Farmers' Rights, as they
pertain to plant genetic resources for food and agriculture, are an issue of
central importance in countries where most of the population lives in rural
areas, their livelihoods based on farming - and particularly so when farming
systems centre on traditional varieties. This is the case in most developing
countries. In Northern countries, Farmers' Rights concern a much smaller
segment of the population. Although most farmers in the North rely on
commercial plant varieties, saving and re-use of propagating material is still
practised to some extent, and among eco-farmers there is increasing interest in
developing plant breeding based on traditional varieties. Thus, Farmers' Rights
related to crop genetic diversity are also important in the
North.