BecA Hub in action Project Title:
Reproducing crops, reproducing a society: Biological and social dynamics of seeds and crops exchange system
| Donor: | CIRAD |
|---|---|
| Partner/Institution: | KARI ( Kenya), CIRAD |
| Project Highlight: | In situ conservation of plant genetic resources (PGR) at the regional or national scales rarely considers the links between genetic resource diversity and the social structure of human societies. Rather, the structuring of the genetic diversity is only seen as a biological question: different levels of gene flow are the causes of more or less genetic differentiation. However, it is a generalized observation that human groups are locally and socially structured , especially in agrarian societies of Sub- Saharan Africa. This research project aims at assessing the patterns of PGR in situ diversity as the consequences of determined sociological and anthropological factors. At the local scale, the structuring of crop diversity appeared to be specifically linked to the social structure of farmers who reproduce the crops, with a partitioned seed (propagule) exchange system within the residential groups. In other words, all farmers do not grow all the crop diversity occurring in the village. Moreover, all farmers do not exchange all their crop varieties arbitrarily. Under these hypothetic conditions, the seed or crop exchange system is an essential factor of genetic differentiation between farmers in the same village and between villages. The main implication is that the genetic structure would be linked to social structures of human societies, and not only to environmental or biological factors. |
| Total Project Budget $US: | 52,000.00 |
| Scientist Involved: | Dan Kiambi |
| Scientist Email: | Email: d.kiambi@cgiar.org |
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