Must Protect Farmers’ Rights –Says IIED
According to (IIED) The International Institute
for Environment and Development
International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources
for Food and Agriculture must
protect farmers’ customary rights over biological resources.
IIED submitted a paper to the conference of the treaty’s governing body, which is underway in Bali (from 14-18 March) for its periodic assessment of the treaty’s implementation.
The Treaty (created by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization – UN FAO – in 2003) is meant to protect farmers’ rights in various ways, such as:
• Protecting rights over traditional knowledge to ensure benefit-sharing from commercial use
• Ensuring farmers get an equitable share of benefits that arise from the commercial use of traditional crops
• Ensuring farmers have a say in national decision-making on the conservation and sustainable use of Plant Genetic Resources
But so far though the treaty has been very poorly implemented in national law by UN FAO member nations, says Krystyna Swiderska, a senior researcher at the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED).
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