ABSTRACT
Agricultural biodiversity – the plants, animals and microorganisms that contribute to food and agriculture and whose diversity is the result of interactions between people and their environment over many millennia – represents one of humanity’s greatest resources. Yet, for the most part, we continue to underestimate its importance, let alone the important roles of agricultural biodiversity in ensuring the sustainability of agriculture and food systems. Such systems need to be sustainable if humanity is to deal with the major global challenges of the 21st century: securing universal access to sufficient, healthy, safe food for a growing human population while not destroying the planet, and doing so in a context where climate change is predicted to significantly reduce production and food supplies from major crops, especially in Africa and South Asia (Burke et al., 2009).
