Against the grain? A historical institutional analysis of access governance of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture in Ethiopia

Ola T Westengen,Teshome H Mulesa

doi:10.1111/jwip.12142

Abstract

AbstractFarmers' and breeders' access to a genetic diversity is essential for food system sustainability. The implementation of international agreements regulating access to plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (PGRFA) varies substantially between countries. Here, we examine why some countries implement a restrictive access governance regime, taking Ethiopia as a case. Drawing on commons theory and historical institutional analysis, we analyze historical, political, and economic factors that have shaped Ethiopia's access regime. Based on interviews with key actors and stakeholders and document analysis, we identify three overarching ideational and material factors that can explain Ethiopia's current policy: (a) the influence of narratives about Ethiopia as a biodiversity treasure trove on the Ethiopian cultural identity; (b) the economic importance of agriculture based on PGRFA with origin in the country; and (c) the political influence of the genetic resource movement that promotes farmers' rights as a counter measure to stringent intellectual property rights (IPR), and on‐farm PGRFA management as complimentary to ex situ conservation and formal seed system development. The Ethiopian case illustrates that countries' governance of access to PGRFA must be understood in connection with, and not in isolation from, IPR regimes and the historical, political, and cultural role of PGRFA in the country in question.

Highlights

Sustainable food production depends on cultivated and wild plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (PGRFA) for crop improvement
Based on interviews with key actors and stakeholders and document analysis, we identify three overarching ideational and material factors that can explain Ethiopia's current policy: (a) the influence of narratives about Ethiopia as a biodiversity treasure trove on the Ethiopian cultural identity; (b) the economic importance of agriculture based on PGRFA with origin in the country; and (c) the political influence of the genetic resource movement that promotes farmers' rights as a counter measure to stringent intellectual property rights (IPR), and on‐farm PGRFA management as complimentary to ex situ conservation and formal seed system development
Three types of laws and regulations explicitly restrict access to PGRs. These are (a) intellectual property rights (IPRs) on cultivars; (b) access and benefit sharing (ABS) regulations related to the Nagoya Protocol of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), and to the Multilateral System for ABS under the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA)—hereafter referred to as the MLS; and (c) plant health regulations

Summary

Introduction

Sustainable food production depends on cultivated and wild plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (PGRFA) for crop improvement. Farmers and breeders need access to plant genetic resources (PGRs) from both within and outside their borders; all countries rely on crop diversity that originated on territories under other jurisdictions (Khoury et al, 2016; Palacios, 1997). Three types of laws and regulations explicitly restrict access to PGRs. Three types of laws and regulations explicitly restrict access to PGRs These are (a) intellectual property rights (IPRs) on cultivars; (b) access and benefit sharing (ABS) regulations related to the Nagoya Protocol of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), and to the Multilateral System for ABS under the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA)—hereafter referred to as the MLS; and (c) plant health regulations. IPRs only apply to new varieties while the two latter apply to all PGRFA exchanged across national borders

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