By adopting the sustainable development goals, the world has committed to ending hunger, achieving food security and improving nutrition by 2030. But climate change is already undermining the livelihoods and food security of the most vulnerable populations.

The guidelines take account of the characteristics of different genetic resources for food and agriculture which face different challenges and opportunities in respect to climate change.

The rights and technical capacities of indigenous peoples and smallholder farmers are the focus of the three-year global program, ‘Putting lessons into practice: Scaling up People’s Biodiversity Management for Food Security’.

Genetic resources for food and agriculture play a crucial role in food security, nutrition and livelihoods and in the provision of environmental services. They are key components of sustainability, resilience and adaptability in production systems.

This publication has been developed as a handbook aimed at better understanding the intellectual property implications of the 1992 Convention on Biological Diversity and the 2010 Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits arising from their Utilization.