|
“Contesting Privatization: NGOs and Farmers’ Rights in the
African Model Law.” Global
Environmental Politics. Vol.
7, No. 1 (February, 2007).
Abstract
The development of the concept of farmers’
rights in the Food and Agriculture Organization, and its adoption
by the African Union as a counterbalance to the private property
rights of plant breeders, highlights the divisiveness of the
question of ownership in biodiversity and biotechnology.
In this paper, I explore the development of the African
Model Law, a regional regime intended to promote indigenous
control over local biodiversity.
Specifically, I contend that key non-governmental
organizations were able to draw on African efforts and concerns
regarding conceptions of private property rights embodied in
international agreements, framing the question of farmers’
rights in a way that spoke to the African experience.
Farmers’ rights thus came to be a focal point for African
negotiators at international discussions on intellectual property
rights and biodiversity, enabling Africa to take a key role in the
articulation of alternatives to the Trade-Related Intellectual
Property Rights (TRIPs) Agreement.
|
