 12 countries. The partners are public and private research institutes and various organisations engaged at regional level on issues of conservation and enhancement of agro-biodiversity. See: www.diversifood.eu.

  8. 8.

    Government of Ireland (2008).

  9. 9.

    Alho (2008) and Laverty and Sterling (2003).

  10. 10.

    Turner et al. (1994) and OECD (2002).

  11. 11.

    It is the case of resources whose value has been untapped yet but can emerge from further research and experiences.

  12. 12.

    Laverty and Sterling (2003).

  13. 13.

    Mathez-Stiefel et al. (2009).

  14. 14.

    Nuijten et al. (2013) and Johns et al. (2013).

  15. 15.

    Brunori et al. (2011) and Simoncini (2015).

  16. 16.

    Johns et al. (2013).

  17. 17.

    Nuijten et al. (2013).

  18. 18.

    Mathez-Stiefel et al. (2009).

  19. 19.

    Johns and Eyzaguirre (2006).

  20. 20.

    Hardon (1995).

  21. 21.

    Almekinders and Elings (2001).

  22. 22.

    Almekinders and Elings (2001).

  23. 23.

    Tripp (1997).

  24. 24.

    Clawson (1985) and Van Noordwijk et al. (1994).

  25. 25.

    Farnworth and Jiggins (2003).

  26. 26.

    Morris and Bellon (2004).

  27. 27.

    Krucken (2005).

  28. 28.

    There are of course also the benefits stemming from the recognition of the ecosystem services provided by agro-biodiversity through market mechanisms. However, we refer here to the market valorisation of final biodiverse food products.

  29. 29.

    Will (2008).

  30. 30.

    Padulosi et al. (1999).

  31. 31.

    Padulosi et al. (1999).

  32. 32.

    Alho (2008) and Government of Ireland (2008).

  33. 33.

    Government of Ireland (2008).

  34. 34.

    They encompass, for example, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, the Convention on Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, and the Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats.

  35. 35.

    OECD (2008).

  36. 36.

    Naziri (2009) and Simoncini (2015).

  37. 37.

    OECD (2008).

  38. 38.

    Almekinders and Elings (2001).

  39. 39.

    Haberl et al. (2009).

  40. 40.

    Maxted et al. (2012) and Bonneuil et al. (2012).

  41. 41.

    Wolfe et al. (2008).

  42. 42.

    Fess et al. (2011).

  43. 43.

    De Boef et al. (2013).

  44. 44.

    Louwaars et al. (2010), de Boef et al. (2010) and Thijssen et al. (2013).

  45. 45.

    Leclerc and Coppens (2011) and Isaac et al. (2007).

  46. 46.

    Mathez-Stiefel et al. (2009), Nuijten (2011) and Johns et al. (2013).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Agronomy and Management of the Agroecosystems, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy

    Gianluca Brunori & Adanella Rossi

  2. Department of Agricultural, Food and Agro-Environmental Sciences, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy

    Simona D’Amico

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  1. Gianluca Brunori
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  2. Adanella Rossi
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  3. Simona D’Amico
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of History, Society and Human Studies, University of Salento, Lecce, Italy

    Alessandro Isoni

  2. Department of Legal Studies, University of Salento, Lecce, Italy

    Michele Troisi

  3. Department of Legal Studies, University of Salento, Lecce, Italy

    Maurizia Pierri

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Brunori, G., Rossi, A., D’Amico, S. (2018). A Comprehensive and Participatory Approach to the Valorisation of Biodiverse Products. In: Isoni, A., Troisi, M., Pierri, M. (eds) Food Diversity Between Rights, Duties and Autonomies. LITES - Legal Issues in Transdisciplinary Environmental Studies, vol 2. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75196-2_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75196-2_1

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