The Importance of Seed Sovereignty
in the Global Food Production System
Abstract:
Seeds are the foundation of food production systems around
the world and are the result of thousands of years of careful selection and
development of desirable traits by the cultivators, guided by nature. In the
last few decades, the modern agro-industrial system has revolutionized the
science of seeds. While hybridised and lab-grown genetically modified seeds
were developed to address issues of global hunger and malnutrition, and
providing economic benefit to farmers, there have been significant drawbacks
which include threats to seed sovereignty in the form of loss of genetic
diversity, inability to practise age-old
traditions associated with seeds, and so on. This paper seeks to
highlight how the monopoly of transnational seed corporations has caused great
harm to food and seed sovereignty and why it is of paramount importance that
seed sovereignty, as part of food sovereignty is preserved and passed on to
future generations.
Around 12,000 years ago, agriculture and the domestication
of plants first began, completely revolutionising the way human beings lived.
The beginning of agriculture has long been hailed as one of the cornerstones of
modern human society, when people settled down permanently and devoted a
significant part of their lives to raising crops, thus creating a dependable
source of food. This contributed to the increase in lifespan of the average
human and triggered a population boom[1]. Food
production systems were localised, and developed to suit the local physical and
climatic conditions and the needs of the local communities. The Industrial
Revolution sowed the first seeds of change in the way food was produced. As
farming became increasingly mechanised, monocropping became the norm as modern
agricultural machines like tractors, planters, sprayers et cetera functioned
best on large swathes of monocrop fields. Thus, diversity of crops was
gradually lost.[2]
The next watershed moment in the history of agriculture was
the swift rise of the agrochemical industry. Synthetic fertilizers and
pesticides, first used in the 1930s witnessed a massive increase in popularity
in the 1940s after the end of the second World War. With farm outputs being
consistently higher than they were before, synthetic pesticides and fertilisers
became a mainstay in modern agriculture (Luck, Van den Bosch & Garcia,
1977).
While the short term economic benefits of chemical pesticide
and fertilizers were undisputed, the ecological implications could not be
ignored for long. This in a way, set the stage for the introduction of
genetically modified crops.The first genetically modified crops were developed
to have genes for pest resistance, in order to decrease reliance on harmful
pesticides (Zadoks & Waibel, 2000). As the Green Revolution swept across
the world, traditional farming practices
were abandoned in favour of modern methods, seeds, and machines. Over the
years, a few transnational seed manufacturing companies like Monsanto and
Syngenta soon monopolised the seed and agrochemical industries. The nexus of
transgenic seed manufacturing companies, the agrochemical industry and
international policies pertaining to food, subsidies and aid have transformed
the nature of agriculture. A central element of the neoliberal agenda seen in
many countries, especially the US, is the appropriation of that which is shared
in ‘the commons’ or ‘the public domain’ and its transformation into an
exclusive, commodified form (Kloppenburg, 2010).
In order to understand seed sovereignty, it is necessary to
know about food sovereignty and its importance in today’s world. The right of
the people to have access to the food required for a healthy life is typically
understood to fall under the umbrella of food security. Food sovereignty seeks
to ensure food security by ensuring people’s rights and access to healthy,
culturally appropriate food produced locally using sustainable methods. Thus,
food security is assured through the strengthening of food production and consumption
that is economical, and is
environmentally and socially sustainable.
The World Food Summit, 1996, stated that food security
exists when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to
sufficient,safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food
preferences for an active and healthy life[3]. However,
this definition does not take into account the social and political elements of
access to food ( Patel, 2009). It also does not take into account the
environmental damage caused by global food production systems. Food sovereignty
encompasses these aspects as well, making it a comparatively more inclusive and
well-rounded concept.
The seed is the first link in the food chain and seed
sovereignty is the foundation of food sovereignty (Adhikari, 2014). Seeds
contain the quintessence of beneficial genetic diversity and food sovereignty.
Through a combination of human efforts ( like cross breeding, selection based
on desirable traits like bigger sizes of produce, resilience, taste et cetera )
and natural selection, a truly rich and diverse selection of seeds suitable for
the local needs and agro-physical conditions have been developed by the
cultivators. These seeds have been traditionally shared and exchanged with
other famers, saved for the next sowing season, and used for developing better
varieties through crossbreeding and selection. The freedom to do all these
things is part of what we understand seed sovereignty to be.
As agriculture became increasingly specialised and specific
- in terms of crops cultivated, machines implemented and agrochemicals used,
farmers began to lose their autonomy and were reduced to clogs in the massive
global food production system, where what they grew and how they grew it was
more or less dictated by those at the top of the system, including politicians
and transnational seed corporations. Farmers too are drawn to the array of
benefits promised by hybrid and genetically modified seeds - increased yields,
resistance to pesticides, greater profits and so on. These seeds slowly edged
out traditionally cultivated seeds, resulting in the contamination of the pool
of locally available seeds, and the loss of genetic diversity.
A primary feature of traditional agriculture and food
sovereignty was the freedom to share and develop seeds within the local farming
communities. However, the World Trading Organisation’s Agreement on
Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), negotiated
during the 1986-94 Uruguay Round, said that plant varieties developed by
companies would now be protected by patents. Essentially, farmers could no
longer share or trade seeds purchased from these companies within themselves,
nor could they save the seeds and attempt to breed them by themselves. Across
the world, laws are being enacted to make seed registration compulsory,
favouring the transnational companies that are manufacturing and marketing them[4].
While Indian laws do not allow seeds to be patented, companies have contested
this strongly. In 2019, PepsiCo attempted to sue farmers who were growing a
particular variety of potatoes patented by the company[5]. The draft
of the Seed Bill 2019 is indicative of the neoliberal agenda being pursued by
the state. One of the main problems with the bill is that farmers can no longer
sell their seeds under a brand name unless the seeds are registered and meet
the standards required for registration. This is undoubtedly a long and complex
process and it does not take into account the fact that most locally produced
seeds are bred for local conditions and needs and may not necessarily adhere to
homogenous standards[6].
The Green Revolution and the cultivation of hybrid and
genetically modified crops has been profitable and has resulted in incredibly
high yields. However, it is imperative that we keep in mind that the
profitability of these seeds has not taken into account the ecological damage
sustained by the ecosystem. There is also the issue of the increasing
dependence on industrially produced seeds which cannot be saved, reused or
shared like traditional seeds and the inability of the farmers to opt out of
the agrochemical cycle of pesticides and fertiliser. It has also contributed to
greater inequality in the agriculture sector. Bt.cotton is one such example of
a genetically modified crop which has had very mixed results in India. It is
estimated that around 90% of the cotton in India is grown using genetically
modified seeds[7].
There are several conflicting studies regarding the economic benefits of
Bt.cotton. Some say that the productivity and profits are comparatively higher.
A study on the economics of Bt.cotton cultivation in Maharashtra showed that
while Bt.cotton did not display the promised resistance to pests, it did yield
a higher output than regular cotton (Narayanamoorthy & Kalamkar, 2006).
Activists like Vandana Shiva assert that the driving force behind
farmer-suicide[8]
swirls around Monsanto’s monopolization of the cotton seed sector by patent
control, removing alternatives, the increase in production costs, and the fear
for crop failure (Thomas & De Tavernier, 2017).
Seed sovereignty is vital for the process of ensuring food
sovereignty across the world. Lab grown seeds cannot be written off entirely,
nor will it be easy to scrap international laws and policies that push for
globalised, GMO based agriculture and attempts to patent seeds. While the
global food output has never been higher, hunger and malnutrition continue to
persist. Seed sovereignty ought to be at the forefront of the measures
undertaken to combat these issues.
By Pooja S
References
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[1] The Development of Agriculture -
The Farming Revolution which took place around 10,000 years ago led to the
shift from small, traditional hunter-gatherer communities to the large agrarian
societies we see even today.
[2] Industrialisation of agriculture
- Industrialization of agriculture
radically transformed how the vast majority of food is produced in the world.
[6] India’ new Seed Bill -Seed Bill must serve farmers, not MNCs
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