Global Information System

Number of records: 233

91) Plant breeders’ rights

Plant Variety Protection (PVP) is a sui generis system for intellectual property protection; the objective is to create incentives for investment in research and development of new plant varieties. In France, the national plant breeders’ rights legislation (Intellectual Property Code – Chapter III - from article L.623-1 to L623-44) and the European Union’s Council Regulation (EC) No 2100/94 of 27 July 1994 are legal texts providing such protection at national and EU levels; competent authorities are the French national office for plant breeders’ rights (INOV) and the Community Plant Variety Office (CPVO). Any natural or legal person can be a plant breeder, including farmers or their organizations. PVP rights thus play a role for the French approach to recognize and value traditional knowledge related to plant genetic resources. On the one hand, the requirements assure that exclusive rights are not granted for something which has already been available; on the other hand, the ‘owner’ of a protected variety can prohibit unauthorized uses. Some farmer organizations make use of this legal framework; for example, several potato breeding companies are owned by seed potato growers. These organizations apply for plant breeders’ rights in France and/or at EU level to protect varieties they developed.

Category: 10.Legal measures for the implementation of Farmers’ Rights, such as legislative measures related to PGRFA.

Type of measure/practice: Legal

92) Genetic Resources Consortium

The Genetic Resource Consortium was started in 2013 under the coordination of the Indonesian Agency of Agricultural Research and Development (IAARD) of the Indonesian Ministry of Agriculture and in collaboration with Agricultural Technology Assessment Institute (AIAT). The Consortium promoted a program to develop an inventory of local varieties/landraces in the entire country comprising of 34 provinces. Around 34,000 of local varieties/landraces were inventoried, recorded, and some of them were collected and conserved in the ex-situ conservation facilities., Varieties that may have economic value or the potential to be developed/improved are registered for PVP (around 350 varieties) and some of them are released as local superior varieties. This achievement was made possible with the involvement of local farmers as the main actors in the participatory varietal selection (PVS), and as the main beneficiaries of the varieties produced. In the PVS approach, the farmer has more decision in selecting the specific traits of the varieties to be developed. Because of their accumulated traditional knowledge that is passed down from generation to generation, farmers accelerated the selection of varieties that are highly adaptive to the local agro-ecological conditions. The great collaboration and strong networking among the central government, local government, researchers, and the farmer/community were the key to the success of the program.

Category: 4.Catalogues, registries and other forms of documentation of PGRFA and protection of traditional knowledge

Type of measure/practice: Technical; Administrative; Others

93) Community seed multiplication of farmer varieties in Zambia

Community Technology Development Trust (CTDT) is a private NGO registered in Zimbabwe, formed in 1993, in response to the livelihoods challenges facing the poor rural communities and households in Zimbabwe and regionally. It has expanded its office in Zambia, implementing projects on farmer-managed seed system since 2011 in partnership with Zambia Agriculture Research Institute, and the farming communities of Chikankata, Rufunsa and Shibuyunji. The farmer-managed seed system project was focused on: (1) strengthening the conservation of local crop genetic diversity; (2) improving household food and nutrition security using local crop diversity; (3) improving the capacity of local communities to adapt to climate change using local biodiversity resources; and (4) advocating for amending seed policies to promote the realization of Farmers’ Rights. The project have targeted about 8,000 farmers in rural communities in the three districts, of which about 60% are women. Through this project, the availability of local seed crops in the target areas where seed of sorghum, pearl millet, finger millet and cowpea are being multiplied by the community and distributed through the established community seed banks. Capacity development of farmers to better adapt to climate change and enhance their resiliency were carried out, thereby promoting enhance awareness on the importance of local crops and traditional knowledge.

Category: 7.Participatory approaches to research on PGRFA, including characterization and evaluation, participatory plant breeding and variety selection

Type of measure/practice: Technical

94) External funding – public and private sources

Both public and private entities in France provide funding for farmers, farmers’ organizations and other stakeholders engaging in the conservation of PGRFA. In addition, Article 28 of the Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 of 17 December 2013 on support for rural development by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) requests Member States to establish measures in order to provide support for farmers and other stakeholders for the conservation and sustainable use and development of genetic resources in agriculture; genetic resources and breeding are also considered under the EU research program Horizon 2020 as a societal challenge. Examples are financial support of around 200,000 € annually for the national PGRFA conservation structure provided by the French Ministry of Agriculture through the French Variety and Seed Study and Control Group (GEVES), in addition to other contributions to support stakeholders and networks involved in the conservation and characterization of PGRFA, especially those under threat. Furthermore, the Groupement National Interprofessionnel des Semences et plants (GNIS), the French interbranch organization for seed, decided to contribute 175,000 € annually to the Benefit-sharing Fund of the ITPGRFA and the same amount to support French national PGR collections, both on a voluntary basis.

Category: 2.Financial contributions to support farmers conservation and sustainable use of PGRFA such as contributions to benefit-sharing funds

Type of measure/practice: Others

95) AGUAPAN (Asociación de Guardianes de Papa Nativa del Centro de Peru)

Asociación de Guardianes de Papa Nativa del Centro del Perú (AGUAPAN) is a small and practical ‘Benefit-sharing’ initiative sponsored by a Dutch potato breeding company and supported by several organizations in Peru, namely, Grupo Yanapai, Instituto Nacional de Innovacion Agraria, International Potato Center (CIP) and Sociedad Peruana de Derecho Ambiental. The initiative started in 2015, with the main goal to support and empower farmers and their families in their efforts to conserve and maintain the genetic diversity of potato varieties in its centre of origin. Further objectives are to enable farmers to organize themselves and represent their interests in decision-making processes relevant for their work on potato genetic resources. The Dutch potato breeding company HZPC provided a start-up fund for the custodian farmers in Andes. Resulting outcomes include the foundation of AGUAPAN, a small and practical ‘Benefit sharing initiative’ supported by the partners organizations mentioned. Currently, 43 families from five different areas from Central Peru; together they grow about 1000 unique varieties.