Literature on traditional knowledge relevant for the realization of Farmers’ Rights

Bioversity and the Christensen Fund. (2009). Descriptors for farmer's knowledge of plants. Rome, Italy and Palo Alto, California, USA: Bioversity International and the Christensen Fund.

Download the pdf here (PDF, 1011KB).

This report presents a list of descriptors developed by Bioversity International that are meant to provide a standard for the gathering, storage, retrieval and exchange of farmers’ knowledge of plants. The list aims to capture key characteristics, uses and values of cultivated and wild plants as described by farmers and other people in farming communities. Many of these descriptors are not included in conventional descriptor lists. Wild and weedy plants are also covered by this list since they often play a significant role in farming communities, being useful from a socio-economic and ecological standpoint. It represents a first attempt at combining a documentation system traditionally used in controlled environments (genebanks, breeding institutes) with an approach that involves people and their knowledge ‘in the field’.

Ruiz, M. (1999). Protecting Indigenous Peoples Knowledge: A Policy and Legal Perspective from Peru. Policy and Law Series, 3 (Lima: SPDA).