Impacts of International and National Regulatory Frameworks on Guaranteeing Farmers’ Right in Brazil (original) (raw)
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This paper analyzes the implementation of the international obligation to the progressive realization of the human right to food (HRF) by the Brazilian State with a special focus on public policy to promote agroecological practices. The aim therein is to evaluate the potential benefits of the use of agroecology as means to implement the HRF as well as identify potential areas for further development. First, a historical and legal examination of the HRF will shed light on its current legal framework, on its detailed normative content and on the State’s obligation arising therefrom, with a focus on agroecological practices as means to its implementation. In a second section, we will analyze the implementation of the HRF in the Brazilian legal system, including its applicable institutional framework and the most relevant public policies. We conclude that the application of agroecological public policy in Brazil constitutes a relevant opportunity to positively address several obstacles found in previous public policy such as the contradictions resulting from the lack of integration in a complex net of institutions. The analyses of the Brazilian agroecological framework shows that the normative content of the HRF can be addressed and implemented through this strategy. The Brazilian experience could and should be used as a building block for further development towards a more effective implementation of the HRF by integrating social, economic and environmental concerns through agroecology.
Agrobiodiversity and the law: regulating genetic resources, food security and cultural diversity
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The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), launched 20 years ago, envisioned a bifurcated world divided between 'providers' and 'users' of genetic resources. An organizing principle of the CBD was that enlightened self-interest could stem the deluge of species' extinction caused by such forces as tropical deforestation. The CBD offered two mechanisms to mobilize this self-interest: (1) recognizing national sovereignty in the ownership of biological resources; and (2) establishing 'access and benefit-sharing' (ABS) systems to establish legal frameworks to maintain the flow of biological resources and encourage conservation by giving economic returns to the stewards of biological resources. The CBD was largely silent on biological diversity in agricultural systems. Indeed, to many biologists, agriculture is the enemy of biological diversity. Nevertheless, a parallel set of issues exists regarding 'agrobiodiversity'the myriad of local crop varieties, farmer knowledge, and wild crop relatives that are concentrated in certain areas, much like biological diversity in the tropics. These regions are primarily associated with the regions where crop species were originally domesticated, such as Mesoamerica, the Andes, or the arc between eastern Anatolia and the Negev (Brush 2004). They are also subject to the loss of biological diversity as farmers replace locally diverse varieties with commercial varieties released by seed companies and plant breeding programs.
The Earth's plant genetic resources are a common inheritance of all humankind, which should be held in shared trust for a common future. A key component of the global genetic commons is agricultural biodiversity. Our food and livelihood security depend on the sustained management of these diverse biological resources that are important for food and agriculture. Whilst agricultural biodiversity originates in specific farming communities, it has been shared widely and is considered by many to be part of the muchthreatened global commons. This book is about the creation, management and use of the global crop commons. It focuses primarily on the legal and administrative construct that provides the basis of the global crop commons, that is, the multilateral system of access and benefit-sharing created by the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. This is particularly significant because it transcends the traditional dichotomy between privatization and total governmental control. It came into effect in 2006 and the book describes its origins and implementation since then, showing how many international organizations and some developing countries are moving quickly with implementation, while other countries are moving slowly and some multinational corporations are expressing misgivings about the system overall.
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Access to quality seed has become one of the underlying developmental needs of farming communities for achieving food security and sustainable development. The advent of the green revolution in Brazil heralded a massive loss of farmers’ varieties, which were replaced by a few high-yielding and hybrid varieties. Small-scale farmers in Guaraciaba, in the western part of the state of Santa Catarina (Figure 1.5.1), recall that up until as recently as the 1970s they were only growing their own local varieties of major staple crops. However, by the 1990s these had already vanished from most of their farms. The resulting dependency of farmers on the seed of external sources has been a burden for them, in terms of the high costs involved with such cultivation. The Micro-watershed Development Programme was implemented by Santa Catarina State Enterprise for Rural Development and Extension (Epagri), from 2004 to 2009, with funding from the World Bank. In the municipality of Guaraciaba, communi...
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Access to genetic resources (GR) and/or traditional knowledge associated with genetic resources (ATK) has been regulated in Brazil since 2001. The law 13,123 / 2015 determined a significant change in the theme, mainly on the rules of distribution of benefits obtained for conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, the access to technology and technology transfer, the exploitation of products or reproductive material from the GR or ATK and consignment to the outside of part or all the living or dead organism shipped for GR. The implementation of international treaties on GR and ATK for research, biotechnological development and bioprospecting have been causing difficulties for Brazilian researchers, mainly due to the lack of information and dissemination available for compliance with the legislation. In this work, the members of the Committee for Access to Genetic Resources and Associated Traditional Knowledge of the Federal Fluminense University (UFFGEN) - Brazil, and collaborators performed a critical reflection on the new law, helping Brazilian researchers with information necessary to understand the changes made by the new legislation, especially in the field of Biotechnology associated with Brazilian Biodiversity.
Farmers' Rights: Global Context, Negotiations and Strategies
Since the early 1980s, there has been a series of negotiations on how countries need to promote the conservation and development of plant genetic resources for food and agricul-ture, and why and how they need to facilitate access to such resources for further breeding and research. Similarly, important decisions on what types of farmers' rights they need to protect for ensuring equity in the use of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture have also been made. In 2001, the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture was adopted to ensure that its Parties implement a multilateral system of access and benefit sharing for 35 food crops and 29 forage plants, and take national measures, among others, to realize farmers' rights. This policy brief highlights the developments in the global negotiations on the conservation, development and use of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture, and the realization of farmers' rights. In the li...
Biofuels, Bioproducts and Biorefining, 2016
A key question for food, biofuels, and bioproducts production is how agriculture affects the environment, and social and economic development. In Brazil, a large agricultural producer and among the biologically wealthiest of nations, this question is challenging and opinions often clash. The Brazilian parliament and several stakeholders have recently debated the revision of the Forest Act, the most important legal framework for conservation of natural vegetation on Brazilian private agricultural lands. Past decades have shown improvements in the agricultural sector with respect to productivity and effi ciency, along with great reductions in deforestation and growth of environmentally certifi ed production. However, the opposing sides in the debate have ignored this progress and instead continue to entrench their respective combative positions. A structured exchange involving nine experts associated with major producer interests (livestock, crops, planted forest, and charcoal) and environmental NGOs was moderated based on a framework that sorted viewpoints into four categories: (i) common ground-compatible interests considered to be high priority for Brazilian sustainable agricultural development; (ii) serving exclusive nature conservation interest; (iii) serving exclusive agricultural production interest; and (iv) mainly serving the purpose of sustaining dispute. We conclude that the majority Sparovek et al. On the Map: Disputes and agreements on sustainability of Brazilian bioproducts