Emerging Biocultural Innovations for Climate Resilience in Southwest China - SIFOR Qualitative Baseline Study

This report presents the findings of a qualitative baseline study conducted in 18 smallholder farming villages in Yunnan and Guangxi provinces, southwest China, from January to July 2013. The study was conducted as part of the SIFOR project – Smallholder Innovation for Resilience. It explored the innovations developed by farmers to strengthen resilience, food security and income in response to socioeconomic and climatic challenges. It focused on internal innovations based on traditional knowledge (TK) and biocultural heritage, as well as those developed jointly with scientists and NGOs(non-governmental organisations), using both TK and external knowledge – notably participatory plant breeding (PPB) and community-supported agriculture (CSA). PPB and CSA have been supported by the Chinese Centre for Agricultural Policy (CCAP) since 2000 and 2005 respectively in Guangxi, and since 2012 in Yunnan.

Keyword: Biocultural heritage