Briefing N° 22: The Right to Seeds in Africa

The Right to Seeds in Africa – authored by Dr Karine Peschard, Dr Christophe Golay, and Lulbahri Araya – explores the implications of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas (UNDROP) for the right to seeds in Africa.

The publication – the first of its kind – explores the implications of UNDROP for the right to seeds for African countries.

After providing an overview of the right to seeds in international law and the main provisions of UNDROP related to the right to seeds and corresponding states’ obligations, it identifies the main challenges to the protection of the right to seeds in Africa, as well as positive legal mobilizations and policy and legislative reforms.

The briefing aims to provide input for the revision of seed laws, regulations, and policies at the national, regional, and continental levels in Africa.

It is especially timely given that many African countries are in the process of revising their seed legislation, and that the African Union has launched an initiative aimed at harmonizing seed laws through the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

Its Research Briefs – available in English and French – summarize this publication's key findings and recommendations 

AUTHORS

Picture of Christophe Golay

Christophe Golay

Research Fellow

Dr Christophe Golay's expertise relates to economic, social and cultural rights, the right to food and the rights of peasants.

Karine Peschard

Associate Research Fellow

Her expertise and publications relate to intellectual property regimes in agriculture, agrobiodiversity, legal activism and the rights of peasants, in particular the right to seeds.

Lulbahri Araya

NEWS AND EVENTS

A woman's hand holding seeds News

New Publication Explores the Right to Seeds in Africa

6 March 2023

The Right to Seeds in Africa explores the implications of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas for the right to seeds in Africa.

Read more >

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Cover page of the research brief Publication

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Read more