This week, farmers in ghana are on the frontlines of a battle. Prospective analysis find, read and cite all the research you. The plant breeders bill is designed to impose genetically modified organisms into ghana s food chain, a move that could change our entire agricultural system. Plant breeders rights bill b112015 share this page. Plant breeders bill still not the best for ghana peasant. Understanding of the farmers privilege concept by smallholder farmers in south africa article pdf available in south african journal of science 11112. We particularly demand responses to these fundamental objections to the plant breeders bill. In the future it is expected that nsta will play that role, and it holds the potential to be a voice for a growing industry going. Ams estimates that most pvpo customers would be considered small business entities under the criteria established by sba cfr 121.
The parliamentary select committee on environment, science and technology has recommended to parliament to reintroduce and pass the plant breeders bill to. Members of the peasant farmers association of ghana pfag have maintained that the plant breeders bill pbb in its current form is inimical to the development of agriculture in the country. Brong ahafo chiefs, farmers vow to vote out mps if. Agriculture ministerdesignate misinformed parliament on. Ghana trips over the trips agreement on plant breeders. Coronavirus could potentially infect 3 million ghanaians presidents advisor on health. In addition, ghana is in the process of elaborating a plant variety protection legislation. Activities advocacy for the passage of the plant breeders bill, advocacy for a cattle ranch and paddock law advocacy for agriculture finance for small farm holders, education campaign on good seed selection and planting methods, consolidation of databases of the four national fbos. What you are not told pla t breeders ights is o e of the li ks i the pla t variety development chain and an important tool for. The title of their petition declared, ghana s plant breeders bill lacks legitimacy.
Plant breeders bill must be revised csos tell parliament. Parliament distorts opposition to plant breeders bill. Recently, the parliament of ghana debated and passed the plant breeders bill act t r s u which ostensibly authorized the center for scientific and industrial research csir to conduct field trials for three gmos. We analyse media content on how bt is viewed in the context of ghana s parliamentary debate on the plant breeders bill and within the broader public policymaking literature.
Even as citizens, our rights are subject to the laws of ghana, not independent of it. Farmers organizations, plant breeding and seed industry. Grassroots antigmo movements in ghana, including the group food sovereignty ghana fsg, are vehemently protesting the plant breeders bill, a piece of legislation that if passed could make it very difficult for small farmers to retain control over their seeds. The plant breeders bill, among other things, is to ensure a genetic diversity of food crops but has faced strong resistance from farmer groups, the. Ghana needs plant variety protection law mofa director. We are in full agreement with this request, and pray on you to heed the call. Plant breeders bill of ghana the council noted that the plant breeders bill of ghana that had been presented to the parliament incorporated the changes in the decision of the council of november 1, 2012, and agreed that the additional changes, made during the first reading of the bill by the parliament of ghana in june 20, did not. Ayenan and others published implications of plant breeder bill on breeding activities in ghana.
The aim of the project was to assist ghana in designing a modern ip system in order to improve the business environment, encourage knowhow and technology transfer, facilitate exports, and contribute to economic development. Plant breeders rights bill, which is currently before its parliament awaiting passage. The peasant farmers association of ghana pfag, has called on government and parliament to halt the passage of the plant breeders bill pbb and to ensure further consultations with farmers. There has been controversy with their use their since then. Ghana s parliamentary debate on the plant breeders bill and within the broader public policymaking literature. Swissghana intellectual property rights project sgip. Opportunities and threats to harmonisation of plant breeders rights in africa. Replace plant breeders bill with a sui generis pvp system. Food sovereignty ghana calls on parliament to completely withdraw the upovcompliant plant breeders bill and replace it with a sui generis plant variety protection pvp system suitable to our conditions. The memorandum to the plant breeders bill only abruptly announces. Opportunities and threats to harmonisation of plant. I believe the new alliance can make an important contribution to tackling the underlying causes of poverty and hunger in africa, promoting growth in african agriculture through coordinated public. Ghana passed a new seed law, the plants and fertiliser act, in 2010. This paper does not seek to take a position on bt or the bill, but to understand how policy actors.
Publish report on consultations over plant breeder s bill. Plant breeders bill the plant breeders bill, which was put before parliament in 20, went through the first and second consideration stages. Abstractthis paper examines the highly contested and ongoing biotechnology bt policymaking process in ghana. Gobii project to improve breeding of crop varieties. Project specific objectives a national intellectual property policy strategy is drafted and established. The proposed legislation contains rules that would restrict farmers from an ageold practice.
Food sovereignty ghana charges house speaker ghnewsnow on audio fsg interview with radio xyz on the need for further consultations on the plant breeders bill. Pdf implications of plant breeder bill on breeding. We find the inclusion of the plant breeders bill in these series a strange. Meanwhile several prominent ghanaian experts in the field have dared to.
Pdf understanding of the farmers privilege concept by. Regulations and procedures under the plant variety. This paper discusses the most probable implications of the plant breeder bill on breeding activities in ghana. Ghana can protect plant breeder rights without necessarily opting for upov 91. Food sovereignty ghana calls on parliament to completely withdraw the. Implications of plant breeder bill on breeding activities. The association said what even saddened it was that the ministerdesignate managed to convince the committee that food. Battling the monsanto law in ghana new internationalist. All of these objections apply equally to the aripo arusha pvp protocol, a treaty version of the exact same bill. The bill has not been enforced yet but several benefits for farmers, breeders and agriculture in the country have been predicted. The proposed plant breeders bill of ghana and the food. Under the proposed law, companies would not have to disclose the origin of the seed that they have created.
Consult table 1 of the plant breeders rights act, 1976 act 15 of 1976 to establish whether the kind of plant is declared if the kind of plant is not in the table, submit a request for declaration with a motivation in writing to the registrar for plant breeders rights. Plant breeders rights pbr, also known as plant variety rights pvr, are rights granted to the breeder of a new variety of plant that give the breeder exclusive control over the propagating material including seed, cuttings, divisions, tissue culture and harvested material cut flowers, fruit, foliage of a new variety for a number of years. Highly interactive data analysis and productivity hidap tools for breeding conference paper pdf available january 2016 with 42 reads how we measure reads. Why do maize farmers in ghana have a limited choice of improved. Plant breeders have for sometime now been engaged in the development of improved crop varieties, usually using local varieties and landraces obtained from smallholder farmers. Update on ghana the plant breeders bill in ghana proposes a new intellectual property rights system for seeds that would allow powerful companies to patent seed varieties they lay claim to. Owusuafriyie akoto the peasant farmers association of ghana pfag has expressed disappointment in the attempt by the ministerdesignate of agriculture and some vetting committee members to misinform ghanaians about the implication of the plant breeders bill. Pdf highly interactive data analysis and productivity.
Legal and institutional considerations for plant variety. We would also like to see in the report, what justification, if any, lies behind the inclusion of clause 23 in the plant breeders bill which makes the rights of the plant breeder independent of the laws of ghana. Plant breeders rights bill as introduced in the national assembly proposed section 76. Apply for plant breeders rights south african government. Replace plant breeders bill with a sui generis pvp. Passage of the ghana plant breeders bill will encourage investments for the development of superior varieties of staple crops urgently needed in farmers fields to spark a green revolution in. Chiefs and peasant farmers in the brong ahafo region have vowed to vote against all mps in the next years election if they ignore their calls and pass the plant breeders bill into law. Chapter 1 the origins of plant variety protection and upov fao. Food sovereignty ghana fsg has met with the parliamentary committee on constitutional, legal and parliamentary affairs over the plant breeders bill. The draft bill, which reflects upov 1991, above, n 49, is the subject of opposition by farmers organizations. Dr effa said education and sensitization of all stakeholders to understand the purpose of the plant breeders bill was very necessary so that they would support the passage of the bill. The university of california uc, davis, will set up an academy next year in accra, ghana, to train 80 to 100 plant breeders in bioinformatics. Clause 9 outlines the application process and indicates the persons who may file the application. The plant breeders bill would give corporations such as monsanto rights above the laws of ghana.
Activist groups including food sovereignty ghana, the coalition for farmers rights, advocacy against gmos, ghana catholic bishops conference, convention peoples party, and various individuals have argued against its introduction. In 20, the government of ghana brought a proposed plant breeders bill pbb to parliament for scrutiny and passage into law. Genetically modified food were introduced to ghana by the ghanaian government in 20. Peasant farmers kick against plant breeders bill ghana. Although ghana is not a signatory member of the international union for the protection of new varieties of plants convention upov convention, there is explicit evidence that the plant breeders rights pbr s bill under consideration in the ghanaian parliament contains provisions modelled on the upov act 1991 rather than the potentially. Upov council holds its fortyseventh ordinary session. The national parliament is due to return from its summer break and first thing on the agenda is the governments plant breeders bill. Consequently, the number of academic plant breeders has been on a slow and steady decline and this will probably compromise the training of plant breeders in that country lee and dudley 2006. Pdf implications of plant breeder bill on breeding activities in. So far, the farmers and people of ghana have stopped passage of the plant breeders bill in parliament.
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