Guatemala has a rich cultural history and is a centre of origin and diversity for cultivated plants. This case study seeks to examine the role of human culture in the evolution of plant resources and the dynamic relationship between people and their natural environment. It focuses on the agricultural production of maize in Guatemala and looks at the role that women have played in its genetic conservation.

The most valuable ethnobotanical studies are carries out in regions rich in both cultural diversity and plant genetic resources. These two conditions are present in Guatemala, a country in the heart of Central America and a centre of origin and diversity for cultivated plants. It possesses a rich cultural environment as a legacy and in the living traditions of the Maya and other ethnic groups. Through their interactions with the environment, humans have selected certain plant species for breeding and domestication. These processes of varietal selection and crop evolution are driven by the preferences and needs of specific human communities. Understanding the role that women have played in agricultural production processes is essential for an appreciation of their influence on the evolution o maize and the conservation of maize genetic resources. Co-published with the International Plant Genetic resources Institute (IPGRI)

Plant genetic resources provide a basis for food security, livelihood support and economic development as a major component of biodiversity. The Second Report on the State of the World’s Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture demonstrates the central role plant genetic diversity continues to play in shaping agriculture growth in the face of climate change and other environmental challenges. It is based on information gathered from Country Reports, regional syntheses, thematic studie s and scientific literature, documenting the major achievements made in this sector during the past decade and identifying the critical gaps and needs that should urgently be addressed. The Report provides the decision-makers with a technical basis for updating the Global Plan of Action on Conservation and Sustainable Use of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. It also aims to attract the attention of the global community to set priorities for the effective management of plant genet ic resources for the future. Purchase a print copy.

Charting the political, social, and environmental history of efforts to conserve crop diversity. Many people worry that we're losing genetic diversity in the foods we eat. Over the past century, crop varieties standardized for industrial agriculture have increasingly dominated farm fields. Concerned about what this transition means for the future of food, scientists, farmers, and eaters have sought to protect fruits, grains, and vegetables they consider endangered. They have organized high-tech genebanks and heritage seed swaps. They have combed fields for ancient landraces and sought farmers growing Indigenous varieties. Behind this widespread concern for the loss of plant diversity lies another extinction narrative that concerns the survival of farmers themselves, a story that is often obscured by urgent calls to collect and preserve. Endangered Maize draws on the rich history of corn in Mexico and the United States to uncover this hidden narrative and show how it shaped the conservation strategies adopted by scientists, states, and citizens. In Endangered Maize, historian Helen Anne Curry investigates more than a hundred years of agriculture and conservation practices to understand the tasks that farmers and researchers have considered essential to maintaining crop diversity. Through the contours of efforts to preserve diversity in one of the world's most important crops, Curry reveals how those who sought to protect native, traditional, and heritage crops forged their methods around the expectation that social, political, and economic transformations would eliminate diverse communities and cultures. In this fascinating study of how cultural narratives shape science, Curry argues for new understandings of endangerment and alternative strategies to protect and preserve crop diversity.