The Genetic Resource Policies program seeks to build an understanding of the geographical distribution of crop diversity and the actors involved in diversity maintenance and use. By adapting economics research tools to identify the determinants of crop biodiversity and estimate the value of diverse crop varieties to farmers, researchers are able to more effectively target conservation strategies at the community level, particularly under circumstances of environmental and economic change. In addition to research on the management of crop genetic resources on farms, researchers analyze the costs and benefits of ex situ strategies for genetic resource conservation. Drawing on both in situ and ex situ approaches, current research explores optimal conservation strategies at gene, genotype and landscape levels.

Emerging research focuses on the roles that seed markets and systems play in maintaining local crop diversity, and the potential use of market-based mechanisms to promote utilization through effective commercialization strategies. Program researchers are involved in the development of research to identify the characteristics of seed supply systems and to reveal their effects on the use, in situ conservation and exchange of crop genetic resources, and subsequently on the levels of diversity available to farmers. In seeking ways to use market incentives to support conservation, the program works to develop research programs that improve the understanding of the necessary conditions and capacities for producers to engage in and benefit from the sustainable production, processing, and marketing of underutilized species. This research also investigates the role of various mechanisms, including farmers’ rights, which confer farmer ownership of crop genetic resources as incentive for their continued management on farm.

The Genetic Resource Policies program assesses the costs, benefits and risks of selected crop biotechnologies that hold promise for food insecure people in developing countries. For example, current research seeks to predict the potential impacts of inserting genes conferring host plant resistance to pests and disease in food crops produced by smallholders in East Africa. Analyses of farm-level impediments to use of new technologies are interlinked with impact studies at the industry level. By identifying the traits that farmers value in crop varieties, researchers helps to target the development of new technologies that meet specific consumption and production needs of the rural poor.