The History of Farmers' Rights - Fridtjof Nansens Institutt

v
Executive Summary
In 2001, the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food
and Agriculture was adopted. It entered into force on 29 June 2004. The
Treaty includes provisions on farmers’ rights, and explicitly states that
the responsibility for implementing these provisions rests with the national
governments. The latter are free to choose the measures they deem
appropriate, according to their needs and priorities, but certain measures
to protect and promote farmers’ rights are suggested. The preamble to the
International Treaty highlights the necessity of promoting farmers’ rights
at the national as well as international level. As yet, however, there is no
common understanding of how this can be done. Such an understanding
is of great importance for making progress in the realization of farmers’
rights.
The Farmers’ Rights Project has been set up to facilitate such a common
understanding and develop a basis for proposals to the Governing Body
of the Treaty on specific measures to be taken. The intention is to move
ahead from earlier controversies, and – based on the consensus formulations
in the Treaty – build bridges to a joint perception of the actions
required, in respect of the countries’ freedom to choose measures according
to their needs and priorities.
This background study presents the findings of a survey of documentation
and literature on farmers’ rights. Such a survey was considered
necessary for the project in order to establish a clearer understanding of
the origin of the concept of farmers’ rights and its history. The intention
has been to present and summarize the material and not to analyse it any
further, as that would exceed the scope of this part of the project. It is
hoped that this guide to the central documents and literature can be
helpful to negotiators, practitioners and researchers who seek to understand
the concept and the potentials of farmers’ rights.
Central documents from international negotiations
The idea of farmers’ rights came up in the early 1980s as a countermove
to the increased demand for plant breeders’ rights, as voiced in international
negotiations. The purpose was to draw attention to the unremunerated
innovations of farmers that were seen as the foundation of all modern
plant breeding. Thorough analysis of the documentation shows that
the concept was first brought up in international negotiations in FAO in
1986. Already in 1987, considerations and practical solutions were suggested
that formed a foundation for all further negotiations on farmers’
rights, and provided substantial input to the framing of our current understanding
of the concept.
In 1989, farmers’ rights were for the first time formally recognized by the
FAO Conference, and in 1991 the Conference decided to set up a fund for
the realization of these rights. Such a fund, however, never materialized.
Then the Convention on Biological Diversity was adopted in May 1992,
and with it a resolution on the interrelationship between the CBD and the
promotion of sustainable agriculture. In this resolution, FAO was urged