Community-based Biodiversity Management (CBM) was initiated as an approach to farm management of agricultural biodiversity through the empowerment of local farmers’ institutions. Agricultural biodiversity and traditional knowledge were among the few assets that rural farming households had for their livelihoods. The CBM approach built the capacities of local institutions (social capital) to manage and leverage agricultural and natural resources to achieve the twin goals of agricultural biodiversity conservation and improved livelihoods. 

The goal of the CBM in Nepal project was to enhance the biodiversity-based livelihood security of local communities. The project-built capacity of the village development committee-level farmers’ institution, which was named the Biodiversity Conservation and Development Committee. These empowered farmer institutions were responsible for raising awareness of agricultural biodiversity, documenting the status and traditional knowledge of local varieties, and developing appropriate conservation and promotional plans. These institutions typically operated a community seed bank and a community biodiversity management fund to provide farmers with access to small loans and to ensure access to quality seeds of local varieties.