Farmers' rights in Peru: a case study

The study offers an analysis of the various and complex issues and problems which arise with regard to understanding and, especially, implementing farmers’ rights at the national level. Peru is a centre of origin and diversity of important food crops and a country where traditional farming practices coexist with modern and intensive farming. Additionally, various perceptions and limited awareness about the implications of Farmers’ Rights pose a challenge.

The study finds that Peru has made some progress, particularly in the area of public policies and laws oriented towards the protection of traditional knowledge and seeking to ensure the fair and equitable sharing of benefits derived from the use of genetic resources. Most concerns at present focus on the impacts that a seed certification system and new plant breeders’ rights may have on traditional saving and use of seeds and propagating material by campesinos and native communities. Farmers’ Rights appear to be an important tool for campesinos and native communities to ensure the legitimacy of the traditional practices of saving, reusing and exchanging seeds.

[adapted from author]