Zambia coalition rejects regional seed protocol

 A coalition of civil society groupings in Zambia on Monday called on the government not to implement a protocol meant to regulate the use of seeds by farmers in the region.

In 2015, Zambia and other members of the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) adopted the Plant Variety Protection Protocol despite opposition from stakeholders.

Among other things, the protocol makes it illegal for farmers to save, reuse and exchange seed amongst themselves as they have always done.

ARIPO member countries will this week meet in Harare, the Zimbabwean capital, to review the draft regulations for the implementation of the protocol.

But the Zambia Alliance for Agroecology and Biodiversity Conservation (ZAABC) has urged the Zambian government not to allow for the implementation of the regulations of the protocol because more work needed to be done in order to prevent any harm to farmers and agriculture production systems.

"The draft ARIPO regulations represent a ferocious campaign against seed saving by farmers in Africa. The draft regulations require small scale farmers to pay for the seed they save and propagate on their own holding, or face fines and punishment," the coalition said in a statement.

"A significant portion of these draft regulations are targeting farmers in a manner that is unduly punitive and intent on extorting the small scale farmer to the point where the country is in danger of losing all the progress made so far where small scale farmers have contributed massively to food production including maize which is now even available to countries around us that have maize deficits," it added.

According to the statement, the regulations contain provisions requiring farmers, seed processors and certification agencies to provide information and monitor the use of farm saved seed by farmers, adding that the provisions were designed to intimidate and force players in the seed sector to police and spy on farmers who use farm-saved protected seed.

The smallholder farmers, the statement said, should be allowed to freely exchange with other farmers and sell to local markets their farm saved seed and propagating material.

source : xinhua