The Farmers' Rights' Project: Side Event on Farmers' Rights at the Fourth Session of the Governing Body

THE FARMERS' RIGHTS PROJECT:

Side Event on Farmers' Rights at the Fourth Session of the Governing Body

The results of the Global Consultations on Farmers' Rights in 2010 were presented at a side event during the Fourth Session of the Governing Body of the International Treaty in Bali in the evening of Tuesday 15 March. It was well attended, with 60 participants.

The side event was organized by the Fridtjof Nansen Institute (FNI), Norway, in co-operation with the Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (IBC), Ethiopia.

The 2010 Global Consultations on Farmers' Rights included an e-mail-based consultation process July- September 2010, and an international consultation conference held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in November 2010. The consultations were organized with regional components as a response to Governing Body Resolution 6/2009, which called for regional workshops on Farmers' Rights.

In the two phases of the consultations, a total of 171 experts and stakeholders participated, from 46 countries in Africa, Asia, the Near East, Latin America and the Caribbean, North America and Europe, and from farmer organizations, government institutions, the seed industry, NGOs, IGOs, research institutions and other relevant groups. The results have been presented in an input paper to the Governing Body and a report.

The side event was chaired by Dr. Kassahun Embaye, A/Director General, Institute of Biodiversity Conservation, Ethiopia. Dr. Regine Andersen, Senior Research Fellow of the Fridtjof Nansen Institute, and Director of the Farmers' Rights Project, Norway, provided an introduction to the Global Consultations with a summary of findings from the e-mail based survey and highlights from the consultation conference in Addis Ababa. Dr. Modesto Fernández Diaz-Silveira, Senior Officer for Environment, Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment, Cuba, presented recommendations to the Governing Body from the Latin American and Caribbean group of the conference. Zachary Muthamia, Head of the National Gene Bank of Kenya, Kenya Agricultural Research Institute, presented recommendations to the Governing Body from the Africa group of the conference. Kamalesh Adhikari, Research Director of South Asia Watch on Trade, Economics and Environment (SAWTEE), Nepal, presented recommendations from the Asian group of the conference, whereas the recommendations from the Europe and North America group were presented by Annette von Lossau, Senior Advisor, Deutche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ, formerly GTZ), Germany. Finally, Dr. Regine Andersen presented joint recommendations to the Governing Body from the Global Consultations Conference in Addis Ababa. The powerpoint presentations are available below.

After the presentations, side event participants representing contracting parties, civil society, and the seed industry engaged in a lively debate. Most of them advocated the development of voluntary guidelines, and several suggested that a joint working group on the implementation of Farmers' Rights and sustainable use of crop genetic resources be established. Several participants also stressed the need for more awareness-rising and capacity building. It was also emphasized that more work needs to be done to advance a joint understanding among all stakeholders of Farmers' Rights in the broader context of the Treaty.

The 2010 Global Consultations on Farmers' Rights were organized by the FNI, and the Conference was hosted by the IBC, with the generous support of the Swedish International Biodiversity Programme (SwedBio), the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD), the Norwegian Ministry of Agriculture and Food, the Development Fund, Norway, and the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID).

Relevant links and documents:

Invitation and programme

Powerpoint presentations (in one file)

Report from the Global Consultations

Input paper from the Global Consultations (English)

Input paper from the Global Consultations (French)

Input paper from the Global Consultations (Spanish)

Farmers' Rights at the Fourth Session of the ITPGRFA

Pages in this sub-section:

THE SECOND PHASE OF THE FARMERS' RIGHTS PROJECT

The Lusaka informal international consultation process on Farmers' Rights

Side Event on Farmers' Rights at the Second Session of the Governing Body

Website on Farmers' Rights

Workshop Module on Farmers' Rights

Report on Success Stories from the Realization of Farmers' Rights

Side event on Farmers' Rights at the Conference of the Parties to the CBD

Book on Success Stories from the Realization of Farmers' Rights

Research project on civil society strategies for the implementation of Farmers' Rights

Side Event on Farmers' Rights at the Third Session of the Governing Body

Global Consultations on Farmers' Rights

Side Event on Farmers' Rights at the Fourth Session of the Governing Body

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In this section:


	THE FARMERS' RIGHTS PROJECT
	Why a project on Farmers' Rights?
	The first phase of the Farmers' Rights Project
	The second phase of the Farmers' Rights Project
	Products from the Farmers' Rights Project
	Partners and funding
	Who we are

Page last updated 4 April 2011