Evaluation of the third project cycle of the Benefit-sharing Fund of the International Treaty on the Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture

Book excerpt: In 2020, the FAO Office of Evaluation (OED) launched the evaluation of the third project cycle of the Benefit-sharing Fund (BSF). The evaluation assessed the results of the programme and provided lessons learned and recommendations to inform the further development of the BSF programme. The BSF was established in 2009 by the Contracting Parties of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) in the spirit of multilateralism to fund projects in developing countries to increase crop diversity and enable a dynamic exchange of plant genetic material for increased adaptation, agricultural diversification and food security. Since its inception, a total of USD 26 million has been invested in four project cycles. Nine recommendations emerge from this evaluation. These include the need to capitalize on BSF achievements by highlighting PGRFA as an indispensable element of farmers’ food and nutrition security while building on the biodiversity and climate change nexus to further advance the BSF’s alignments with SDG 2 (end hunger), SDG 13 (climate action) and the Paris Agreement on enhancing adaptive capacity, strengthening resilience and reducing vulnerability to climate change by further sharpening, illustrating and concretizing the strategic importance of PGRFA to a resilient food and nutrition security in the context of climate change.