We use various third-party cookies to provide social media features and to analyze our traffic. Please use the options below to manage your cookie settings. You can change your cookie settings at any time. Please be aware, if you deny cookies, certain features of our website may not work.
This will apply to all services
Google Analytics
YouTube
Aulia Erlangga/CIFOR>
31 August 2020
Our new Research Brief The Right to Seed and Food Systems identifies international legal standards that should be taken into account by law- and policy-makers when developing normative and policy frameworks governing seeds and food systems.
This Research Brief forms part of our six-year research project on food sustainability and food systems – conducted in partnership with the Centre for Development and Environment at the University of Bern, the Centre for Training and Integrated Research in Kenya and Comunidad Pluricultural Andino Amazónica para la Sustentabilidad (COMPAS) in Bolivia and supported by the Research for Development Programme (r4d) of the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation. The project assesses the sustainability of food systems based on five pillars: the realization of the right to food, the reduction of poverty and inequality, environmental performance and socio-ecological resilience.
‘Our research and collaboration with local communities in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ghana, Kenya and Zambia highlighted the importance of recognizing and protecting the right to seeds in national laws and policies. This is key to ensure that food systems are sustainable, attuned to the human rights agenda, and contribute to global food security without neglecting or abusing the fundamental rights of peasants, including their right to seeds’ underlines Dr Adriana Bessa, Senior Research Fellow at the Geneva Academy and one of the authors of the Research Brief.
Asian Development Bank
Asian Development Bank
The research brief highlights that the regulation of seed access and control crosscuts various domains of law as well as socio-economic actors and interests: industrial development and trade, environmental conservation, food security, human rights and cultural heritage protection.
‘In this context, it is imperative that states adopt laws and public policies that provide incentives for the conservation and sustainable use of seeds, the improvement of seed diversity and ecological farming techniques, and the empowerment of peasants, indigenous people and traditional local communities through a human rights-based approach’ explains Dr Bessa.
These laws and policies should be in line with the rights recognized in the United Nations Declarations on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas – which includes the right to seeds – as well as with the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Food and Agriculture Organization’s International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture and the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage
UN Women/Joe Saade
News
Adobe
Our recent research brief, Neurodata: Navigating GDPR and AI Act Compliance in the Context of Neurotechnology, examines how effectively GDPR addresses the unique risks posed by neurodata.
News
Adobe
Our research brief, Neurotechnology and Human Rights: An Audit of Risks, Regulatory Challenges, and Opportunities, examines the human rights implications of neurotechnology in both therapeutic and commercial applications.
Training
Adobe
This training course, specifically designed for staff of city and regional governments, will explore the means and mechanisms through which local and regional governments can interact with and integrate the recommendations of international human rights bodies in their concrete work at the local level.
Training
Participants in this training course will be introduced to the major international and regional instruments for the promotion of human rights, as well as international environmental law and its implementation and enforcement mechanisms.
Project
Paolo Margari
This research aims at mainstreaming the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment and the protection it affords in the work of the UN Human Rights Council, its Special Procedures and Universal Periodic Review, as well as in the work of the UN General Assembly and UN treaty bodies.
Project
Daniel Taylor
The project will notably identify the main opportunities and obstacles to protect the right to seeds in Europe. It will also discuss how to promote changes in European laws, policies and trade agreements to ensure that they do not infringe, but facilitate the realization of peasants’ right to seeds.
Publication
Geneva Academy
Publication
Geneva Academy
