Farmers’ and Breeders’ Rights: Bridging Access to, and IP Protection of, Plant Varieties in Africa
Studies in Africa have shown that saving, using, exchanging and selling farm-saved seed is the main channel through which farmers access seed and planting material. Moreover, these saving and related practices are recognised in international law, mainly through the International Treaty on Plant Gene...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
LINK Centre, School of Literature Language and Media (SLLM)
2015-12-01
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| Series: | The African Journal of Information and Communication |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10539/19311 |
| _version_ | 1818203540719403008 |
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| author | Peter Munyi Bram De Jonge |
| author_facet | Peter Munyi Bram De Jonge |
| author_sort | Peter Munyi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Studies in Africa have shown that saving, using, exchanging and selling farm-saved seed is the main channel through which farmers access seed and planting material. Moreover, these saving and related practices are recognised in international law, mainly through the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (Plant Treaty), which many African countries have ratified. These practices are also recognised by, inter alia, obligations at the national level to protect traditional knowledge relevant to seeds and planting material. The standard being employed in developing plant variety protection (PVP) mechanisms in Africa, as with elsewhere in the world, is the 1991
revision of the Convention of the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV, 1991). This Convention has, since its inception, been developed with reference to developed-world farming practices. This article looks at how farmers’ rights are enshrined in Africa’s legal frameworks, and the extent to which the current process of developing regional PVP systems on the continent is taking farmers’ rights into account. The article then makes recommendations on how a balance can be struck between farmers’ and breeders’ rights, while still complying with the UPOV 1991 framework. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-12T03:26:58Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-d77d70f59e3b4fa4a9100352eea4c7df |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2077-7205 2077-7213 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-12T03:26:58Z |
| publishDate | 2015-12-01 |
| publisher | LINK Centre, School of Literature Language and Media (SLLM) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The African Journal of Information and Communication |
| spelling | doaj.art-d77d70f59e3b4fa4a9100352eea4c7df2022-12-22T00:40:01ZengLINK Centre, School of Literature Language and Media (SLLM)The African Journal of Information and Communication2077-72052077-72132015-12-01161625https://doi.org/10.23962/10539/19311Farmers’ and Breeders’ Rights: Bridging Access to, and IP Protection of, Plant Varieties in AfricaPeter MunyiBram De JongeStudies in Africa have shown that saving, using, exchanging and selling farm-saved seed is the main channel through which farmers access seed and planting material. Moreover, these saving and related practices are recognised in international law, mainly through the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (Plant Treaty), which many African countries have ratified. These practices are also recognised by, inter alia, obligations at the national level to protect traditional knowledge relevant to seeds and planting material. The standard being employed in developing plant variety protection (PVP) mechanisms in Africa, as with elsewhere in the world, is the 1991 revision of the Convention of the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV, 1991). This Convention has, since its inception, been developed with reference to developed-world farming practices. This article looks at how farmers’ rights are enshrined in Africa’s legal frameworks, and the extent to which the current process of developing regional PVP systems on the continent is taking farmers’ rights into account. The article then makes recommendations on how a balance can be struck between farmers’ and breeders’ rights, while still complying with the UPOV 1991 framework.http://hdl.handle.net/10539/19311breeders’ rightsfarmers’ rightsintellectual propertyplant varietiesplant variety protection (pvp)smallholder farmers |
| spellingShingle | Peter Munyi Bram De Jonge Farmers’ and Breeders’ Rights: Bridging Access to, and IP Protection of, Plant Varieties in Africa The African Journal of Information and Communication breeders’ rights farmers’ rights intellectual property plant varieties plant variety protection (pvp) smallholder farmers |
| title | Farmers’ and Breeders’ Rights: Bridging Access to, and IP Protection of, Plant Varieties in Africa |
| title_full | Farmers’ and Breeders’ Rights: Bridging Access to, and IP Protection of, Plant Varieties in Africa |
| title_fullStr | Farmers’ and Breeders’ Rights: Bridging Access to, and IP Protection of, Plant Varieties in Africa |
| title_full_unstemmed | Farmers’ and Breeders’ Rights: Bridging Access to, and IP Protection of, Plant Varieties in Africa |
| title_short | Farmers’ and Breeders’ Rights: Bridging Access to, and IP Protection of, Plant Varieties in Africa |
| title_sort | farmers and breeders rights bridging access to and ip protection of plant varieties in africa |
| topic | breeders’ rights farmers’ rights intellectual property plant varieties plant variety protection (pvp) smallholder farmers |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/10539/19311 |
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