President Droupadi Murmu will inaugurate the global symposium on farmers’ rights organised by the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) in New Delhi on Tuesday. The four day symposium is expected to contribute to understanding the challenges and opportunities of implementing farmers’ rights around the globe. A proposal for future work on farmers’ rights, including improving the inventory and charting the possible work to be done, is expected to be considered at the symposium.
Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Authority, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, the Indian Agricultural Research Institute and the National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources are the organising partners for the symposium. The organisers said the outcome expected from the programme includes increased knowledge and awareness of farmers’ rights, shared and disseminated measures, best practices, experiences and lessons learned.
The meeting will also strive for an improved understanding of the “interconnectedness of farmers’ rights and human rights” and actions that can be opted to promote the realisation of farmers’ rights. The other agenda includes discussions on the possible impact of digital sequence information and genetic sequence data on farmers’ rights. The symposium will assess the state of implementation of Article 9 of the International Treaty on farmers’ rights and the possible work to be done in the next inter-sessional period of the ITPGRFA. Article 9 of the International Treaty provides for the recognition, realisation, and promotion of farmers’ rights relating to plant genetic resources for food and agriculture.
The organisers of the symposium told reporters that the objectives of such a programme, which is being held for the first time since the adoption of the International Treaty, are expected to contribute to the understanding of the challenges and opportunities of implementing farmers’ rights by the signatory countries and other stakeholders. The participants are expected to share inspiring stories, innovative approaches, effective policies, best practices, knowledge and experiences, and the lesson learned on implementing farmers’ rights during the symposium.
The other objectives include promoting recognition of the role of farmers as conservers of agrobiodiversity and safeguarding global food security, sharing insights about the interconnectedness of farmers’ rights with international human rights, and identify possible actions that can support the effective implementation of the relevant targets of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) and gather insights and ideas for developing future work on the implementation of farmers’ rights.
