Introduction

Managing the biological diversity of crop and livestock genetic resources is of fundamental importance: (i) as a means of survival for the world's rural poor (Smale 2006); (ii) as a mechanism for buffering against output losses due to emerging pests and diseases, even in fully commercialised agricultural systems (Heisey et al. 1997); (iii) as an input into locally sustainable, indigenous technology systems (Bellon et al. 1997; Anderson 2003); (iv) as a means of satisfying the evolving tastes and preferences of consumers as economies change (Evenson et al. 1998); and (v), as a biological asset for the future genetic improvement on which the global supply of food and agricultural products depends (Brown 1990; Koo et al. 2004).

Geneticists often hypothesise that rare, locally adapted genotypes may be found among the varieties and breeds maintained by farmers in extreme or heterogeneous environments. Some genotypes are thought to contain tolerance or resistance traits that are not only valuable to the farmers who manage them but also to the global genetic resource endowment on which future improvement of crop and livestock depends. The foremost policy challenge is that many of the domesticated landscapes of conservation interest are found in poorer regions of the world, in nations undergoing rapid social and economic change.

Crop and livestock genetic resources are managed sustainably when they satisfy the present needs of farm families while also retaining their genetic integrity for the longer-term needs of society.

Introduction

Hungarian agriculture today has a dual structure consisting of large-scale, mechanised farms alongside semi-subsistence, small-scale farms managed with family labour and traditional practices. Dualism has persisted in some form throughout Hungarian history. From 1955 to 1989, during the socialist period of collectivised agriculture, families were permitted to produce for their own needs on small tracts adjacent to their dwellings, commonly known as ‘home gardens’ (Szelényi 1998; Kovách 1999; Swain 2000; Szép 2000; Meurs 2001; Cros Kárpáti et al. 2004). These small-scale farms became refuges for a range of local varieties of trees, crops and livestock breeds, as well as soil micro-organisms. Agricultural scientists describe home gardens as micro-agro-ecosystems that are rich in several components of agro-biodiversity (Már and Juhász 2002; Csizmadia 2004).

Despite the changes engendered by transition to market economy during the past decade, the structure of agriculture remains dualistic, in part because incomplete food markets persist. In addition to lower agricultural incomes, high inflation and unemployment rates, consumers have difficulties obtaining reliable product information and predicting product availability (Feick et al. 1993). Search costs and transport costs to the nearest food market remain high. The number of hypermarkets in Hungary has grown from only 5 in 1996 to 63 in 2003 (Hungarian Central Statistical Office (HCSO) 2003). A study by the World Health Organisation (WHO 2005) found that these have contributed to the disappearance of the few extant local shops and markets.