Global Information System

Number of records: 233

146) Western Wheat Breeding Core Support Agreement

Western Grains Research Foundation (WGRF) is a farmer-funded and farmer-directed non-profit organization investing in agricultural research that benefits western Canadian farmers. Since 1995, WGRF and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) have collaborated on western wheat and barley variety development, through a series of collaborative agreements stating contributions of the parties and shared goals. The objective is to provide mutual financial and technical support and to facilitate the development of wheat and barley varieties for Western Canadian farmers with higher yields, improved agronomic traits, end-use properties, and better disease and insect resistance. The investment of WGRF relies on check-off payments of farmers in several provinces of western Canada on wheat and barley sold. This money is reinvested in the development of new wheat and barley varieties at AAFC. Farmers are part of the decision-making committee responsible to identify the needs of new varieties and traits creating economic, social or environmental be¬nefits. New varieties may be offered for testing purposes to farm¬ers who contribute to their evaluation. Key outcomes of the collaboration are wheat and barley varieties that are adapted to various agroecological zones ‒ more than 150 since 1996 ‒ and several research projects focusing on sustainable use of PGRFA.

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

Type of measure/practice: Technical; Administrative

147) Strengthening the local seed systems of Meghalaya and Nagaland (North-East India) through crop festivals, farmers seed exchanges and community seed banks

Established in 2012, the North East Slow Food and Agrobiodiversity Society (NESFAS), is a platform that connects people to the pleasure and importance of local food. NESFAS embraced the framework of agroecology in promoting local foods that are responsibly produced, protect the environment and enhances human health and wellbeing. Since 2018, NESFAS is implementing the project, "No one shall be left behind Initiative- Biodiversity for Food, Nutrition and Livelihood Security" in partnership with the indigenous communities of Meghalaya and Nagaland, to preserve and promote the indigenous food systems of the region. Seeds have been the basis of the food chain and food security. As part of their advocacy to protect traditional crops and local seeds, NESFAS and its partner NGOs support communities to strengthen their local seed system through e.g. seed festivals, seed exchanges and community seed banks. The main objective is to create awareness on the importance of local crops and their seeds, recuperate seed varieties that are lost, promote in-situ and on-farm conservation of PGRFA, raise awareness on the importance of local seeds, traditional knowledge and seed sovereignty. The core interventions include participatory crop diversity mapping, displaying indigenous seed varieties, informative sessions, farmer-to-farmer exchange of knowledge and seeds, and facilitating the creation of farmer seed networks. Seed fairs and seed festivals have served as an important vehicle that acknowledges farmers' effort and traditional knowledge for the conservation of PGRFA.

Category: 6.Facilitation of farmers’ access to a diversity of PGRFA through community seed banks, seed networks and other measures improving farmers’ choices of a wider diversity of PGRFA.

Type of measure/practice: Technical

148) Promotion of the commercialization and added value of agrobiodivesity of indigenous communities

Family farming practiced by the indigenous communities of the Cotacachi canton is characterized by being on a small scale, the use native seeds, led mainly by women, production is used primarily for self-consumption and a small amount intended for commercialization. With these characteristics, there were many difficulties to market their products at a fair price, there was no specific marketing mechanism for the producers. In 2006, the Union of Indigenous Peasant Organizations of Cotacachi, Ecuador in collaboration with the Community Organization of Andean Women began the peasant fair to sell directly to urban consumers. The objectives of this initiative include: generate economic income for farmers, especially indigenous women; promote a short marketing circuit for agro-diverse farms and promote peasant enterprises/companies that add value to the production of agro-diverse farms. Core components include: short marketing circuits - peasants' fair led by indigenous women, added value to native crops from agro-diverse farms and peasant business management. The initiative has had the following key outcomes: a peasant fair in operation, with the infrastructure of the peasant organization located in the urban part of the city of Cotacachi; 350 farmers, 85% being women, are selling their production directly to urban consumers; community organization of indigenous women has been strengthened; there is an increased income by 30% in participating families and two peasant enterprises that add value to native crops in operation.

Category: 3.Approaches to encourage income-generating activities to support farmers’ conservation and sustainable use of PGRFA

Type of measure/practice: Technical

149) Revision of regulations on plant variety release and the marketing of seed and seed potatoes

Until 2004, the Norwegian seed regulation did not limit farmers' rights to save, use, exchange and sell farm-saved seeds to neighbors. However, as a member of the European Economic Area (EEA), Norway had to revise its seed regulations to comply with regulations of the European Union (EU); the revised regulation prohibited farmers to give away or exchange seeds. This situation raised concerns of farmers’, gardeners’ and civil society organizations as well as researchers in Norway and the EU. In 2008, the EU adopted a directive on conservation varieties, which entered into force in 2009. To comply with this new directive, the Norwegian Food Safety Authority proposed changes to three regulations, following an open dialogue with farmers’ organizations, other relevant organizations and researchers: the Regulation on testing and approving of plant varieties, the Regulation on seeds and the Regulation on seed potatoes. The purpose of these revisions, endorsed by the Norwegian Ministry of Agriculture and Food in 2010, was to better accommodate the use of a wider diversity of plant varieties with other objectives, like ensuring seed quality and health standards. "Contributing to in situ conservation and sustainable use of PGRFA" was added to the objectives of the three seed regulations.

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

Type of measure/practice: Administrative; Legal

150) Constitutional Court Ruling that seed law restricting the free use, conservation and circulation of farmers’ seed and certification requirements are unconstitutional

Seeds feed us; they are a collective creation that reflects the history of the peoples (Via Campesina, 2010). On June 1, 2017, the National Assembly of Ecuador approved the "Organic Law of Biodiversity, Seeds and Promotion of Sustainable Agriculture", this norm imposed agro-industrial certification requirements and restrictions on the free use, conservation, and circulation of peasant seeds. As a result, .several organizations, including the Seed Guardians Network - an organization that protects agrobiodiversity and promotes regenerative livelihood systems - filed a lawsuit with the Constitutional Court to reverse this discrimination. The lawsuit argued that seeds have been a common good and property of the people, not of the State or corporations, and that the Law violates the Ecuadorian Constitution (Articles 28, 37, 55, 281). On January 20, 2022, the Constitutional Court of Ecuador ruled in favor of the peasant seed systems through Judgment No. 22-17-IN and accumulated/22