Making agrobiodiversity work: results of an on-line stakeholder dialogue (OSD) in the Netherlands

An analysis is made of the perception of 'agrobiodiversity' by 45 individua ls being directly or indirectly involved in the Dutch agro-food chain. The analysis is based on an on-line stakeholder dialogue (OSD) entitled 'Vision on Agrobiodiversity' and 25 personal interviews. The OSD was held between October 1999 and May 2000 and generated 105 contributions. It was initiated to investigate the limited attention for and fragmented perception of agro biodiversity. In the process we were confronted with basic causes for these attitudes. This study first considers the advantages of an OSD over tradit ional forms of professional dialogue, such as conferences and working group s. The results of the OSD lead us to the observation that Dutch policy-maki ng on agrobiodiversity has been mainly motivated by international obligatio ns and has involved a Very limited number of stakeholders nationally. To be effective, such policy-making will: (a) remain problematic without a coher ent view consensus on the role of agrobiodiversity in the overall organisat ion of agricultural production, and (b) require higher investments in discu ssing and communicating the relevance of agrobiodiversity with all relevant stakeholders in the agro-food chain.