Farmers’ Rights Consultation

We herewith invite you to participate in global consultations on Farmers’ Rights as these are addressed in Article 9 of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (also called the Plant Treaty; see www.planttreaty.org). The background for these consultations is a decision made by the Governing Body of the Plant Treaty at its third session (Resolution 6/2009). Here the Governing Body recalls the importance of fully implementing Farmers’ Rights, and, among other things, requests the Secretariat to convene regional workshops on Farmers’ Rights to discuss relevant national experiences. The Fridtjof Nansen Institute (www.fni.no) in Norway is assisting the Secretariat in carrying out this task. Funding is limited, so we begin by carrying out consultations via e-mail, in order to involve as many stakeholders as possible, in all parts of the world. The e-mail consultations have been made possible thanks to support from SwedBio of Sweden and the Development Fund, Norway. We are still trying to raise the funds necessary to hold a consultation conference towards the end of the year, which will then be global, with regional components. The results of the global consultation process will be presented to the Governing Body of the Plant Treaty at its Fourth Session in 2011, as a basis for its deliberations on promoting the realization of Farmers’ Rights at the national level.

The following questionnaire is designed to obtain information in the context of Resolution 6/2009 of the Governing Body and to facilitate discussions at the consultation conference. The Secretariat will follow this process and provide information to Contracting Parties accordingly.

Please distribute this questionnaire to organizations and individuals engaged in plant genetic resources for food and agriculture and farmers’ rights – in your own country and abroad. We would also be grateful if all those who are working with farmers take this opportunity to distribute the questionnaire among them, or to convene group consultations among farmers to complete the questionnaire collectively, if appropriate, and send it to us.

We sincerely hope that you will take the time to complete this questionnaire to the best of your capacity, and return it to us.

The final deadline for submission of this questionnaire is 31 August 2010.
Please e-mail the questionnaire to email hidden; JavaScript is required or as fax to (+47) 67 11 19 10.

We will publish the results of this e-mail based part of the consultation by the beginning of November 2010 in the form of a report, with the responses presented region-wise. For more information please visit the website of the Farmers’ Rights Project of the Fridtjof Nansen Institute at (www.farmersrights.org) or contact Tone Winge (email hidden; JavaScript is required).

Oslo, Norway 6 July 2010
Sincerely yours,
(sign.)
Regine Andersen,
Senior Research Fellow and
Director of the Farmers’ Rights Project
Fridtjof Nansen Institute

THE QUESTIONNAIRE
English: http://dgroups.org/?56n6yhjx
French:  http://dgroups.org/?fmcgl3nf
Spanish: http://dgroups.org/?tm9assp9

ABOUT THE TREATY AND THE CONSULTATION
English: http://www.farmersrights.org/about/fr_in_itpgrfa_7.html
French: http://www.farmersrights.org/FR/concernant_traite4.html
Spanish: http://www.farmersrights.org/ES/acerca_tratado4.html

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New Publication on EU Novel Food Regulation

Michael Hermann talks about the impact of European Novel Food Regulations in his article below:

“The impact of the European Novel Food Regulation on trade and food innovation based on traditional plant foods from developing countries”

The stringent food safety assessment for novel foods required by the European Union’s Novel Food Regulation (NFR) places a high burden of proof on those bringing traditional food products to the EU market not consumed in the EU prior 1997. The regulation has emerged as a non-tariff trade barrier for heritage foods from developing countries that are viewed as “exotic” from the EU perspective. We show how the regulation has discouraged investment in supply chains and market development, and how this negatively affects income generation and rural poverty alleviation in developing countries. Focusing on plant-derived foods, this paper proposes to recognize traditional exotic foods in current EU law as a food category sui generis with food safety evidence requirements being proportionate to the risks they may pose. We argue that development activities promoting export food chains must increasingly accommodate legitimate food safety concerns about neglected food species in project design and seek to generate data to enhance regulatory acceptance in target markets.  

For more visit http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2009.08.005

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Crops for the Future in the Pacific

Thirty participants from 15 Pacific island countries and territories met in Nadi, Fiji 21-22 September to discuss a strategy for the development of underutilized crops in the Pacific. The meeting was co-organized by the Secretariat of the Pacific Communities (SPC), Crops for the Future (CFF),  Bioversity International, the Asia-Pacific Association of Advanced Research Institutions (APAARI) and the Papua New Guinea National Agricultural Research Institute (NARI-PNG).

The aim of the meeting was to address issues of a more effective utilization of crop diversity to manage climate change and to increase local food production whilst at the same time ensuring effective conservation of plant genetic resources in the Pacific. Whilst underutilized plants have been recognized as having potential to address food security and malnutrition by alleviating an over-reliance on a few main staple crops and imported processed food, lack of information and documentation on underutilized species in the Pacific, lack of a priority list of underutilized species for the Pacific region, lack of policy support from various government agencies and in general poor awareness at all levels about the value and potential of underutilized species were stated as impeding any meaningful progress in the utilization of these crops.

The following species or crop groups were highlighted by the participants for further attention: Artocarpus altilis (breadfruit), Musa sp.  (Fe’i bananas, plantains), Xanthosoma sp. /Alocasia sp. (lesser aroids), Pandanus sp., Cyrtosperma chamissonis (giant swamp taro), Abelmoschus manihot (bele), Saccharum edule (pitpit), Canarium ovatum (galip nut), Inocarpus fagifer (Polynesian chestnut), Pometia pinnata (tava). An outline strategy was developed, comprising of the elements 1. Generation and collection of knowledge/research; 2. Communication and dissemination; 3. Policy advocacy; 4. Market development; 5. Partnerships and 6. Capacity building and institutional strengthening.

For further information, please contact Hannah Jaenicke or Mary Taylor.

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The European Novel Foods Regulation – The Case of Exotic Novel Foods

After the Novel Foods Regulation was adopted in 1997 it has been subject to much criticism, especially with regards to exotic novel foods from developing countries. This research evaluates the significance of European food legislation on food-exporting businesses in developing countries, in the case of exotic novel food. Food-exporting businesses from Latin American and African countries were interviewed in addition to experts on the area…

This is just a brief introduction. Click on the tiltle below to access the thesis on the NFR Elisabeth Mari Cumming Smith carried out at Wageningen University

• The European Novel Foods Regulation – The Case of Exotic Novel Foods

For more information on this non tariff trade barrier, you might want to check a  web page dedicated to the Novel Food Regulation that GFU started compiling and we continue looking after.

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Get involved in the GCARD 2010 regional consultations

Organized by GFAR, the Global Conference on Agricultural Research for Development (GCARD) is more than just a Conference – it’s a multi-year process of learning and continuous updating of the global agricultural research for development (AR4D) system. Each GCARD is organized every 2 years starting in 2009. Our aim is to create new ways of working together to enhance the development value of research. GCARD will be an open and inclusive process for consultation and change, which will aim to reshape agricultural research and innovation, improve resources for research, and increase its development impact. 

 The GCARD 2010 will result in an action plan and framework to improve agricultural research and innovation globally.

 A series of electronic and face-to-face consultations are being conducted at regional and global levels will preceed the GCARD Conferences in order to capture the contributions and perspectives of all stakeholders in the agricultural research, education and development systems. This will reshape the global agricultural research for development (AR4D) agenda and centre it on the needs of the poor in developing countries.

The electronic consultations are open to all those who are interested in agricultural research for development and innovation and have a specific interest in the region. The consultations are based on electronic dialogues with the possibility to consult and participate via a public website.

To find out more about the process and to sign up for the regional consultations please go to: www.egfar.org/egfar/website/gcard/aboutGCARD/process

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