Latest Seed Laws & Policies Resources

The quality declared seed (QDS) system is part of the formal seed system and also controls seed quality and purity. The QDS has several benefits, including the system being a good employment opportunity for farmers who produce improved seed. It does, however have drawbacks such as the limited access to basic seed for seed multiplication. […]

Seed laws were developed by governments and industry and are used as instruments to replace and undermine the farmer-managed seed system. Learn more about these and other topics in the factsheets produced by the ACB for smallholder farmers in Africa. The materials are available in several languages and cover a range of topics dealing with […]

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 […]

The scoping report looks at key policies, legislation and programmes in SA with an emphasis on seed laws and considers the implications for small- scale farmer involvement in this sector and outlines a few projects on community seed production, indigenous crops and black- owned private sector seed production efforts.

Statement issued by the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA) On 06 July 2015, in Arusha, Tanzania, a Diplomatic Conference held under the auspices of the African Regional Intellectual Property Organisation (ARIPO) adopted a harmonised regional legal framework for the protection of plant breeders’ rights—the Arusha Protocol for the Protection of New Varieties of […]

At the 2013 November meeting of the Administrative Council and Council of Ministers of ARIPO countries held in Kampala, Uganda, several documents on the proposed legal framework for Plant Variety Protection were distributed. Also circulated was a Matrix1 containing ARIPO’s responses to a detailed submission by civil society organisations (CSOs) dated 6th November 2013. In […]

We are grateful to the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries for allowing us the opportunity to attend the stakeholder workshop on the 22nd of May 2013 and for inviting us to submit our comments on the Plant Breeders’ Rights Bill. We are also pleased to note that the DAFF has indeed taken on board […]

According to the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation (UNFAO), over the course of the 20th century, 75% of the world’s plant genetic diversity was lost, as local varieties and land races have been replaced with genetically uniform seed. A similar process in animal husbandry has put 53% of all livestock breeds at risk of […]