International Day for Biological Diversity 2008
Does this celebration make any sense to farmers in the South?

By: Kamalesh Adhikari
22 May 2008, Bonn, Germany

Today is the International Day for Biological Diversity. This year's theme is Biodiversity and Agriculture. The day seeks to "highlight the importance of sustainable agriculture not only to preserve biodiversity, but also to ensure that we will be able to feed the world, maintain agricultural livelihoods, and enhance human well being into the 21st century and beyond". One of the key messages of the day is: "Agriculture contributes to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.... Farmers and agricultural producers are custodians of agricultural biodiversity and possess the knowledge needed to manage and sustain it."
 
Ever since the adoption of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) in November 2001 and its entry into force in 2004, the issue of farmers' rights--as both custodians and innovators of agricultural biodiversity--has gained more prominence. The Treaty recognized farmers' rights relating to their rights to save, exchange, use and sell farm-saved seeds; traditional knowledge; benefit sharing; and participation in decision making. However, countries have made precious little attempt to further interpret, realize and implement these farmers' rights at both national and international levels.
 
The progress at the ITPGRFA level lacks decisions on broad guidelines of mechanisms that help countries realize and implement farmers' rights for the conservation and sustainable use of plant genetic resources. ITPGRFA mentions that the responsibility of realizing farmers' rights rests with national governments, subject to national law and as appropriate. This basically means that not all the contracting parties of the Treaty have the obligation to realize and implement farmers' rights--as this text was negotiated mostly because of the reluctance of the Northern countries to protect farmers' rights and reward farmers for the precious contribution they have been making to the conservation and development of agricultural biodiversity.
 
Therefore, a lot of work, such as bringing policies and laws, and making arrangements for institutional mechanisms, needs to be carried out for effectively implementing farmers' rights by countries, mostly the developing and least-developed countries. However, one should also take note of the possible implications of non-compliance on this issue by other parties (developed countries). 

Developing and least-developed countries that are participating and negotiating as contracting parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) should pay increased attention towards putting forward country or collective positions that identify, or call others to identify, the mechanisms crucial for realizing and implementing farmers' rights at both national and international levels.

In this respect, it is critically important for the Southern countries to raise their voice for strengthening the relationship between CBD and ITPGRFA, so that both of these international instruments play a crucial role in conserving and developing agricultural biodiversity and protecting farmers' rights that are particularly threatened by the rapid use of biotechnology and growing application of intellectual property rights--such as patents and plant breeders' rights--over agricultural biodiversity and its components.
 
Similarly, there is also a need for them to seek an extended role of CBD in supporting the governing body of the Treaty to help (developing countries) or encourage (developed countries) the respective parties to realize and implement farmers' rights in relation to access to seed; save, exchange, reuse and sell farm-saved seed; protection of traditional knowledge; benefit sharing; and participation in decision making.  This will enable and support the ITPGRFA mechanisms, in particular, the governing body of the Treaty, to effectively monitor the compliance with all the provisions (not least farmers' rights) by the Treaty parties, including the ones in the North.
 
A mere mention of "ITPGRFA and farmers' rights" in a paragraph in the decisions to be adopted by the parties in the COP 9, that too without any specifications or details about how CBD and ITPGRFA can be mutually supportive, including with regard to the realization and implementation of farmers' rights, is not what farmers want from the celebration of this historic day by the COP 9 or the international community.