Seeds: a common good increasingly concentrated in the hands of the few
Seeds are a common good, and until a few decades ago, any attempt to restrict the freedom to reproduce them would have been considered absurd, a breach of the basic norms of civilised coexistence.
Not one of the crops we rely on today is the fruit of modern science. Wheat was nothing more than a small, fragile ear of corn. Potatoes and tomatoes were poisonous plants. Many fruits were just small berries. Turning these wild plants into food sources with tastes that we recognise today has been the work of millions of families, communities, and diverse peoples over thousands of years. Seeds are a common good, and until a few decades ago, any attempt to restrict the freedom to reproduce them would have been considered absurd, a breach of the basic norms of civilised coexistence. However, in 1961 everything began to change, with the creation of the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) with the aim of privatising them.
For those who negotiate these agreements, farmers who store and exchange seed are unwanted competition. This is why they criminalise the knowledge, techniques and practices of farming communities. This privatisation mechanism is known as “plant breeders’ rights”. What this means in practice is that a seed company can take field seeds from a farmer, make a simple selection, privatise, and then claim ownership of all similar varieties. This would be the equivalent of claiming authorship and ownership of graffiti painted on a building. The result is that farmers end up not being able to use their own seeds and have to buy them from – or pay a royalty to – the company that has privatised them.
In a growing number of countries, reproducing privatised seeds and storing them for use the following season is strictly forbidden. If a farmer reuses privatised seeds without the permission of the ‘owner’ of that particular variety, the crop, the harvest and any products derived from it can be confiscated and destroyed. Thus the UPOV 91 agreement forces peasant and indigenous families to follow the path of agricultural modernisation, dispossessing them of a common good that has until now made it possible for them to remain food producers.
These rules also erode agrobiodiversity, since only homogeneous varieties are considered acceptable. This is extremely dangerous, particularly for the most impoverished countries and for soil health, as the resulting increase in crop vulnerability has to be compensated for by greater use of chemical products or genetically engineered pest-resistant plants. International organisations such as the FAO have documented the failure of the Green Revolution, and the fact the loss of biodiversity – which constitutes an emergency – has not been addressed or remedied. Of the original ten thousand species, we now only cultivate just over 150, and the vast majority of people are reliant on no more than twelve plant species. How can we achieve a varied diet when 60% of our calories come from just three crops: wheat, rice and maize? If our health is dependent on the diversity and composition of the microbiome, which in turn depends on the diversity of nutrients contained in food, how can we have access to a varied diet when agriculture is based on uniformity?
In 2016, 55% of the world seed market was concentrated in the hands of five giant multinationals. In 1985 that figure was 10%. And at the same time, some of these companies also control another multi-million euro market: pesticides. Recent mergers have further compounded the situation. Syngenta and ChemChina joined forces, Dow Chemical merged with Dupont to form Corteva, while Bayer acquired Monsanto. Four companies now control more than 60% of the global seed market, and 70% of the agrochemical and pesticide market. This concentration creates barriers that limit the emergence of sustainable alternative agricultural models and diversified seed supply and trade systems.
And now the new land to be conquered are seeds that are resistant to climate change. These are crops that can tolerate drought, flooding or salinity. A multi-million euro business, as extreme events are becoming ever more frequent. Patents for more than 1,500 climate-resistant varieties are already in the hands of the big corporations. “The agrochemical and biotech industry,” writes Vandana Shiva, “is taking climate-resistant varieties developed by farmers, mapping their genomes and then claiming the traits originally selected by those farmers as their own patented inventions. This is not genetic selection, it is piracy, or rather biopiracy.”
The protection, preservation and free distribution of seeds is therefore becoming a question of survival and freedom, one that affects us all. As Vandana Shiva points out, “saving and reproducing local seeds has become imperative […] it is only in this way that farmers can secure their livelihoods, and consumers can have both food security and access to quality food that tastes good”. Here in Catalonia, the Farmers’ Union is calling for the full restoration of farmers’ rights regarding seeds and plants. They point to the paradox that only those varieties listed in the state register or in the European catalogue may be exchanged, when in reality “any variety reproduced on farms evolves and adapts to the characteristics of the land”, and so ends up being less uniform and homogeneous, which then prevents it from being officially registered. The problem is that these are precisely the seeds that are “most resilient, and therefore most suitable for forms of production that are more sustainable and better adapted to the climate emergency”.
To resist, it is vital to continue growing, saving, exchanging, breeding and sharing native and organic varieties. Seed Freedom, the Red de Semillas Resembrando e Intercambiando, the Xarxa de Graners and Varietats Locals are all key organisations in this struggle. If you are looking for native seeds, you can buy them from organisations such as Esporus or Les Refardes.
