FARMERS RIGHTS AND WOMENS

EMPOWERNMENT: Experiences from

Africa.

By Monica Opole

Plant Genetic resources and Seed: Policies, conservation and use

19-11-2010.

FARMERS RIGHTS AND WOMENS EMPOWERNMENT: Experiences from Africa

“Empowering women calls for creating links for facilitation between indigenous knowledge systems and modern science thus developing the creation of inter-linkages of new multi-displinary work that enables the creation of tools for a common understanding of the multiple values of plants as herbals and food.”

FARMERS RIGHTS AND WOMENS EMPOWERNMENT: Experiences from Africa.

Defining the Problem through the gender eye:

“Effective sustainable natural resource management” will not stem from

the conflicts posed by the written laws, or that of the unwritten laws of the land that define customarily laws of indigenous communities and cultures in managing farmers rights.

In this complex world, we need new or enabling indigenous knowledge know-how, or legal structures that are vested ,time-tested methods that are applied by indigenous peoples, need to be put in place to strengthen, and reinforce “effective gender management of biodiversity for food and medicine”.

FARMERS RIGHTS AND WOMENS EMPOWERNMENT: Experiences from Africa.

• The Question:

• This presentation seeks to re-view and re-visit from a technical scientific angle the role women play in science and technology in- linking up their inherited technical knowledge with modern know-how of science for food, against a background of farmers right.

• Some views/responses:• Women's empowerment in Natural resources management-

particularly PGR for food, stems from inherited knowledge passed down along familial gender lines and shared-or-transferred by marriage relationships. This means that “females from communities rich in local know-how and seed material are considered highly for their inherited local know-how for plants for food for special occasions such as the “Basmati rice” in East Africa for weddings.

• Such knowledge specific seed function/utility maintained intra-species variation of biodiversity on-farm, and off-farm.

FARMERS RIGHTS AND WOMENS EMPOWERNMENT: Experiences from Africa.

For example: “Gynandropsis gynandra” or “Spider weed” has about four known wild edible varieties with multiple uses rather than food alone. Indigenous women who know of their medicinal value to-date only one variety is in the common market.

FARMERS RIGHTS AND WOMENS EMPOWERNMENT: Experiences from Africa.

• Why work this way?• Women's empowerment in pgr calls for “A new

paradigm” and “An alternative ways of thinking and evaluating indigenous knowledge systems. Seeds are components of a knowledge system, and are important embodiment of local systems of informal seed exchange, and reflect wider social indigenous relation to seeds; at the same time seed is also exponentially increasingly and becoming prominent in global trade, industry and commerce tool. Seeds often occupy a central place in cultural beliefs, practices and rituals; equally, they are routinely used as a political tool.

“Gender, Farmer’s Rights & Community Right’s in seed systems”. The case of underutilized food plants.

If it works it will be adopted by the private sector!

“Gender, Farmer’s Rights & Community Right’s in seed systems”. The case of underutilized food plants.

FARMERS RIGHTS AND WOMENS EMPOWERNMENT: Experiences from Africa.

• African indigenous knowledge have no patents as we know of them. In the WTO, members have to provide patent protection for any inventions in any field of technology, excluding indigenous technology of developing nations like Africa.

• Members of WTO may exclude plants and animals, but if they do, they have to provide protection “through patents, and effective sui generis system or a combination thereof” Article 27(3)b may be developed

• Other problems: rights on harvested material can be mis-used, Yet:

– Exchange of seed is a cultural right

– Exchange of seed is a Farmers’ Right

• Therefore, Farmers’ varieties should be protectable-just as indigenous technical knowledge.

• Farmers’ varieties should be protectable also just as indigenous products and by-products.

“Citation”

Conclusion

• Farmers rights exist within two sets of institutions that elucidate social organization as two spheres of authority management:

(i) Management of indigenous communities through their “traditional time-tested system cultural knowledge human resource management.

(ii) Management of people (indigenous communities and others) through a constituency, or a formal system of governance.

Africa and most developing countries recognize the existence of these two social organizations of a people, but linkages are needed to create global understanding.

In East Africa the process has started in the East African Assembly and the Constitution making process in Kenya, as enabling opportunities.