The Funding Strategy

The ITPGRFA also contains provisions to ensure its long term sustainability from a funding perspective, so breeders, farmers, and consumers can continue to reap the benefits of this system. Essentially, there are 2 sources of funding to achieve the objectives of ITPGRFA:

1. Sources of funding not directly under the control of the Governing Body of the Treaty

2. Sources of funding directly under the control of the Governing Body of the Treaty  

Let us take a look at each one of these in detail:

Sources of funding not directly under the control of the Governing Body of the Treaty: This can include the direct investments each Contracting Party makes in the conservation and sustainable use of genetic resources at the national level. This can include domestic policies, programs, and projects such as; enhancing in situ and ex situ collections, training farmers on the use of genetic resources, and encouraging breeding programs to utilize and develop new varieties/species. Contracting parties may also enter into bilateral, regional, or multilateral agreements to support the conservation and sustainable use of genetic resources, and contribute indirectly to the goals and objectives of the ITPGRFA. Lastly, private and private-public entities may wish to make direct investments in the conservation and sustainable use of genetic resources. For instance, the Global Crop Diversity Trust is an endowment fund was established in 2004 with the objective of conserving crop genetic resources for future generations. Its efforts are centered around strengthening the global network of ex situ collections. Crop Trust has partnered with the Government of Norway to support the ongoing expenses to operate the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Norway:

Sources of funding under direct control of the Governing Body of the Treaty: This can include voluntary contributions made directly to the ITPGRFA from Contracting Parties, the private sector, or any other organizations/institutions. Another important source of funding in future will be the Benefit-sharing Fund. Initially, this fund was supported by volunteer contributions. However, it is anticipated that future breeding efforts using SMTA’s which yield successful commercial varieties will require remuneration paid into the fund as a percentage of gross sales of that variety.