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Africa: Seed Sharing Or Biopiracy
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AfricaFocus (Washington, DC)
ANALYSIS
20 December 2007
Posted to the web 21 December 2007
Washington, DC
"Sharing of seed is the essence of our planet's agricultural biodiversity. Without the open palm offering seeds, we all lose.
Current policies, however, are closing the fist around seed, evident in the strong drive for individual access and monopoly ownership of genetic resources, as opposed to open access and collective principles of communities." - Andrew Mushita and Carol B. Thompson
In their new book, Biopiracy of Biodiversity: Global Exchange as Enclosure, Andrew Mushita and Carol Thompson explore a wide range of issues related to food security, biodiversity, and the conflict between pressures for industrial agriculture and preservation of the lives and livelihoods of small farmers, particularly in Southern Africa. But the issues discussed go beyond one region, posing questions about the sustainability of agriculture and the environment in both rich and poor countries.
This AfricaFocus Bulletin contains a small number of brief excerpts from the book, touching on only a fraction of the issues raised by the authors on the basis of extensive first-hand experience and research, with full credit given to the traditional wisdom and scientific ingenuity of African farmers themselves. The book is available from the publisher, Africa World Press
(http://www.africaworldpressbooks.com).
Among recent reports and website on related issues, see particularly:
"A New Green Revolution for Africa?" December 2007
http://www.grain.org/briefings?id=205
"An African Call for a Moratorium on Agrofuel Development" November 2007
http://www.grain.org/agrofuels/?moratoriumen
Outcome of Meeting of African Farmers' Groups in Mali, December 2007
http://www.moreandbetter.org and
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/44955
Updates and reports on trade and agriculture
For links to previous AfricaFocus Bulletins on agriculture and related issues, see http://www.africafocus.org/agexp.php
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Biopiracy of Biodiversity: Global Exchange as Enclosure
by Andrew Mushita and Carol B. Thompson
Africa World Press, 2007
Selected Excerpts
From Acknowledgements
Biodiversity is a marvel of complexity, for many species are situated in one place, unique to a site; yet biodiversity spreads and grows only if the species are exchanged and travel across the ecosystem to new sites, adapting slowly to new climes. ...
Sharing of seed is the essence of our planet's agricultural biodiversity. Without the open palm offering seeds, we all lose.
Current policies, however, are closing the fist around seed, evident in the strong drive for individual access and monopoly ownership of genetic resources, as opposed to open access and collective principles of communities. ...
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This study comes to the conclusion, startling to most of those outside the continent, that Africa has answers to its food deficits and food insecurity. It is not one answer but rather, reflects the vast diversity of soils, terrains, waters and species on the continent. Plowing that diversity into monoculture for increased yields or into privatization in the name of incentives perpetuates general models that have failed. Other approaches, some very old and some quite new, will sustain Africa'?s biodiversity, and therefore, its food security.
The story extends much beyond Africa in that the alternative policies offer lessons for other countries and other peoples, especially those eating chemical foods. Africa demonstrates that none of the dominant international policies - from food production to patenting to trade - is inevitable. Viable and sustainable alternatives are not only possible, but already exist. Resisting biopiracy in order to harvest biodiversity, African alternative approaches show how to sustain the open palms exchanging seeds.
...
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