Banking for the future: - Third World Network

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18Chapter V: Up-scaling communityseed banks to implement Farmers’Rights and towards a sustainablefuture for agricultureTo fully reap the benefits of community seed banks inenhancing farmers’ access and control of seeds, as well as theircontribution to the conservation and sustainable use of cropgenetic diversity, we will end this report with a set of policyrecommendations.Governments should:ÁÁEstablish and/or support community seedbanks as part of their obligations to implementFarmers’ Rights and other provisions of thePlant Treaty, such as sustainable use andconservation of crop genetic diversity. Partiesshould support the up-scaling of communityseed banks in order to reach as many farmersas possible, especially in marginalised areas.12ÁÁIntegrate community seed banks in broaderprogrammes on agricultural biodiversity,where the local seed banks should serve as astoring place for results of participatory plantbreeding and participatory variety selection,and make such results accessible to farmers.Seed banks should also be venues for seedfairs for farmers to exchange and display theirseed diversity.ÁÁÁÁÁÁInclude community seed banks ingovernments’ agricultural developmentstrategies as a vehicle for adaptation toclimate variability. Agricultural extensionservices would provide the best institutionalinfrastructure to embark on a scaling up oflocal seed bank experiences to a nationallevel.Revise seed regulations and provisions onintellectual property rights to seeds to ensureFarmers’ Rights to save, use, exchange and sellfarm-saved seeds.Redirect public subsidies from promotingmodern varieties to fund the above mentionedactivities.1. Maize and bean seeds in Honduras. Photo: Development Fund2. Communuty seed bank in Rampur Dang, Nepal. Traditional seedstorage structure made of mud. Photo: LI-BIRD.
19Agricultural Research Institutions should:Commercial seed sector should:ÁÁÁÁÁÁEnsure that farmers are given an informedchoice between traditional and modernvarieties. Extension services and governmentagricultural policies should be reviewed asto ensure this balance. There is a need todemocratise agricultural extension systemsso that it provides all kinds of information (e.g.about the role of formal and informal seedsystems) in a transparent way without puttingfarmers’ varieties to a disadvantage.Extend their expertise and services for free toassist and support communities and NGOs insetting up and maintaining community seedbanks. Their assistance and support should bebased on the actual needs and capacitiesof the communities and local organisationsseeking their expertise.Facilitate the access of communities andNGOs setting up community seed banks toother in situ as well as ex situ sources of seeds,if necessary and when required. They shouldhelp provide linkages among communitiesengaged in community seed banking andrelevant institutions and organisations that maybe able to support such efforts. Communityseed banks are the bridge between in situ andex situ conservation. Through them, nationalgene banks should make their acquisitionsavailable to farmers.ÁÁÁÁContribute to the Benefit Sharing Fund of thePlant Treaty, which in its turn should makesure that sufficient funds for supportingcommunity seed banks are in place. The costof conserving crop genetic diversity shouldnot be borne by resource poor farmers in theGlobal South, but be shared by all who benefitfrom the commercialisation of this diversity.Multiply and produce farmers’ varieties forincreased availability of locally adaptedseeds.NGOs should:ÁÁÁÁAdopt a mechanism to share their skills andknowledge in establishing and maintainingcommunity seed banks to interestedcommunities, farmers’ organisations andother NGOs in and around the countrieswhere they are based. The main role of NGOsis to promote community seed banks untilgovernments have incorporated such banks intheir formal systems like agricultural extensionservices.Strengthen community based managementof agricultural biodiversity and avoid usingcommunity seed banks for promoting onlymodern varieties.“All States should: Support and scale-up local seed exchange systems such as community seed banks andseed fairs, community registers of peasant varieties, and use them as a tool to improve the situation of themost vulnerable groups,..”Mr Olivier De Schutter, UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, speakingat the 64th session of the UN General Assembly (October 2009)
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Banking for the future: - Third World Network

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