Latest Resources
27 September 2017
Seed sovereignty for Peasant Farmers in Malawi blocked by emerging national seed policy
The government of Malawi is poised to adopt a draconian National Seed Policy that blocks peasant farmers’ opportunities to secure and strengthen farmer-managed seed systems (FMSS), and which would undermine farmers’ rights and the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, to which Malawi is a Party. An ad hoc stakeholder policy […]
25 August 2017
Seed capture in South Africa: A threat to seed freedom but the seed movement is fighting back
Simangele Siko, a member of the central committee at Izindaba Zokudla, in her thanks to ACB after the workshop said, “The farmers have got power, immense power, but you have just unearthed the power!” Who can claim to own a seed? In these kernels lie the genetic wisdom of millions of years, co-created within specific […]
4 August 2017
Local seed varieties are essential for sustainable food systems … but face challenges
Smallholder farmers in Mozambique want access to a diversity of quality seed, but not exclusively from the formal sector. Farmers highly value their own varieties and want to work on enhancing these, too. These strong messages came out of a dialogue held between smallholder farmers, government officials and research institutions in Chimoio, Manica Province in […]
5 May 2017
Factsheets: ARIPO: Harmonisation of Plant Variety Protection in Africa
This final factsheet in our series gives an outline of the ARIPO PVP Protocol and its implications. English | French | Portuguese | Shona | Swahili To read all the factsheets in this series, click here. If you’re new to Genetically Modified (GM), click here to download and read some of the fact sheets we’ve […]
5 May 2017
Factsheets: SUI Generis Laws for PVP/PBR Protection
In this factsheet you can read about the World Trade Organisation and the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights agreement. English | French | Portuguese | Shona | Swahili Read the next factsheet in the series, here.
5 May 2017
Factsheets: Turkey’s Purple Carrot
This factsheet unpacks the theft of Turkey’s purple carrot as an example of biopiracy. English | French | Portuguese | Shona | Swahili Click here for the next factsheet in the series.
5 May 2017
Factsheets: Women as custodians of seed
The sixth factsheet in this series looks at how women are the custodians of seed system and play a central role in ensuring food security. English | French | Portuguese | Shona | Swahili | Sotho | Zulu For the next factsheet in this series, click here.
5 May 2017
Factsheet: Seed sovereignty for farmers
The fifth factsheet in this series look at what it means for a farmer to be seed sovereign. For the sixth factsheet in the series, click here.
5 May 2017
Factsheets: Plant Variety Protection and protected variants
The third factsheet in this series looks at the legal protection given to a breeder who’s discovered a new plant variety. English | French | Portuguese | Shona | Swahili | Sotho | Zulu Click here for the next factsheet.
5 May 2017
Factsheets: Farmers’ Rights and the Seed Treaty
The second factsheet in this series takes a closer look at how the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture has made an impact on farmers and farmers’ rights. English | French | Portuguese | Shona | Swahili For the next factsheet in the series, click here.