Exchange and use of genetic resources for food and agriculture

The main objective of the collaboration with Eric Welch, Professor of Public Affairs and Director of the Center of Science, Technology and Environmental Policy Studies at Arizona State University (Phoenix, USA) – and hosted for four months in Montpellier thanks to the support of the Agropolis Foundation – was to help structure an analytical framework (both theoretical and methodological) for the study of the constraints faced by researchers for mobilizing genetic diversity. The work increased our understanding about the various institutional components that both promote access to genetic diversity and maximize reciprocal provision of monetary and non-monetary benefits derived from its use. The approach undertaken was interdisciplinary: it relied on continuous interaction between social and biological scientists to provide a multilateral, empirically verifiable approach to understand how genetic resource policy affects transnational scientific collaboration and research outputs and outcomes at international, national and sub-national levels. The study also examined how better understanding about existing scientific practice could inform ongoing genetic resource policy.
Activities mainly consisted of 1) developing new project proposals to define and validate the approach, and seek financing; 2) presenting both the approach and the initial results at academic conferences in order to raise visibility; 3) mobilizing the scientific community in Montpellier and worldwide. In parallel, the collaboration undertook some awareness raising activity at the intergovernmental level were , in particular at the Nagoya Protocol of the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture of the FAO.

At the closure of this project, the collaboration with Eric Welch and Agropolis is still ongoing through several activities. In particular two projects, developed during Eric Welch’s visit in Montpellier, are currently under way: the EU Marie Curie Fellowship Program obtained by Sélim Louafi for 2014-2016 and a U.S National Science Foundation grant obtained by Eric Welch to examine how institutional provisions on the access and use of materials and data affect research collaboration structures and outcomes.