The International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture is a legally binding instrument that targets the conservation and sustainable use of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (PGRFA) and equitable benefit-sharing, in harmony with the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), for sustainable agriculture and food security.

The development of the strategy was initiated at the meeting of key network representation in October 2004. The 3 sub-regional PGR networks for South Asia (SANPGR), South-East Asia (RECSEA-PGR) and East Asia (EAPGR) compiled data on the collections of Annex 1 crops and developing sub-regional components of a regional strategy for South, Southeast and East Asia (SSEEA).