Support from TİKA to Global Food Security Workshop

Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA), Islamic Organization for Food Security (IOFS) and General Directorate of Agricultural Research and Policies (TAGEM), Working Groups on Plant Genetic Resources and Seed Gene Bank organized “Plant Genetic Resources and Gene Banks Management Workshop”.

The workshop was hosted by Gene Bank of Field Crops Central Research Institute Gene Bank in Ankara from September 26 to 30, 2022. 12 experts specialised in plant genetic resources participated in the workshop. The experts came from Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Kazakhstan, Mozambique, Nigeria, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Tunisia, and Uzbekistan. The experts of TAGEM gave the participants trainings on the registration, regeneration, conservation, characterisation, distribution and documentation in gene banks and genetic collections.

The five-day workshop covered theoretical classes, presentations and applied trainings on the conservation strategies for plant genetic resources, information management systems for genetic resources, policies for plant genetics and international approaches, biotechnology, and seed improvement.

The participants were pleased with the program designed to develop administrative practices and new technologies that would have a positive impact on biodiversity and food security by the development cooperation partners: TİKA, TAGEM and IOFS. During the program, the participants had the opportunity to visit the Turkish Seed Gene Bank and learn about Türkiye’s seed studies.

Dorcas Olubunmi Ibitoye, Assistant Director of National Horticultural Research Institute (NIHORT) said, “We need to understand and appreciate the role of biodiversity in food and agriculture, for it affects food security, means of livelihood, health and the environment. If countries want to end famine and achieve sustainable development goals, they need to take more ambitious actions to preserve and sustain biodiversity.”

The training has multi-layered objectives: to foster the solidarity among the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation countries, to increase the cooperation among researchers studying plant genetic resources and food security and to protect member countries’ common interests in food security in Africa and Asia.