The History of Farmers' Rights - Fridtjof Nansens Institutt

28 Regine Andersen
right is compensation, and the fundamental obligation is the conservation
of crop genetic diversity. For this purpose an international fund should be
established to distribute compensation among the holders of farmers’
rights, i.e. entities involved in the conservation and sustainable use of
traditional crop genetic diversity (pp. 259–261). Due to the nature of the
utilization of crop genetic resources, the financial capabilities of countries
in the South, and the development of intellectual property rights to genetic
resources from the global genetic pool, compensation would basically
have to be an international task (p. 282). Therefore, realization of farmers’
rights would have to take place at the international level and be enforced
by states (p. 296). The international fund should distribute financial
resources according to proposals submitted by rights holders, to be
approved by a committee of internationally acclaimed experts (p. 308).
The book concludes with a proposed agenda for farmers’ rights.
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Correa, Carlos (2000): ‘Options for the Implementation of Farmers’
Rights at the National Level’, South Centre: Working Paper 8,
December 2000.
This report is among the first to be written after the adoption of the text
on farmers’ rights in 1999, which was to become the final formulation of
Article 9 in the International Treaty. After considering the origin of the
concept of farmers’ rights, and how it has been incorporated in international
regimes and national regulations, Correa explores in greater detail
the rationale behind the concept. On this background, the relationship
between farmers’ rights and intellectual property rights is explored,
before various proposals for the contents and implementation of farmers’
rights are discussed.
Correa concludes that farmers’ rights may be seen as a ‘moral recognition
to farmers’ past and present contributions to making agriculture sustainable’,
as well as ‘concrete instruments to protect and promote traditional
farming activities and communities’ culture and lifestyles’ (p. 41). The
possible scope and characteristics of the suggestions provided in the
International Treaty on how governments can protect and promote farmers’
rights need to be further developed, in order to provide more concrete
guidelines to governments on how best to comply with their responsibilities
in this field, he suggests. Work on realizing farmers’ rights will also
require capacity building, training, transfer of technology and a fair reward
for farmers’ contributions, among other things. Nevertheless, ‘there
seem to be a gradual movement from the realm of ideas towards the design
of such measures that can be realized in practice and which supports
and promotes farmers’ activities in the conservation and improvement of
plant genetic resources for food and agriculture’ (pp. 41–42).
Correa’s report contains an overview over national legislation and proposed
legislation from several countries, with provisions pertaining to
farmers’ rights. It further lists and discusses the possible content of and
measures for farmers’ rights, and provides a detailed account of possible
measures to establish national legislation on farmers’ rights according the