FNI project: Farmers' Rights Related to Agrobiodiversity as a Means of Poverty Alleviation: Strategies of Civil Society Organisations

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Farmers' Rights Related to Agrobiodiversity as a Means of Poverty Alleviation: Strategies of Civil Society Organisations

This project examines conditions for effective implementation of the provisions on Farmers' Rights in the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA), which is crucial for maintaining the global plant genetic heritage and for poverty alleviation. The focus is on strategies of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), as these are central actors in many developing countries, pushing for and shaping policies on Farmers’ Rights, and initiating projects for the purpose. It is vital to identify the patterns of CSO influence that contribute to the formulation and implementation of policies and programmes for the effective realisation of Farmers’ Rights.

In this project, the influence of CSOs on these processes is analysed in three developing countries where progress in Farmers’ Rights has been achieved: India, the Philippines and Zambia. The achievements are analysed with regard to their effectiveness in terms of the realisation of Farmers’ Rights combined with their relevance for poverty alleviation, before the influence of CSOs on these results will be analysed in detail. The patterns of CSO influence are identified and the conditions for these patterns determined as basis for an analysis of the scope for generalisation with regard to other developing countries.

Project leader: Regine Andersen

Project period: 2007-2012

Publications:

Andersen, Regine, 'The Plant Treaty - Crop Genetic Diversity and Food Security'. In Steinar Andresen, Elin Lerum Boasson and Geir Hønneland (eds), International Environmental Agreements: An Introduction. London/New York, Routledge, 2012, pp. 134-150.

Andersen, Regine and Tone Winge, 'Linking Community Seed Banks and Farmers’ Rights'. In Banking for the Future: Savings, Security and Seeds. Oslo, Development Fund, 2011, pp. 5-7.

FAO, Input paper submitted by Ethiopia based on Global Consultations on Farmers' Rights in 2010. Information Papers for the Fourth Session of the Governing Body of the ITPGRFA. IT/GB-4/11/Circ.1. Rome, The Secretariat of the ITPGRFA, 2011, 16 p.

Andersen, Regine, 'An issue of survival', D+C, No 4, 01.04.2010. (German version available here.)

Andersen, Regine, Norwegian Plant Variety Protection and Seed Laws: Lessons for South Asian Countries, Trade Insight, Vol 5, No 1, 2009, pp. 12-14.

Andersen, Regine, Information Paper on Farmers' Rights Submitted by the Fridtjof Nansen Institute, Norway, based on the Farmers' Rights Project. Information Papers for the Third Session of the Governing Body of the ITPGRFA. IT/GB-3/09/Inf. 6, Add. 3. Rome/Tunis, The Secretariat of the ITPGRFA, 2009, 31 p.

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