10. biodiversity essential
y
"The Green Revolution model that
was focused on monoculture, ,
fertilizers and pesticides degraded
the biodiversity and traditional
knowledge of the Cuban people.
knowledge of the Cuban people
Farmers are indispensable to the
rescue of biological diversity and
culture that this planet greatly
needs.“
Humberto Ríos Labrada,
The Goldman Prize winner,
Islands & Island Nations, April 2010
Islands & Island Nations April 2010
http://www.goldmanprize.org/2010/islands
12. Impact in North Africa and the Middle East
“In Morocco, women there have
been empowered and have
Benefitted from improvements in the
Argannier"value chain.“
Another example is in Yemen,
where farmers in the highlands (the
poorest and most marginalized) are
coming to appreciate and defend
coming to appreciate and defend
their biodiversity in the face of food
shortage.
In Lebanon, dietary diversity in
the form of wild edible food is
slowing the nutrition transition.”
Lamia El‐Fattal, Cairo
13. Claire Thompson, Ottawa
“Canadian Partnerships has
Canadian Partnerships has
consistently supported a nice
little journal run by Canadian
scientists (all volunteers)
called Biodiversity (the
ll d Bi di it (th
institution is called Tropical
Conservancy).
They are one of the few
They are one of the few
journals around that makes a
point of ensuring that up to
50% of their authors are from
the global south.”
h l b l h”
14. Supporting aquatic biodiversity
“Blue Genes is dedicated to the memory of
Chusa Ginés, who worked indefatigably to
promote the sustainable use of genetic
resources from the developing world. Chusa
agreed with us that aquatic genetic resources
are as important as terrestrial ones…”
“Both Brian Harvey and I were particularly
impressed by Chusa`s enthusiasm for
biodiversity issues and her willingness to
support new ideas such as this book activity.
This book was one of the first publications to
bring the aquatic issues into our wider
Biodiversity programmatic thinking. As Brian
d h k
Harvey said: ‘Chusa belongs to a small group
who "listened" when I pitched a biodiversity
idea.
idea ’
Brian Davy, Ottawa
15. Urban agriculture
“There were several cross‐overs, for
example, the promotion of medicinal
l th ti f di i l
plants in confined urban spaces,
notably as part of the Edible
Landscape project, involving research
groups in Montreal, Colombo,
i M t l C l b
Kampala and Rosario.
One researcher from the Colombo
group is being invited to counsel
urban agriculture projects to be
developed by disaffected youths in
two wards of central Montreal, under
the supervision of a McGill University
professor who led the Montreal
team on the EL project. This is being
supported by a CP small grant under
my responsibility.
Chusa was an adamantly outspoken
professional who argued for the need
of IDRC to accommodate a better
balance between employment duties
and other life duties of program
officers, in particular women.”
Luc Mougeot, Ottawa
17. Barcoding of life
“To date, most of the barcoding research has been basic research
To date, most of the barcoding research has been basic research
carried out in Canada and in a limited number of countries in the
North. There is a growing interest in barcoding from diverse countries
from around the world. Barcoding has numerous potential
applications, for example, disease prevention, detection of invasive
species, water quality control, monitoring of disease vectors,
identification of plants or animals being traded illegally, and the
identification and elimination of weeds in collections of seeds.
id tifi ti d li i ti f d i ll ti f d
This project aims to support the iBOL project to expand the
Training in and application of barcoding to developing countries
Through support to two emerging regional barcoding nodes (South
Through support to two emerging regional barcoding nodes (South
Africa, Argentina) and three national nodes (Kenya, Costa Rica, Peru).
Young researchers will play a lead role in the research.
The project will also aim to assist iBOL in the development of
appropriate guidelines for dealing with access and benefit sharing
questions that arise from the use of barcoding. It will investigate
issues concerning the use of the technology itself, the data
generated, the information systems developed to store, access, and
t d th i f ti t d l dt t d
use the data, and of potential field‐level applications derived from
barcoding.” March 2010, IDRC Project Approval Document
18.
19. Another memorial fellowship fund
Another memorial fellowship fund
The Chusa Ginés Memorial Gender Leaders on Biodiversity in Ethiopia
(GLOBE) project was a scholarship program named in honour of Chusa,
managed by Winrock International/African Women Leaders in Agriculture
and the Environment (AWLAE). 2 PhD theses were supported:
and the Environment (AWLAE) 2 PhD theses were supported:
Tihut Yirgu Asfaw “Gender, Justice and Livelihoods in the Creation and Demise
of Forests in North Western Ethiopia s Zeghie Peninsula in February 2009
of Forests in North Western Ethiopia’s Zeghie Peninsula”, in February 2009.
Tsedale W. Geda “Globalization and Neo‐Liberalization: Challenges and
Opportunities to Enset Crop‐Based Agricultural Communities and their
O ii E C B dA i l lC ii d h i
Farming System in Ethiopia”, in Spring 2009.
20. Louise Sperling
“I worked most closely with
I worked most closely with
Chusa when IDRC was
launching a PPB and
biodiversity project‐ in Malawi
(early 1998). What really
struck me was how easily this
single scientist was able to
negotiate themes as broad
negotiate themes as broad
as: empowerment, diversity
on‐farm and molecular
markers.
Representing the IDRC donor,
she might be considered as a
real ‘renaissance program
officer.
officer.’
And then, of course, one has
to remark on Chusa’s
elegance. Even stuck in the
mud, her gracefulness was
something to behold.”
22. Jean Lebel, Ottawa
“I d
do remember vividly Chusa’s and Veronica’s tragic departure as I was on travel in freezing Edmonton at that
b i idl Ch ’ dV i ’ i d I li f i Ed h
time and I heard of it on the national TV news. It is a moment I never forget; loosing colleagues in tragic
circumstances makes us realize how fragile we are, and how our work is often not without risks. I personally
recall Chusa as the Program Leader with whom I had a number of 'lively' discussions, and Veronica as one
of the first recipients of an Ecohealth award in 1999. A program I had the privilege to lead for many years.
p p g p g yy
Chusa with whom I had the closest contact was a real 'pasionaria'. To illustrate this, she called me once at
home on a Friday night to make sure her voice was heard concerning her disagreement with a decision made
by the IDRC ethics committee. Decisions of that committee were made based on consensus. And although
she knew this she decided that I was the one to target with her grievance! In her passionate style she
knew this, she decided that I was the one to target with her grievance! In her passionate style, she
mentioned that she could recognize my influence in the decision and that I was wrong! That tells lot about
Chusa!
Time is passing by and I am often having a thought for them and particularly for Chusa when I am doing my
marathon training every year in Ottawa and running in the Agriculture Canada Experimental Farm
h i i i O d i i h i l C d i l
Arboretum where a tree was planted in her memory by IDRC colleagues. Chusa was estimated by all at
IDRC and provided important influence on agriculture and gender dimensions of our work. The Fellowship
created in her name with CIAT was an important legacy for a new generation of researchers to be supported
and influenced by the thinking she carried with passion in all of her work. Her spirit is still with us at IDRC.
y g p p
Recently, our Board of Governors approved several new programs our renamed program area Agriculture and
Environment. All of these new programs are still pursuing the integration and promotion of attention to
gender as well as to biodiversity issues, that were at the heart of Chusa's contribution to IDRC. This is a true
testimony of the influence that Chusa had, and will still continue to live with us at IDRC and abroad.
Both Chusa and Veronica are not forgotten at IDRC, and our thoughts on this important day are also with their
families.”
25. Credits
With the collaboration of
Brian Davy
Lamia El‐Fattal
L i El F tt l
François Gasengayire
José Manuel Gil
Jean Lebel
Luc Mougeot
Mark Redwood
Humberto Ríos Labrada
Yiching Song
Louise Sperling
Claire Thompson
Photos
Courtesy of Colleen Duggan
IDRC website (www.idrc.ca)
Mark Redwood
Jin Tong
Jin Tong
Ronnie Vernooy
