Thread by @AgroBioDiverse

45 scientists & policy wonks are meeting this week in Addis Ababa to make sure their agricultural research/development programs are run in compliance with national/international ABS laws and regulations. The meeting is coordinated by @CGIAR Genebank Platform and @ILRI. 1/n

@CGIAR @ILRI ABS=access to biodiversity and sharing of benefits arising from its use. That means the @UNBiodiversity Nagoya Protocol, the @planttreaty and relevant national regulations. 2/n

@CGIAR @ILRI @UNBiodiversity @planttreaty There's a bunch of research leaders and #genebank managers at the meeting. I'll add pix and other snippets to this thread as I get them from my "mole" at the meeting, who is apparently social media challenged. 3/n

@CGIAR @ILRI @UNBiodiversity @planttreaty Here's a pic of the group, thanks to the comms people at @ILRI 4/n

@CGIAR @ILRI @UNBiodiversity @planttreaty The meeting is being organized by the Policy Module of the @CGIAR/@CropTrust Genebank Platform. The Platform has a Facebook page facebook.com/GenebanksCGIAR/ as well as a website, of course genebanks.org 5/n

@CGIAR @ILRI @UNBiodiversity @planttreaty @CropTrust There you can learn about the @ILRI #genebank, where the meeting is being held, as well as all the others genebanks.org/genebanks/ilri/. It focuses on forages.

@CGIAR @ILRI @UNBiodiversity @planttreaty @CropTrust One of the participants is Dr Ganga Rao, Principal Scientist, Legumes Breeding, ICRISAT, Nairobi, explaining here how @ICRISAT distributes germplasm in East and Southern Africa. 7/n

@CGIAR @ILRI @UNBiodiversity @planttreaty @CropTrust @ICRISAT This is what the @ICRISAT #genebank conserves genebanks.org/genebanks/icri… 8/n

@CGIAR @ILRI @UNBiodiversity @planttreaty @CropTrust @ICRISAT As well as @CGIAR scientists, the meeting includes National Focal Points for @planttreaty (NFPs). Here, Desterio Ondieki Nyamongo, #Kenya NFP and director of national #genebank at @kalromkulima explains the access and benefit-sharing framework in his country.

@CGIAR @ILRI @UNBiodiversity @planttreaty @CropTrust @ICRISAT @kalromkulima Workshop participants take a well-deserved Ethiopian coffee break after working through an alphabet soup of treaties, transfer agreements & institutional policies (e.g., CBD, ITPGRFA, SMTA, CGIAR IA and OA policies, LEAs, RUAs, IPRs...you get the picture). 10/n

@CGIAR @ILRI @UNBiodiversity @planttreaty @CropTrust @ICRISAT @kalromkulima Yes, Desterio is a snappy dresser.

@CGIAR @ILRI @UNBiodiversity @planttreaty @CropTrust @ICRISAT @kalromkulima Here's more on what the Policy Module is doing. genebanks.org/the-platform/p… As you can see, they have a thing for acronyms. 11/n

@CGIAR @ILRI @UNBiodiversity @planttreaty @CropTrust @ICRISAT @kalromkulima Digital sequence information (DSI) in a fish bowl: scientists, lawyers and policy makers struggling valiantly to resolve disputes about how to share benefits generated from the use of DSI. #ABS #biodiversity #DNAsequencing fao.org/cgrfa/topics/d…

@CGIAR @ILRI @UNBiodiversity @planttreaty @CropTrust @ICRISAT @kalromkulima This is a good read on the subject of "dematerialization": Potential implications of new synthetic biology and genomic research trajectories on the @planttreaty researchgate.net/publication/32…' 13/n

@CGIAR @ILRI @UNBiodiversity @planttreaty @CropTrust @ICRISAT @kalromkulima The genetic resources policython in Addis Ababa is coming to an end. We are now in the afternoon session of Day 4. But here, Intellectual Property Focal Point Muthoni Mucheru, still manages to wax eloquent about how @ILRI develops contracts that are compliant with #ABS laws. 14/n

@CGIAR @ILRI @UNBiodiversity @planttreaty @CropTrust @ICRISAT @kalromkulima The “Capacity building workshop on genetic resources policies for CGIAR scientists and partners in East Africa” took a break to visit @ILRI’s #genebank. Here, Genebank Manager Alieu Sartie reveals the secrets of the long-term storage facility.

Spoiler alert: it's the cold. 15/n