Page 35 - Msingi Afrika Magazine Issue 15

Community

UPOV 91 AND OTHER SEED LAWS:

A Basic Primer On How Companies Intend

To Control And Monopolise Seeds

Originally Published on grain.org | 21 Oct 2015

ll over the world, farmer’s they are happily cooperating with governments in several international
seeds and seed systems these attacks. The recent approval treaties, but the same governments
are under attack. Corpo- of a new protocol on intellectual are signing new laws and regulations
Arations are pushing for property over plant varieties by that trample on those very same
ever more aggressive new laws and member states of the African Re- rights to allow multinational cor-
regulations that criminalise farmers gional Intellectual Property Orga- porations to further dominate the
for sowing, keeping, exchanging, nization (ARIPO) is just the latest world’s seed supply. The changes we
and taking care of their seeds. If example. are witnessing are major.
companies get their way, farmers
around the world will face the possi- Farmer seed systems stand at the Via Campesina and GRAIN have
bility of being jailed or harshly fined very origin of agriculture, as we recently published a booklet des-
for doing what they have been doing now know it. They are a fundamen- cribing how farming communities
over centuries. tal prerequisite if farming families are being affected by these new
and communities across the world legislations and how they are strug-
Alarmingly, the governments of are to remain free, as well as to gling against them1. GRAIN also
non-industrialised countries are achieve food security and food published a database and a map
showing little or no will to resist, sovereignty. The rights of farmers documenting what farmers across
and in more than just a few cases, over seeds have been recognised by the world are or are not allowed to

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