To mark the release of our new film, Seeds of Sovereignty, we have pulled together an overview of the latest threats to seed across the world.
In Europe…
Civil society groups have been challenging the proposed EU Plant Reproductive Material Law that would create new powers to regulate and classify all plant life, anywhere in Europe. Under this law it would become illegal to grow, breed or exchange any vegetable, seed or tree unless approved by the new EU Plant Variety Agency. To register any plant material for sale, it would have to pass complicated and costly tests and registration procedures, pricing out small-scale and organic farmers, gardeners and breeders.
In Latin America…
Controversial ‘free trade’ agreements and The International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) have been at the heart of a corporate offensive to privatise seed in Latin America, simultaneously repressing farmers’ rights and freedoms. New seed laws being drafted for the region, would allow companies to patent even the indigenous plant varieties developed by farmers over generations, and impose harsh penalties for non-compliance. This would effectively criminalise traditional peasant control of seed.
In Africa…
Undermining the life giving diversity of traditional African farming systems are two schemes supposedly dedicated to ‘feeding the world’: The G8’s New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition (NAFSAN) and the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA). Both initiatives involve ‘harmonising’ seed laws regionally, lifting restrictions on commercial seed and criminalising farmers who save and exchange seed. Cargill, Syngenta, Monsanto, Yara are some of the handful of global corporations seeking to capture the African seed market. This is a huge potential market for them because 80% of the seed on the continent is developed by small farmers. The African Regional Intellectual Property Organisation (ARIPO) met last week to seek approval for a regional legal framework which is part of the initiative to enable corporate monopoly of seed on the continent.
In Asia…
Seed laws in Asia have been manipulated to serve the interests of multinationals since the Green Revolution. Following the pattern elsewhere in the world, restrictions on farmers rights continue to tighten across the region.