Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations  
International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture

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    The Inventory

    This online version of the Inventory presents, for each measure, the title and a brief description with information on implementing organization(s), start year, objectives, core elements, key outcomes, and, if applicable, lessons learned. It thus allows users to quickly identify those examples that may be of interest to them. A hyperlink to the original submission is provided, which includes additional information, such as on the history and context of the presented measure, challenges encountered, or target groups reached. In this way, users can get a more comprehensive idea of the measure in question and the specific context for which it was developed.
     
    To facilitate navigation, the Inventory is subdivided into eleven categories. Measures or practices that fall under more than one category are listed under each one that applies. Furthermore, information is provided on the type(s) of measures that are typically involved, such as technical, administrative, legal, and/or others, and on the relevant sub-article of Article 9 that is addressed. Additional search options allow searching by country, region, free text and keyword.
     
     
     
     
     
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    Number of records: 233

    171) Zimbabwe Seed Sovereignty Programme: Increasing Resilience of the Resource Poor Farmers through Seed Sovereignty

    In 2014, PELUM-ZWE, the Zimbabwe Small Holder Organic Farmers Forum (ZIMSOFF) conceived the idea of a collaborative and strategic multi-year programme to strengthen Farmer Managed Seed Systems in Zimbabwe. In December 2014, theyinvited five organisations to establish a collaborative partnership that links isolated work on seed and respond to contextual factors affecting seed sovereignty. A multi-year programme titled the Zimbabwe Seed Sovereignty Programme (ZSSP) was born. ZSSP is underpinned by agroecological principles and its vision is towards seed sovereignty of farming communities who depend and rely their livelihoods on crop production. Its purpose is to protect and promote farmers rights. Core components included: (1) improving capacities to produce enough quantity, quality and diversity of locally suitable seed varieties to meet food and nutrition, cultural, agro-biodiversity and other livelihood needs of the participating farmers, (2) strengthening smallholder farmer solidarity, policy influence power and resilience in the face of climate change and climate change impacts and growing corporate control of seed, and (3) improving government recognition and support for farmers’ rights to seed, farmer-led community seed systems and associated seed sovereignty of farmers.

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

    Type of measure/practice: Technical; Others

    172) Swiss Regulation on ‘Niche Varieties’

    The Regulation on Niche Varieties, established by the amendment of Article 29 of the Regulation on Seed and Planting Material in 2010, has since then been implemented by the Swiss Federal Office for Agriculture (FOAG). The objective is to enable the sustainable use of PGRFA and reduce technical barriers for small-scale value chains. Through this measure, small-scale breeders, producer-communities (1-5 farmers), and non-profit organizations (>5 farmers) can save and use seeds of non-commercial varieties. Such ‘niche varieties’ benefit from a simplified procedure for market admission; official variety registration and certification of seeds or planting material are not required. Core components include: (1) authorization of a person / enterprise for marketing of seed other than specified in the general marketing regulation for seed and propagating material; (2) definition and control of the size of the niche (maximum annual amount of seed); and (3) application of plant health control measures. These measures allow for a complementary pathway for seed supply, in addition to the highly formalized system targeting commercial varieties, and has enabled sustainable use and further development of about 40 common vegetable varieties, several old varieties of crops with special characteristics, and even new varieties for specific market segments.

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

    Type of measure/practice: Administrative; Legal

    173) Participatory technology development and selection approaches to develop cultivars relevant to farmers’ needs

    This practice was conducted through the project "Harnessing dryland legume and cereals genetic resource for food and nutrition security and resilient farming systems in Malawi and Zambia" which started in 2019, and implemented by ICRISAT, together with the Department of Agricultural Services (DARS) in Malawi, the Zambia Agricultural Research Institution (ZARI) and farmer associations with funding from the Benefit-sharing Fund. The main objectives are to re-introduce, conserve, disseminate or breed locally adapted varieties with farmers’ participation and other stakeholders in the agricultural sector, and to build the capacity of farmers and technical staff to be able to innovate and do research for food and nutrition security. Activities include: development of improved materials in addition to farmer collections, and assessing the effect of PGRFA and/or cropping systems on the livelihoods of the farmers or community groups. The main outcomes: farmers are supported to maintain and conserve agrobiodiversity in areas vulnerable to climate change and food insecurity; research and development have been strengthened and accelerated to produce climate-ready crops, and the knowledge and skills of farmers and technical staff on the use of genetic resources for food and nutrition security has been enhanced. The main lesson learned is that farmer participation is key in technology development and delivery for impact.

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

    Type of measure/practice: Technical

    174) Construction of a database for farmer varieties/landraces in Japan

    The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan, in collaboration with the National Agriculture and Food Research Organization (NARO), has started to create a database for farmer’s varieties/landraces in Japan since 2018. The database will store information on agricultural and consumption-related traits, origin, traditional usage and current conditions of farmers’ varieties/ landraces, with the aim to utilize the information for conservation, utilization and breeding purposes.

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

    Type of measure/practice: Technical

    175) Private and non-commercial use project

    For subsistence and amateur farmers, the UPOV Convention of 1991 grants an exception for acts done privately and for non-commercial purposes. The Government of the Netherlands has supported the project ‘Private and non-commercial use’, which has been implemented jointly by the civil society organization Oxfam Novib and the sector association Plantum since 2017. The objective is to investigate the scope and possible implementation of this provision within the UPOV Convention of 1991, thereby trying to create clarity about the legal space of subsistence farmers to exchange and/or sell farm-saved seeds in the informal seed system. The project takes the views of stakeholder organizations (including governments, farmers, seed industry, civil society organizations and other international organizations) into consideration. Currently, the project is focusing on specific country case studies. By supporting this project, as well as stimulating the discussion on the private and non-commercial use exception on an international level, the Netherlands hope to create a constructive dialogue about the possibilities for subsistence farmers to save, use, exchange and sell farm-saved seeds.

    Category: 11.Other measures / practices

    Type of measure/practice: Technical; Others