Theme: Policy Environment
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Gene edited crops won’t solve hunger
Its patentability will jeopardize farmers’ and breeders’ free access to seeds instead. By Nout van der Vaart, Policy Lead Food and Land at Oxfam Novib Much has been discussed already about the European Commission’s proposal to deregulate new genomic techniques (NGTs). On January 24, members of the Environmental Committee of the European Parliament will vote […]
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GB10 debrief – a week at the 10th meeting of the FAO Plant Treaty’s Governing Body
By Nout van der Vaart and Bram de Jonge, Oxfam Novib Summary of GB10 plenary session and main discussions held From November 18-25, a team of SD=HS representatives participated in the 10th session of the Governing Body (GB10) of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA). The session, held at […]
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Case Studies from Laos
Sowing Diversity= Harvesting Security Phase II (2019-2022) The case studies presented under the Sowing Diversity equals Harvesting Security (SD=HS) Program in Laos from 2019-2022 showcase successful initiatives and outcomes in different provinces. The program has contributed to food security and economic well-being in the region. There are a total of six case studies that highlight […]
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News from the SeedNL Annual Event
By Nout van der Vaart, Oxfam Novib The Oxfam Novib SD=HS team participated in the SeedNL Annual Event, which took place in Wageningen, the Netherlands on October 5th. During the event, the team had the opportunity to co-facilitate a joint break-out session together with ISSD Uganda, to inform the audience about seed system policies and […]
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No support and legal certainty for small-scale farmers in the Global South
By Nout van der Vaart, Oxfam Novib The International Union for the Protection of New Plant Varieties (UPOV) has failed to take significant steps to expand the exception for small-scale farmers regarding the use of protected seeds for private and non-commercial use purposes. During its annual meeting in Geneva, the contracting parties did not reach […]
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Learning for Change
“Change is the end result of all true learning” -Leo Buscaglia The journey of learning that began in the second phase of the Sowing Diversity = Harvesting Security (SD=HS) program for Zambia has come to an end by the year 2023. Since 2019 Zambia has strived to achieve change through learning, unlearning, and relearning together […]
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Enhancing and supporting resilient Farmers’ Seed Systems in Zimbabwe: Findings from the National End of Season Evaluation
By Manata Jeko and Pardon Sithole Outcomes from the just-ended National end-of-season evaluation in Zimbabwe have demonstrated that the Sowing Diversity Equals Harvesting Security (SDHS) program in Zimbabwe has transformed farmers’ seed systems. A group of 30 participants from the six operational districts convened at Chibhanguza Hotel over three days to evaluate the performance of […]
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Annual Report 2022
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic was significantly lower in 2022, with restrictions being gradually lifted and more teams and activities returning to “normal”. But the year was also marked by the war in Ukraine and a worldwide economic crisis, with inflation and disruptions to the global food supplies. This came on top of a […]
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Peru’s Vibrant Events: A Medley of Diverse Experiences
By Angel Villavicencio, Milagros Ysuhuaylas, Kelly Alvarez, Pavel Lozano (Fovida) and Ana Lucía Núñez (Oxfam) Agrobiodiversity and Barter Fair – Paucará 2023 On July 20, the “First Agrobiodiversity and Barter Fair – Paucará 2023” was held in the province of Acobamba, in the Huancavelica, central highlands of Peru. Barter is an ancestral mechanism local communities […]
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Training Manual Agrobiodiversity and Farmers Rights
Foreword by Bharat Bhandari, Executive Director LI-BIRD Agricultural biodiversity, a subset of biological diversity, is the foundation of food and nutritional security. Smallholder farmers in developing countries are considered custodians of local agrobiodiversity who conserve, utilize, and maintain crop genetic diversity along with associated traditional knowledge and use cases. Changing climate coupled with other socio-economic […]
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SD=HS Newsletter | May 2023
Sowing Diversity=Harvesting Security newsletter Campaign URL Copy Twitter 0 tweets Subscribe Past Issues RSS Translate English العربية Afrikaans беларуская мова български català 中文（简体） 中文（繁體） Hrvatski Česky Dansk eesti keel Nederlands Suomi Français Deutsch Ελληνική हिन्दी Magyar Gaeilge Indonesia íslenska Italiano 日本語 ភាសាខ្មែរ 한국어 македонски јазик بهاس ملايو Malti Norsk Polski Português Português – Portugal Română Русский Español Kiswahili Svenska […]
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SD=HS Newsletter | April 2023
Sowing Diversity=Harvesting Security newsletter Campaign URL Copy Twitter 0 tweets Subscribe Past Issues RSS Translate English العربية Afrikaans беларуская мова български català 中文（简体） 中文（繁體） Hrvatski Česky Dansk eesti keel Nederlands Suomi Français Deutsch Ελληνική हिन्दी Magyar Gaeilge Indonesia íslenska Italiano 日本語 ភាសាខ្មែរ 한국어 македонски јазик بهاس ملايو Malti Norsk Polski Português Português – Portugal Română Русский Español Kiswahili Svenska […]
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Farmers’ Variety Registration System Workshop
From March 28th to March 30th, Catholic Relief Services’ S34D in collaboration with Oxfam Novib’s SD=HS hosted a Farmers’ Variety Registration System workshop in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Nearly 40 national and international seed experts were present, representing national research institutions, non-governmental organizations, USAID, and the Ethiopian government. S34D was honored to welcome distinguished guests Dr. […]
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SD=HS Newsletter | February 2023
Sowing Diversity=Harvesting Security newsletter Campaign URL Copy Twitter 0 tweets Subscribe Past Issues RSS Translate English العربية Afrikaans беларуская мова български català 中文（简体） 中文（繁體） Hrvatski Česky Dansk eesti keel Nederlands Suomi Français Deutsch Ελληνική हिन्दी Magyar Gaeilge Indonesia íslenska Italiano 日本語 ភាសាខ្មែរ 한국어 македонски јазик بهاس ملايو Malti Norsk Polski Português Português – Portugal Română Русский Español Kiswahili Svenska […]
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SD=HS Newsletter | January 2023
Sowing Diversity=Harvesting Security newsletter Campaign URL Copy Twitter 0 tweets Subscribe Past Issues RSS Translate English العربية Afrikaans беларуская мова български català 中文（简体） 中文（繁體） Hrvatski Česky Dansk eesti keel Nederlands Suomi Français Deutsch Ελληνική हिन्दी Magyar Gaeilge Indonesia íslenska Italiano 日本語 ភាសាខ្មែរ 한국어 македонски јазик بهاس ملايو Malti Norsk Polski Português Português – Portugal Română Русский Español Kiswahili Svenska […]
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Building Bridges between Practitioners and Academics
“It is one of the most interesting courses I ever took because it brought scholars and practitioners together and allowed them to interact with grassroots cases.” –Yiching Song, Farmer Seed Network in China This blog looks at the experience seven SD=HS colleagues who presented some of the case studied as ground for group work, to […]
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John Tigere on empowering farmers in Zimbabwe
“Nearly everyone in Zimbabwe is a farmer and even those in towns still have one or two beds of vegetables on their backyards.” John Tigere works with Community Technology Development Trust in Zimbabwe (CTDT). His focus is on farming as a family business and as such he works with Farmer Seeds Enterprises to facilitate the commercialization of […]
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“Stay rooted in the reality on the ground” Yiching Song’s advice to work on seed systems
“I am crazy about seeds, and I consider supporting farmers and farmers seed systems my life mission.” Since 2000, Yiching Song has been aiming to link farmer seed systems and the formal system. In 2013, she established the Farmers’ Seed Network in China (FSN) to work through Farmer Field Schools and engaged farmers through Community […]
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Breaking Barriers: Juliet Nangamba’s Journey
“It is fascinating to make the connections between climate change, seeds systems, food systems, livelihoods, women, land, and indigenous knowledge surrounding seeds, and how they impact aspects of culture, traditions and life.” Juliet Nangamba works as a programmes manager with Community Technology Development Trust (CTDT) Zambia. She focuses on seed and food systems projects and […]
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Reflections on COP15, COP27 and the launch of the Montreal Declaration
SD=HS work in China is lead by Farmers’ Seed Network, the team attended both COP15 and COP27 last months. They share their reflections on both events. By Xin Song, Yiching Song, Yufen Chuang COP 15 – Montreal, Canada, 7-19 December The COP15 had diverse issues, including more attention to agrobiodiversity and the first full-day “Food […]