Over the past decade the importance of natural resources for sustainable agricultural development has been increasingly discussed at international forums and conferences. Aside from the sustainable management of soil, water, and air, it now seems to be accepted that the sustainable management of genetic resources is one of the four indispensable preconditions for a sustainable agriculture. The discussion on conservation of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (PGRFA), however, has to reflect the costs of conservation as well. These have not yet been discussed intensively. The study analyzes the conservation costs of plant genetic resources; it also assesses the effectiveness of conservation and the efficiency of the different conservation instruments. It is based on extensive surveys in relevant countries. Following the detailed cost and impact analysis, the results show that the effectiveness of conservation strategies may be increased.

The International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) is a pivotal piece of recent legislation, providing a route map for the use of such resources for sustainable agriculture and food security. Plant Genetic Resources and Food Security explains clearly the different interests and views at stake between all players in the global food chain. It touches upon many issues such as international food governance and policy, economic aspects of food and seed trade, conservation and sustainable use of food and agricultural biodiversity, hunger alleviation, ecological concerns, consumers' protection, fairness and equity between nations and generations, plant breeding techniques and socio-economic benefits related to food local economies. The book shows that despite the conflicting interests at stake, players managed to come to an agreement on food and agriculture for the sake of food security and hunger alleviation in the world. Published with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations and with Bioversity International.

The book reflects the work in progress regarding the analysis of the costs of crop genetic resources conservation that has been conducted at various research insti tutes over the last couple of years, including research conducted at ZEF and asso ciated institutes. In addition, contributions in this publication were presented at a special session during the "Global Dialogue: The Role of the Village in the 2]'1 Century: Crops, Jobs and Livelihood" in Hannover, Germany, at the World Exposition in Au gust 2000. The purpose of the publication is to make a general contribution to the ongoing discussion about the conservation of crop genetic resources as part of the global strategy to secure increasing food production in a sustainable way. Specifically, it discusses the costs of the worldwide efforts to conserve crop genetic resources on the basis of theoretical and applied studies. It aims to serve decision-makers at dif ferent levels with information on the costs involved in the conservation of genetic resources and hence to increase the awareness of the importance of improving the cost effectiveness of different conservation methods in order to optimize the sus tainability of conservation. The quoted Leipzig Declaration, which was adopted at the Fourth International Technical Conference on Plant Genetic Resources in Leipzig in June 1996, dem onstrates the close linkage of the contributions to the ongoing discussion about the implementation of the Global Plan of Actionfor the Conservation and Sustainable Utili zation of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture.