Evaluation Report of the Biodiversity Use and Conservation in Asia Programme (BUCAP)

Background

The Biodiversity Use and Conservation Asia Program (BUCAP) started in 2000. It is a regional program covering three national projects in Vietnam, Lao PDR and Bhutan. The program is coordinated by the Southeast Asian Regional Institute of Community Education (SEARICE) based in the Philippines.

BUCAP's aim is to conserve plant genetic resource and at the same time strengthen farmer communities. For this to occur and be sustained, both government and non-government sectors are actively involved. Issues central to the concern of BUCAP are:

1. The decreasing genetic diversity among staple crops and the implication this has on long-term food security.
2. The limitation of institutional plant breeding in providing crop varieties which are suitable to diverse environment and marginal agricultural conditions, as well as responding to farmers' preferences.
3. The increasing dependency of small farmers on institutions and markets for supplies of seeds, crop varieties and technological input.
4. The deterioration of the farmers' knowledge and skills in developing their own improved crop varieties.

Purpose/objective

1. To provide an evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of the program, looking at both the organisational challenges, as well as implementation in the field.
2. To provide BUCAP with a basis for reflection and to suggest ways of strengthening the program for Phase 2.

Methodology

- Linking up with local consultants on e-mail, discussions on the ToRs and identifying responsibilities of each local consultant.
- Review of relevant documents (project documents, publications, minutes of PMC meetings).
- Based on the above review, a conceptual report was made and submitted as an interim report before visit to the field.
- Travel to the sites with a local consultant in each country.
- Conduct of interviews/discussions (semi-structured and open-ended) with stakeholders within the programme, including target groups/beneficiaries in the field.
- Conduct of interviews/discussions with key people/organisations outside BUCAP to the extent possible: relevant UN agencies, gene banks, research institutions, donor organisations

Key findings

- The review team was impressed by the overall positive opinion of BUCAP by all sectors approached. SEARICE was commended for the way the BUCAP project was set up in Lao PDR. It showed great political sensitivity and respect for farmers. BUCAP has been able to capture the support of farmers and has provided them with confidence and challenges through offering opportunities for progress. Awareness has been raised about the value of their local varieties and their use in further improvement. This is generally a very good achievement in the four years BUCAP has been in operation.

- Also, BUCAP has been firmly established in the government institutions. BUCAP started in countries (Vietnam, Laos, Bhutan) with limited space for policy advocacy work. Most NGOs shun these countries because they have to work with the government. SEARICE took on the challenge. It started with a technical intervention, which was also political in opening up opportunities for organizing/empowering farmers and affecting policy changes. With BUCAP, it was learned that that there is a need to build a mass base first - the farmers - who start questioning and asking for a dialogue with authorities to support their work. SEARICE indicated that it will move more into the policy area in the second phase

Recommendations

- BUCAP has illustrated the ability of farmers to be involved in crop improvement complementing institutional plant breeding. The emphasis so far has been on participatory processes as embodied in the Farmer Field School approach. The challenge is now to develop appropriate breeding strategies that capitalize on the comparative advantages of plant breeders and farmers in a complementary manner.
- The BUCAP approach needs to become reflected in the regulatory frameworks concerned with the introduction of new varieties in order that farmers get full benefit of their activities in the general interest.
- The BUCAP approach needs to be scaled-up as part of development of a national seed program, and should become part of national efforts of Laos to conserve genetic resources for food and agriculture.
- There is need for more technical support in rationalizing farmer breeding and access to potentially useful breeding materials. This requires more pro-active participation of the governmental research institution involved.

Comments from the organisation

Any evaluation is produced within a very limited framework with regards to the composition of the evaluation team, its time available, its access to information and how it analyses the information received. Furthermore, any social reality can be analysed and presented in many different ways, among which an evaluation represents only one. Hence while this evaluation report may be useful as a tool for general learning, it has limited value as a source of information about the particular projects and partners in question. We urge any reader do consult the partners involved or Development Fund before applying this information in a way that may affect the partners and the project.