Schindler, C., Heral, E., Drinkwater, E., Timoshyna, A., Muir, G., Walter, S., Leaman, D.J. and Schippmann, U. 2022. 

Wild check – Assessing risks and opportunities of trade in wild plant ingredients. Rome, FAO.

Thousands of consumer products around the world contain ingredients obtained from wild plants. Wild harvest accounts for some or all the harvest of the great majority of plant species in trade (between 60-90 percent). Wild-harvested plants often come from the most biodiverse ecosystems on earth and many have been used traditionally or by local communities for generations. While these products have global markets and provide critical sources of income, they can also have deep ties to particular cultures and places. Demand for wild plant ingredients is growing rapidly, having grown by over 75 percent in value over the past two decades. Thousands of harvested species are at risk mainly from a combination of overharvest and habitat loss: of the 21 percent of medicinal and aromatic plant species whose threat status has been assessed, 9 percent are considered threatened with extinction. Despite their ubiquity, importance, and the threats facing them, wild plant ingredients are often obscured from consumers and escape companies’ due diligence due to a lack of awareness and traceability. Best practice standards exist but have yet to capture a significant portion of the market. This report aims to address these challenges by making information on a selection of ‘flagship’ wild plant ingredients, the Wild Dozen, readily available and easy to understand. By offering this information without obligation to a specific prescription for follow-up action (e.g. through certification or policy change), it is hoped that a wide range of users will access the report as a first step towards responsible sourcing. Along with a broader update on the state of wild plants trade, the report provides a ‘profile’ on each of the Wild Dozen species, summarising key facts on production and trade. Each profile contains a traffic-light risk rating on biological and social factors, along with an overview of opportunities for responsible sourcing. The information is aimed at industry, consumers, policy-makers, investors, and practitioners, concluding with a summary of what these various stakeholders can do to contribute to a sectoral shift towards responsible sourcing of wild plant ingredients.

Digital technologies are slowly spreading in agriculture sectors globally. But their adoption is hampered by the digital divide which requires significant public investments, improved policy and incentive frameworks to be bridged. Only after that, digital transformation will take place at scale. DAP is meant to assess the country's

readiness for this digital transformation by identifying main bottlenecks, opportunities and risks for digital transformation. DAP will thus guide public investment and policy work to accelerate the scaling up of digital transformation.

The most promising technologies for addressing agricultural issues include database analytics, mobile phones, blockchain, sensors, and internet of things.

The public sector has already laid a strong foundation for digital agriculture, and

additional opportunities exist in terms of building a digital workforce, promoting private

sector entrepreneurship, and partnering with international funders and research organizations

Digital Agriculture Profile of Turkey available for download at:

www.fao.org/documents/card/en/c/cb3954en

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Kutaisi, Georgia, was home to over 1 000 producers of culinary herbs, and for one day last month it was home to more than 60 industry players who met for an international conference to discuss investment opportunities in the culinary herbs value chain.

Georgia has the ideal climate to produce a great variety of herbs – including dill, mint and parsley – as well as a long-standing growing tradition. Until now, the country’s exports of fresh herbs have been focused on the Russian market, but Georgia has a great opportunity to expand into the global market.

For details on the topic please read the FAO Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia report at:

www.fao.org/europe/news/detail-news/es/c/1145343/

Medicinal Herbs: from Past Experience to New Technologies.

The VIII.th International Scientific and Practical Conference took place at Poltava, 29-30.June 2020.

The proceedings are available of the conference have just been published and are

doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4054607

available at https://www.zenodo.org/record/4054607#.X3ibfFJxfb0

WILD AT HOME: Exploring the Global Harvest, trade and Use of Wild Plant Ingredients

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The new TRAFFIC study draws attention to the wild plant ingredients used in everyday products and the need for their traceable, sustainable and ethical sourcing and trade.

Wild at Home: An overview of the harvest and trade in wild plant ingredients, released to coincide with the beginning of FairWild Week 2018, demonstrates how sustainable wild plant harvesting can contribute to wider wildlife conservation goals and why global industry must adapt.

Read the report at: https://fairwild.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=4292eeb161b56fb60faea4d58&id=364b5c7b65&e=efc5a53410