Securing Farmers’ Rights and Seed Sovereignty in South Africa

This pilot study is being undertaken in conjunction with local NGO, Biowatch South Africa. With financial support from the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) in Canada, the focus of the study is to investigate how the customary rights and practices of small-scale farmers in South Africa to save, use, develop and share seed can be protected.

Field work with small-scale rural farmers in northern KwaZulu-Natal Province has revealed the importance of exchanges of traditional, locally-adapted seed and crops (such as millet, sorghum, maize, Zulu potato, amadumbe and various beans) between these, mostly female, farmers. Seed exchanges in the form of loans, gifts or trades with relatives and other farmers are seen as essential to secure seed security in the event of harvest failure, save farmers money as they do not have to rely on shop-bought seed, and improve social cohesion by strengthening community and family relations.

However, the legislative framework in South Africa strongly favours an export and commercial oriented agriculture sector, with little or no support for smallholder farmers who rely on traditional methods to grow their crops. In fact, some of the legislation actively discriminates against customary practices such as seed saving and exchange.

A review of international as well as national legal instruments and agreements pertaining to farmers’ seed will be used in conjunction with the field work results to formulate suggestions for a more supportive policy framework. This work is the first in a series of research projects which aim to identify ways in which farmers’ customary practices and traditional agricultural knowledge may be given recognition, preserved and indeed enhanced in a changing world.