1. Challenges, Success Stories and Ways Forward
FARMERS’ RIGHTS
Challenges, Success Stories and Ways Forward
Side event organized by the Fridtjof Nansen Institute, Norway, Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit, Germany and the Development Fund, Norway
Third Session of the Governing Body of the Plant Treaty
Tunis, Tuesday 2 June, 2008

2. Challenges, Success Stories and Ways Forward
FARMERS’ RIGHTS
Challenges, Success Stories and Ways Forward
Presentation by Dr. Regine Andersen
Senior Research Fellow and Director of the Farmers’ Rights Project
Fridtjof Nansen Institute, Norway

3. Overview Farmers’ Rights in the Treaty Why Farmers’ Rights matter
Contents of Farmers’ Rights, challenges and success stories
Farmers’ Rights to seeds (Art 9.3)
Protection of traditional knowledge (Art. 9.2.a)
The right to participate in benefit sharing (Art. 9.2.b)
The right to participate in decision making (Art. 9.2.c)
From Lusaka to Tunis – and ways forward
Recommendations
Conclusion

4. Farmers’ Rights in the Treaty
Recognition of the enormous contribution of farmers
Responsibility rests with governments
Elements:
Protection of traditional knowledge
The right to equitably participate in benefit sharing
The right to participate in decision making
The rights that farmers have to save, use, exchange and sell farm-saved seeds
Other Treaty provisions support implementation
GB to promote implementation and compliance
Preamble underscores importance of Farmers Rights

5. Why Farmers’ Rights? The biodiversity argument:
Farmers are custodians and developers of crop genetic diversity.
Farmers’ Rights are necessary to enable farmers to continue to conserve, sustainably use, and further develop plant genetic diversity – for the benefit of all

6. Why Farmers’ Rights? The development argument:
Crop diversity is life insurance for small scale farmers in developing countries
Farmers’ Rights are necessary to ensure that they have access to crop diversity, to strengthen traditional seed systems, and to reward the custodians and innovators of agrobiodiversity (MDG1)

7. Why Farmers’ Rights? The Plant Treaty argument:
The realization of Farmers’ Rights is a precondition for the implementation of the Plant Treaty in terms of
in situ conservation
sustainable use
Therefore: Farmers’ Rights are a corner stone of the Plant Treaty

8. Why Farmers’ Rights?
... to enable farmers to continue as stewards and innovators of crop diversity and reward them for their contribution to the global genetic pool.
© GTZ

9. Farmers’ Rights to seed: Contents
Farmers’ Rights to save, use, exchange and sell farm-saved seed are the basis of farmers’ ability to conserve and sustainably use crop genetic resources.
The Treaty gives little guidance, but the preamble states that these rights are fundamental
Key word: Legal space

10. Farmers’ Rights to seed: Challenges
Legislation limit farmers possibilities to use and maintain crop genetic diversity

11. Farmers’ Rights to seed: Challenges
Two forms of limiting legislation:
Intellectual property rights,particularly plant breeders’ rights and patents (ref. TRIPS and UPOV):
Various degrees of limitations
Seed laws, particularly on variety release and certification rules, e.g.:
Limit varieties released for marketing
Prohibit seed exchange among farmers
Challenge: Legal space

12. Farmers’ Rights to seed: Success story
Indian Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Act, 2001
Explicitely ensures that farmers are allowed to save, use, exchange and sell farm-saved seed – along with a range of further rights

13. Farmers’ Right to seed: Success story
A proposal on stricter plant breeder’s rights in Norway was turned down by the government in 2005.
Argument: Not in balance with Farmers’ Rights
Norway remains a UPOV’ 78 member

14. Traditional knowledge: Contents
Two approaches:
Protection against extinction
Protection against misappropriation
Protection against extinction = protection by sharing:
Seminars, seed fairs and gatherings
Documentation (catalogs, registries, genebanks, books, magazines, websites)
Against misappropriation:
Regulation of access with PIC and MAT
Legal clauses on information sharing
‘User country measures’

15. Traditional knowledge: Challenges
Fear of misappropriation lead to protectionism and make sharing difficult:
Fear that seed/knowledge is used in commercial breeding without recognition.
Fear that it be removed from the public domain by intellectual property rights (IPR)
Fear that breeders make profits without sharing the benefits
Challenges:
Remove the fear: Develop norms and rules to to avoid misappropriation (recognition, prior art, etc)
Stimulate the sharing of traditonal knowledge

16. Traditional knowledge: Success story
Catalog on potato varieties and traditional knowledge in Huancavelica, Peru
Combines molecular finger-printing technology with farmers descriptions
Recognition to farmers
Once in the catalog, they are public (prior art) and cannot be misappropriated by third parties, according to Peruvian law.
(CIP and La Federación Dept. de Communidades Campesinas)

17. Benefit sharing: Contents
Two approaches:
Direct sharing between ’owners’ and ’buyers’, based on the bilateral approach from the CBD
Indirect sharing between users and ’entire peoples of farmers’, FAO approach (1980s and Multilateral System)
No examples of the former approach, many of the latter:
Access to seed and related information
Participation in breeding/strengthening seed systems
Conservation activities and enhanced market access

18. Benefit sharing: Challenges
Uncertainties in many countries as to what material is covered by the Multilateral System, and how to deal with the material that is not covered. Could lead to a situation with less access.
Scaling up promising models of benefit sharing from the local to a national outreach.

19. Benefit sharing: Success story
Discovering diversity, adding value to crops and bringing the products to the market in Nepal (LiBird)

20. Right to participation: Contents
Issues for participation: Seed laws, IPR laws, bioprospecting laws, policies on conservation and sustainable use, laws on indigenous peoples and traditional knowledge, mainstream agricultural policies, relevant programmes and projects
How: Hearings, advocacy, consultations, media, representatives, etc.
Who: Diversity farmers, through their organizations.

21. Right to participation: Challenges
Awareness among farmers and decision makers
Ways and means to identify farmer representatives
Capacity to participate

22. Right to participation: Success story
Consultative process on Farmers’ Rights, Peru
180 farmers consulted in different regions through workshops to map views, experiences and suggestions.
Representatives invited to multi-stakeholder workshop in Lima, preparations
Farmers organized, and elements of a joint strategy for implementation identified (Grupo Yanapai, Instituto Nacional de Innovacion Agraria, FNI, SPDA, GTZ/BMZ)

23. From Lusaka to Tunis and further
GB 1: Farmers’ Rights on the working agenda
Lusaka informal international consultations
Lusaka recommendations:
GB to give priority to Farmers’ Rights
Farmer participation important in the Treaty
GB to encourage Parties to submit reports
GB to guide and assist Parties in implementation
GB to develop guidelines through working group
GB 2: Resolution 2/2007 and reports

24. Recommendations to the GB
Encourage Parties to sumbit reports at a regular basis – provide brief format
Establish an ad hoc working group for the development shared norms, evt. in the form of voluntary guidelines
Encourage Parties to develop national plans
Facilitate guidance and assistance to Parties
Encourage further documentation and research
Attract funding for implementation

25. Thank you for your attention!
Conclusion
“Yes, we can!”
Thank you for your attention!