Latest Seed Sovereignty Resources

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.

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.

In the first factsheet in this series we look at the farmer-managed seed system and unpack this age old practice. English | French | Portuguese | Shona | Swahili Click here for the next factsheet. Click here to find an introduction to GMOs.

Use the links below to read the factsheets in the language of your choice: English | French | Portuguese | Shona | Swahili English | French | Portuguese | Shona | Swahili English | French | Portuguese | Shona | Swahili | Sotho | Zulu English | French | Portuguese | Shona | Swahili English […]

Harmonisation of Africa’s seed laws through SADC and COMESA Afrikaans | English | French | Portuguese | Shona | Swahili | Xhosa | Zulu Impacts of harmonisation of seed laws on farmer managed seed systems and small scale farmers Afrikaans | English | French | Portuguese | Shona | Swahili | Xhosa | Zulu Seed […]

As we continue to engage and mobilise around the seed policy and legislation revisions, ACB has developed 2 easy-to-read documents outlining the central concerns and possible alternative directions for seed policy to move in South Africa. Despite the public interest to support an equitable seed system, the Plant Improvement and Plant Breeders’ Rights Bills, create […]

This report is a result of research conducted in partnership with Tshintsha Amakhaya, Farmer Support Group, TCOE Zingisa and Surplus People Project. The report investigates the state of farmer-managed seed systems in rural South Africa. Through three case studies in Eastern Cape, Northern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, the report highlights both the fragility and perseverance of […]

The ACB submitted comments on the Plant Breeders’ Rights and Plant Improvement Bills, to the Select Committee on Land and Mineral Resources on the 24th January 2017. These bills restrict the saving, trading, exchanging, and sale of seed. This can have massive ramifications on seed and food sovereignty, agricultural biodiversity, access to diverse seed, and […]

The authoritarian nature of the African Intellectual Property Organisation (ARIPO) Secretariat and its undemocratic processes are scandalous and unacceptable. Locking African farmer representatives and civil society out in order to allow unfettered draconian regional law making is deeply disturbing. What is at play here is entrenching an agricultural future for smallholder farmers in the 19 […]

Further comments on the revised regulations (draft 3) for the implementation of ARIPO’s Arusha Protocol for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants, that will be submitted for adoption in December 2016. This paper focuses on some of the most problematic aspects that needs to be rectified by ARIPO Member States as these perpetuate impingement […]

This report is the product of field work conducted by ACB and Kusamala Institute for Agriculture and Ecology in Dowa district in central Malawi. The objective of the research was to deepen our understanding of the role of farmer seed varieties in smallholder production systems that have come under heavy pressure from concerted Green Revolution […]

This scoping exercise to deepen our understanding of the current context of seed use, main crops and varieties in the research localities in order to gather evidence of the ongoing importance of farmer seed systems in the agricultural practices and livelihoods of smallholder farmers, to identify cases of biodiversity loss and to use this information […]