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RESOURCES:
A summary of the literature on Farmers'
Rights
The substantial and increasing body of literature
on Farmers' Rights provides a valuable source of insights in the potentials
for, and possible difficulties in, realizing Farmers' Rights. Although authors
differ in their points of departure, emphasis and perspectives, their
contributions are largely compatible. The literature provides important points
of departure for understanding the subject matter of Farmers' Rights, types of
rights, rights holders, and appropriate measures for protecting and promoting
these rights. It also draws lessons from initial efforts at realizing these
rights, and warns against certain tendencies which might prove
counterproductive.
Most authors seem to agree that farmers' rights
should be viewed as collective rights in a broad sense rather than rights of
individual farmers or communities, and that farmers' rights should not be
exclusive and should not restrict access to genetic resources. They cannot be
dealt with as classical intellectual property rights, as they represent a
different type of rights. Various measures to protect and promote farmers'
rights are proposed in the literature. Assisting farmers in in situ
conservation and farmer breeding, and providing incentives for such activities
are among the central components in this regard. The availability of a rich
diversity of seeds and propagating material is the basis of farmers' rights, as
well as for agriculture and food security. As yet, extremely little has been
invested in the in situ management of crop genetic resources. Indeed,
these resources can be viewed as subject to a 'tragedy of the commons' whereby
professional breeders use material originally derived from traditional
varieties, but without participating in the maintenance of these vital
resources. It is suggested that development cooperation can provide the most
realistic possibilities for greater financial support to conservation and
sustainable use of crop genetic resources.
In the context of
conservation, access to technologies and training is of central importance. The
establishment of community gene banks is suggested a further means towards
realizing farmers' rights, to complement and support in situ management
of crop genetic resources. It is furthermore recommended that farmers should
have the possibility of influencing future breeding efforts more generally, as
a component of farmers' rights. Surprisingly, farmers' participation in
decision making on crop genetic resources, which is comprised by the
International Treaty, has been addressed by only a few authors.
Another
central component of farmers' rights, according to many of the authors referred
to here, is farmers' free choice of, and access to, genetic resources for food
and agriculture, together with the freedom to share and sell harvested produce,
and to improve cultivars. These are basic customary rights, and important
preconditions for continued conservation and innovation with regard to plant
genetic resources among farmers, and thus also for food security. Recent
research has shown that such diversity includes not only farmers' varieties but
often also improved ones from professional breeders. It is important to be
aware of this when designing intellectual property laws and seed legislation.
Several authors highlight the necessity of balancing the inadequacies and
deficiencies in existing forms of intellectual property rights regarding plant
genetic resources, and hold that the concept of farmers' rights offers an
opportunity to do so. On the other hand, it is important to recognize that it
has so far proven difficult to enact farmers' rights. Linking farmers' and
breeders' rights may be risky, since breeders' rights are so much easier to
enact. Linking the two may therefore result in further legitimizing the
inequities of the intellectual property rights system.
Recognition of
the contribution of farmers to the global genetic pool is a further issue dealt
with in the literature. It is often referred to as compensation for the use of
traditional plant genetic resources for food and agriculture and related
traditional knowledge, and in some contexts as benefit sharing. Also here it is
important to identify who is to be compensated and through what mechanisms, as
there are many possible pitfalls. For example, it is not evident that
developing countries would emerge as the winners if such a system were
established at the international level, since most developing countries (and
also developed countries) are net receivers of germplasm. Also, transaction
costs and bureaucracy should be taken into account. Most authors seem to agree
that farmers' rights are collective rights in the widest sense of the term, and
that compensation should be channelled through some kind of financial mechanism
to those farmers who act as custodians and innovators of present agricultural
biodiversity. Local gene funds are suggested as one way to ensure that the
financial and other resources actually reach the farmers.
The authors
referred to in here discuss various means for implementing farmers' rights. One
is the development of national legislation; another is to establish resource
centres for farmers' rights. Several writers emphasize the need to implement
farmers' rights at the international level, due to the globalized nature of
these resources. The most promising approach would be to establish an
international fund - stressed by several authors as necessary for the
realization of farmers' rights. Such a fund could channel resources for farmer
conservation and innovation in plant genetic resources. To provide financial
resources for such a fund in addition to aid, some writers have recommended
that plant breeders be required to disclose the sources of origin of their
breeding material, and that a levy be placed on the royalties from the sales of
their seeds, although this suggestion remains controversial.
As we can
see, there has been a notable movement from the realm of ideas towards the
design of feasible measures and systems for the realization of farmers'
rights. |
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