Harmonisation of seed laws in Africa.indd - Never Ending Food
Harmonisation of seed laws in Africa.indd - Never Ending Food
Harmonisation of seed laws in Africa.indd - Never Ending Food
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GRICULTURE, ENERGY AND LIVELIHOOD SERIES<br />
Contents<br />
Acronyms 4<br />
About this paper 6<br />
Executive Summary 6<br />
Introduction 8<br />
Seed production 9<br />
Hybrid <strong>seed</strong>s 9<br />
Open-poll<strong>in</strong>ated varieties 10<br />
Maize as the ‘th<strong>in</strong> edge <strong>of</strong> the wedge’ 11<br />
Intellectual property rights and ownership <strong>of</strong> germplasm 11<br />
PVP at the <strong>in</strong>ternational level 13<br />
The Protection <strong>of</strong> Farmer’s Rights and Alternatives to UPOV 17<br />
The Seed Treaty 17<br />
An <strong>Africa</strong>n Initiative to protect Farmer’s Rights: The <strong>Africa</strong>n Model Law 18<br />
Strategies to harmonise <strong>seed</strong>s policies and <strong>laws</strong> 20<br />
<strong>Harmonisation</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>seed</strong> trade policies and <strong>laws</strong> 21<br />
<strong>Harmonisation</strong> <strong>of</strong> PVP policies and <strong>laws</strong> 23<br />
Players <strong>in</strong>volved <strong>in</strong> push<strong>in</strong>g UPOV 1991-style PVP policies and <strong>laws</strong> 26<br />
The World Bank 26<br />
USAID 27<br />
The Seed Science Centre at Iowa State University 27<br />
Citizens Network for Foreign Affairs (CNFA) 28<br />
The <strong>Food</strong> and Agriculture Organisation <strong>of</strong> the United Nations (FAO) 28<br />
Public sector agricultural research centres 29<br />
<strong>Africa</strong>n Research Institutions advocat<strong>in</strong>g for the Agrochemical Industries 29<br />
Alliance for a Green Revolution <strong>in</strong> <strong>Africa</strong> (AGRA) 31<br />
Impact <strong>of</strong> UPOV-style PVP policies and <strong>laws</strong> on <strong>Africa</strong>’s agricultural biodiversity 32<br />
<strong>Africa</strong>’s <strong>in</strong>novative breeders and communities 32<br />
Innovation 33<br />
Research priorities are shifted by the lure <strong>of</strong> money 34<br />
Farmers need to save and exchange <strong>seed</strong> to enable them to cont<strong>in</strong>ue farm<strong>in</strong>g 34<br />
Loss <strong>of</strong> genetic diversity 35<br />
Genetic diversity can only evolve and adapt <strong>in</strong> situ 35<br />
Agrobiodiversity is critical for climate change adaptation 35<br />
The loss <strong>of</strong> culture and mean<strong>in</strong>g 35<br />
Conclusion 36<br />
Annex 1 Glossary <strong>of</strong> selected terms 37<br />
Annex 2 TRIPs and Patents on Life 38<br />
References 39<br />
<strong>Harmonisation</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Africa</strong>’s <strong>seed</strong>s <strong>laws</strong>: a recipe for disaster 3
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