selim louafi

Les negociations sur la diversite biologique se sont tenues a Rio en 1992 selon un agenda encore tres impregne par le clivage Nord-Sud. Cette convention marquait toutefois une reelle avancee dans la tentative de construction d'une logique de developpement durable en integrant au raisonnement conservationniste un discours economique et social sur l'utilisation durable de la biodiversite, la prise en compte des savoirs naturalistes locaux et le partage equitable des avantages issus de l'utilisation des elements de la biodiversite. Dix ans plus tard, ces objectifs sont encore loin d'etre atteints et les discussions internationales butent en grande partie sur le lien entre biodiversite et innovation. Mais les dynamiques internes des pays emergents riches en biodiversite comme le Bresil, la Chine ou l'Inde deplacent aujourd'hui certains clivages traditionnels qui ont preside a l'elaboration de la Convention sur la diversite biologique, en particulier l'obj...

New international institutions regulating the exchange and use of materials are being established through agreements like the Nagoya Protocol, the Cartegena Protocol, and the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources. Although these policies respond to important stakeholder demands, they have the potential to significantly alter the ways in which individuals scientists engage in research and innovation by limiting the sharing of biological materials (Jinnah and Jungcurt, 2009; Martinez and Biber-Klemm, 2010; Atlas, 2003; De Greef 2004; Grajal, 1999; Welch et al. 2013). Within this context of contested inputs to research, this paper asks: To what extent are scientists experiencing constraints on access to biological materials? What factors explain the halting of flow of biological materials for scientific research? To what extent can blockages be attributed to national and global regulation as compared to, for example, characteristics of the material, attitudes of scientists ab...

La question de la securite alimentaire apparait, de prime abord, comme une question purement nationale – celle d’une souverainete souvent revendiquee dans les relations internationales. Les situations d’urgence liees soit a des conflits locaux, soit a des catastrophes naturelles sont, en ce sens, des exceptions pendant lesquelles l’aide de la «communaute internationale» est requise pour pallier une defaillance momentanee d’Etats soumis a des contraintes externes trop fortes et independantes de leur volonte (le cas d’Haiti aujourd’hui). En effet, il est admis dans le debat international contemporain sur la securite alimentaire que le probleme est tres rarement un probleme de disponibilite des biens alimentaires (au sens des anciennes famines historiques 1) mais un probleme d’accessibilite – donc de prix des biens alimentaires ou de revenus des plus pauvres, qui forment ce que l’on appelle parfois le «milliard d’en bas» (bottom billion), pauvres ruraux et urbains confondus. Dit d’une ...

Le traite international sur les ressources genetiques, adopte en 2001 et entre en application en juin 2004, est le premier accord multilateral qui propose une solution a l'epineuse question de la gestion des echanges de ressources genetiques et des avantages qui resultent de leur utilisation. Cette synthese presente les origines du debat liee a l'utilisation et la conservation des ressources genetiques agricoles et des differentes negociations qui ont permis d'aboutir a l'adoption du traite international sur les ressources genetiques. (Resume d'auteur)

This paper rethinks the governance of genebanks in a social and political context that has significantly evolved since their establishment. The theoretical basis for the paper is the commons conceptual framework in relation to both seed and plant genetic resources. This framework is applied to question the current policy ecosystem of genetic research and breeding and explore different collective governance models. The concept of crop diversity management system (CDMS) commons is proposed as the new foundation for a more holistic and inclusive framework for crop diversity management, that covers a broad range of concerns and requires different actors. The paper presents a multi-stakeholder process established within the context of the two recent projects CoEx and Dynaversity, imagining possible collective arrangements to overcome existing deadlocks, foster collective learning, and design collaborative relationships among genebanks, researchers, and farmers’ civil society organization...

Collaborative research practices in the field of plant genetic resources must follow the principles of fairness and equity as defined in the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and in the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA). In this context the concepts of fairness and equity generally refer to the substantive and procedural dimensions associated with sharing the benefits of this research. But neither term is clearly defined by these international treaties, and the meanings attributed to the concepts vary among different societies. This paper looks at the question of how to account for the diversity among value systems when conducting research that implicates diverse stakeholders and respects the requirements of fairness and equity. We incorporated an auto-ethnography method developed as part of a multi-stakeholder network involved in research projects on plant genetic resources in West Africa. A theatrical device was used as a framework for testing the principles of fairness and equity, helping us to collectively identify feelings of injustice, and explore the conditions for making collaborative research practices more ethical in ways that respect the perspectives of different stakeholders. In an environment of extensive political and socio-cognitive inequality, this approach makes it possible to explain the criteria relating to interactional justice and expectations in terms of socio-political and socio-emotional benefits. It also invites us to consider the principles of fairness and equity in a framework of ethical competence that goes beyond international directives.

Did we wait for a discussion on conserving biodiversity before actually doing so? Clearly no: various categories of farmers were conserving biodiversity well before scientists formulated the concept and became a global issue. The work of Vavilov in the 1930s and later that of Harlan in 1951, were seminal in their discussion on centers of origin and non centers of domestication. They raised awareness in the scientific community and also among influential agricultural sector groups of the existence and importance of feral or domesticated wild genetic resources. The fear of genetic erosion continues to prevail in debates on different and sometimes competing intellectual approaches for conserving agricultural genetic diversity, i.e., to prevent its loss and to maintain its availability. Private initiatives, governmental measures, non governmental actions, regional, national, or international actions for conservation have gradually appeared since World War II. They have encompassed both ex-situ conservation in different forms and in-situ conservation. In this chapter, we highlight the complexity and structural inequalities between mechanisms to conserve agricultural genetic diversity. It makes emphatically clear that the time has come for a paradigm shift: we have to stop thinking of in-situ or ex-situ in a binary way and try to contrast or combine the two approaches (Santonieri et al. 2011). The idea of cultivating biodiversity to transform agriculture appears already well advanced given the numerous debates on ensuring access to and control of agricultural genetic diversity. This shows a contrario that the part of biodiversity judged to be without economic value risks being inadequately conserved. We start with a historical analysis of the implementation of conservation mechanisms. We then take up the international political strategies that govern conservation and mobilization of agricultural genetic diversity, their shortcomings, and possible solutions. Finally, we describe the advances in the knowledge of this genetic diversity and its conservation, and the reasons for transcending the in-situ–ex-situ divide. We ultimately argue that we must rather define objectives of conserving/protecting agricultural biodiversity in terms of geographic levels (local, regional, North/South, global), social- management levels (individuals, human societies, mankind), and socio economic levels (individual income, local market, global trade). These objectives must lead to a real transformation of agriculture. An appropriate mix of conservation tools should be chosen in consultation with the actors involved in the maintenance of comparable biological objects.

... Auteur(s) / Author(s). Louafi Selim ; Lipietz Alain (Directeur de thèse) ; Affiliation(s) du ou des auteurs / Author(s) Affiliation(s). Ecole nationale supérieure agronomique de Montpellier, Montpellier, FRANCE (Université de soutenance) ... Estructura mercado. ; Estudio económico. ; ...

Local ecological knowledge and know-how play a central role in the negotiations on the Convention on Biological Diversity. Here the authors present and analyze the specific characteristics of the French approach on the subject: the concepts of terroir and heritage, a reinterpretation of indigenousness, and diverse forms of conservation; all of these are often tied to enhancing the status of products via the market. (Resume d'auteur)

This paper develops a theoretical approach to explain how social capital – cognitive, relational and structural – affects long-term sustainability of open communities. Organization studies have shown that social capital provides critical resources that support sharing, participation and collaboration in organizations, networks and communities. But the contextual assumptions in that research are less relevant for open communities which have unique structures and composition – i.e. global scale, high heterogeneity of members, voluntary participation, and quasi-open access to resources. Drawing from observations of global genomic data and information centers, this article argues that sustainability of open communities such as global centers, depends heavily on the establishment and leveraging of cognitive social capital, while relational and structural social capital may be designed in to bound the community, manage homogeneity and increase trust among members. Open communities should ...

Les lignes directrices ont pour objet d'exposer les modalites d'acces et de transfert des ressources genetiques et connaissances liees, tout en assurant une gestion durable de la biodiversite en respect des regles sanitaires, de conservation, d'echanges et de biosecurite. Elles concernent l'ensemble des ressources genetiques, qu'elles soient vegetales, animales ou microbiennes ainsi que les connaissances associees et traditionnelles. L'objectif est d'accompagner le chercheur lorsqu'il procede, dans la pratique, a des operations d'echange de materiel genetique. Cette procedure est traitee logiquement, depuis l'acces a la ressource jusqu'a son transfert, en passant par son acheminement dans les conditions sanitaires requises. Assez simple et rapide, ce processus repose sur des procedures administratives (verification de listes, obtention de permis, d'autorisations, de certificats) et generalement sur un contrat prive entre le fournisseur...

Cette contribution examine le role des centres internationaux de recherche agronomique dans l'emergence et la signature d'un recent traite international sur les ressources phytogenetiques pour l'agriculture et l'alimentation (2004, FAO). Rassembles dans le groupe consultatif pour la recherche agricole internationale, ces centres internationaux ont progressivement constitue des " communautes de pratiques " facilitant et faisant converger le debat politique avec un role de courtage particulier joue par l'un d'entre eux, l'organisation Biodiversity International. (Resume d'auteur)

The aims of this paper are to examine the renewed role of the academic sector in the innovation chain, starting from traditional knowledge and wild genetic resources and ending with a final product marketed by bio-industries; to identify changes in the institutional framework in which scientists carry out their task; and to reorganize their interactions with the holders of traditional knowledge (TK) and genetic resources (GR). In the first part, we describe the role of scientists and the changing institutional environment in which they work. In the second part, we examine examples of institutional solutions set up by scientists to cope with this new institutional environment and to come to terms with their responsibility as an interface between different actors with different norms of behavior. (Resume d'auteur)

Following the Convention on Biological Diversity, which brought indigenous and local communities to center stage at the international level, ordinary people regained a fundamental role in environmental issues. Their activities are no longer criticized. Their knowledge and know-how of nature, which was long disparaged, has now been revived and propelled to the center of initiatives for the conservation and exploitation of biodiversity. This growing interest at all levels, from the local to the international, is generating significant demand for information, case studies and research. The examples given are predominantly from the English-speaking world and Latin America, and are often limited to issues relating to indigenousness. In France, these questions are still struggling to gain recognition. On the other hand, approaches based on the concepts of heritage and the terroir have been developed, thus making it possible to better understand, conserve and exploit ecological knowledge a...

Research in cacao genetics plays a crucial role for the sustainability of the cacao sector. Effective management and improvement of cacao genetic resources relies on the exchange of resources such as genetic material, data or knowledge between different countries and across continents. It often involves global collaboration among a range of diverse actors interested in cacao genetic resources but with different capacities, aspirations and motivations. The cacao genetic community has already engaged in large-scale research collaboration in the past especially through the international CFC/ICCO/Bioversity projects from 1998 to 2010 and a new collaborative initiative is currently being discussed, the Collaborative Framework for Cacao Evaluation CFCE. This paper aims at understanding the opportunities and constraints for the formation process of collaborative inter-organisational initiative in cacao genetic research. It identifies the range of challenges to be addressed by the cacao com...

This genomics global governance research study presents the dynamics and the evolving nature of salient challenges that global genomics initiatives encounter in designing new models for data management, exchange, and collaboration across disciplines, sectors, and countries. Using a multiple case study approach, we assessed and compared organizational responses across diverse genomics initiatives. The richness of a comparative qualitative analysis clearly shows the complexity addressed by genomics initiatives and, importantly, expands current studies by moving beyond an open versus property regime dichotomy. Although we identify some common themes, fundamental differences emerge in the way genomics initiatives set goals, manage heterogeneity, define resources, devise governance, and enable data sharing. Such differences demonstrate the ongoing processes of adapting governance structures, management processes, and organizational design solutions that are implemented in response to dif...

Different norms, rules and practices organize the exchange of germplasm to address broader global challenges such as advancement of science and innovation, food security, sustainable agriculture or global equity. Some of these institutions are now embedded in various treaties and national regulations. This chapter claims that these regulations are not as successful as they could be because they fail to effectively integrate the complexity of the exchange environment. In order to better understand how exchange could be improved, it is important to go beyond a legalistic approach to exchange and look at the broader socio-technical context in which these exchanges take place. By developing an analytical framework that includes several dimensions beyond the regulatory one, this contribution creates the foundation for a more comprehensive approach that acts upon the relationship between germplasm and the diversity of institutional logics, germplasm and its resource system, and germplasm and its social environment.