Abstract
This chapter presents a case study of the preparation and passage of Ethiopia’s 2013 Seed Proclamation. It begins by identifying the main differences between the previous laws that governed seed sovereignty in Ethiopia and the 2013 Seed Proclamation. It goes on to describe in detail the process by which the 2013 Proclamation was passed. It then provides a detailed analysis of the main actors involved in the decision-making process and their motivations. It shows that the 2013 Seed Proclamation in Ethiopia is consistent with a transformationalist interpretation of seed sovereignty in which certain rights were given over to international corporate and commercial interests, but where the Ethiopian government also maintained control over various aspects of seed policy.
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Notes
- 1.
World Bank 2010 AGP Proposal: http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/634931468036896288/pdf/532900PAD0REPL1Official0Use0Only191.pdf [accessed online 16 August 2016].
- 2.
AGP which was officially launched in 2011 was designed “specifically targeting the Ethiopian seed system through technical support and investment” (Alemu 2011, p. 70) and was deeply connected with commanding a new direction for the multilateral donor agencies in tandem with the Ethiopian Government’s own new GTP.
- 3.
GTP is the successor to previous government programmes Sustainable Development and Poverty Reduction Programme (2002–2007) and Plan for Accelerated and Sustainable Development to End Poverty (PASDEP) (2006–2010), which indicated a shift towards a market-economy and private-sector inclusion.
- 4.
The ATA emerged out of a “two-year extensive diagnostic study of Ethiopia’s agriculture sector, led by the Ministry of Agriculture and facilitated by the BMGF” (ATA 2015). This new body was subsequently funded by BMGF (15%), alongside The World Bank (AGP/ Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP)—26%), the Royal Netherlands Embassy (21%) and the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development (DFATD)—Canada (10%), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) (8%), USAID (5%), GoE (5%) and others (ATA 2015, p. 105).
- 5.
Explanatory Notes on The Definition of Variety Under the 1991 Act Article 1 (VI) of the UPOV Convention, adopted by the Council at its 44th ordinary session on 21 October 2010.
- 6.
Based on exemptions for LDCs dating back to 2003, but confirmed now in most recent Council for Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights Decision IP/C/64 of 11 June 2013.
- 7.
Following the election in 2010, EPRDF controls 99.6% of the House of People’s Representatives (HoPRs), the highest legislative authority, which allowed them to form and lead the executive, the Council of Ministers and the Prime Minister, thereby allowing EPRDF to control both the executive and legislative wings of government (Lefort in Hassena et al. 2016, p. 93).
- 8.
The National Seed Industry Agency was dissolved into the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MoARD) by Proclamation 380/2004, Article 5, whereon MoARD became responsible for the promotion and expansion of agricultural development and to supervise all governmental and non-governmental organisations associated with seed production, distribution and regulation. MoARD at the federal level and BoARD at the regional level were given the responsibilities of implementing the seed policies and regulatory issues.
- 9.
The “Constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, Proclamation No. 1/ 1995”.
- 10.
Tanzania and Uganda are also in the process of fully enacting UPOV style laws, despite the LDC waiver until 2021.
- 11.
Federal Negarit Gazeta of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. Vol. 12 No. 12, 27 February 2006, pp. 3339–3352. 481/2006 was not implemented and no Plant Variety Protection (PVP) legislation has been adopted by Ethiopia to date. A new PBR Proclamation, which has been reworked by various other international actors, namely IDLO who state that given the important implications of this legislation, it “has designed and will implement this component in partnership with Wageningen University of the Netherlands, which will be responsible for technical aspects of breeders’ rights”, (IDLO 2013) [accessed online 2/11/2013].
- 12.
Federal Negarit Gazeta of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, Vol. 13, 27 February 2006, pp. 3353–3373.
- 13.
ASARECA and EASCOM pilot project had been extended to Ethiopia and other countries in 2001 and through the Seed Regional Working Group (S-RWG) the push for harmonised seed legislation under COMESA was well in train (Waithaka et al. 2011, p. 8). In June 2006 AGRA launched its ‘Green Revolution for Africa’ programme in East Africa with plans for a huge onslaught on changing seed systems through its PASS programme.
- 14.
According to van den Broek, an entirely new PBR Proclamation instead has been submitted to parliament and is presently in the final stages of ratification by the Council of Ministers. The draft law strikes a balance between strong breeders’ rights for horticultural crops (vegetables and ornamentals) while having greater farmers’ rights for crops that are important for food security (cereals and legumes) (Broek 2015, p. 19).
- 15.
Article 15 of 482/2006 provides for a special access permit in fulfilment of ITPGRFA.
- 16.
In fact, any mention of EBI was entirely dropped from the final Seed Proclamation 782/2013.
- 17.
http://www.ata.gov.et/about-ata/origin-history-2/ [accessed online 18/8/2016].
- 18.
IDLO describes itself as “the only intergovernmental organisation exclusively devoted to promoting the rule of law” (https://www.idlo.int/about-idlo/mission-and-history. Accessed 26 December 2018). Based in Rome since its formation in 1988, IDLO “enable governments, empower people and strengthen institutions to realize justice, peace and sustainable development” (ibid.). It counts among its funders the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation as well as listing William Gates Senior, co-chair of BMGF as a member of its five strong International Advisory Council.
- 19.
(Federal Negarit Gazeta of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. Vol. 12 No. 12, 27 February 2006, pp. 3339–3352).
- 20.
However, 481/2006 was not implemented and no Plant Variety Protection (PVP) legislation has been adopted by Ethiopia to date.
- 21.
IDLO states that given the important implications of this legislation, it “has designed and will implement this component in partnership with Wageningen University of the Netherlands, which will be responsible for technical aspects of breeders’ rights” (IDLO 2013).
- 22.
This text of Draft Seed Proclamation 2010 can be found as Annex 6 in Atilaw (2010).
- 23.
“Agricultural Transformation Council and Agency Establishment Council of Ministers Regulation No. 198/2010.”
- 24.
This chamber is made up of 550 members elected each five years in a general election, of which 99.6% were returned for the ruling EPRDF party in the disputed 2010 elections.
- 25.
EOSA—Ethiopian Organic Seed Action, an offshoot of SOS Seeds of Survival founded by Melaku Worede.
- 26.
Feyissa, a seed physiologist and biochemist, is one of Ethiopia’s key experts at CBD and was successor to Worede at IBC/EBI.
- 27.
- 28.
Dr. Tewolde Gebre Berhan Egziabher was the Director General of the Ethiopian Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) until his retirement in 2012. An internationally acclaimed plant ecologist, he has been GoE main negotiator at international fora including on CBD, Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and it was his leadership of the ‘Like-Minded Group’ in negotiations of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety which succeeded against strong US and EU opposition to protect biodiversity, human health and traditional and community rights. He is acknowledged as the key government expert on PGRs and seed legislative changes are generally examined by him. He remains a key advisor to the new Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. He has won the Right Livelihood Award in 2000 and the UN top Environmental Prize in 2006 ‘Champions of the Earth’.
- 29.
ADLI was initiated by the GoE in 1993 followed by ‘A Plan for Accelerated and Sustained Development to End Poverty’ (PASDEP) (2005–2010) and then the GTPs 2011–2015 (GTP1) and 2015–2020 (GTP2).
- 30.
GTP is the successor to previous government programmes Sustainable Development and Poverty Reduction Programme (2002–2007) and Plan for Accelerated and Sustainable Development to End Poverty (PASDEP) (2006–2010), which indicated a shift towards a market-economy and private-sector inclusion. The stated aim of GTP is to “foster broad based development in a sustainable manner to achieve the MDGs”, whilst seeking to double the agricultural production of the country by 2015 and is considered centrally important to achieving middle-income country status by 2025.
- 31.
Ethiopia formally requested membership of WTO on 13 January 2003 as it attempts to transform itself into a market-oriented economy. Its request has not been successful to date (Asmelash 2014). http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2523859 [accessed online 10/10/2016].
- 32.
“Developmental State is an institutional, political cum ideological arrangement that evolved from Japan’s, post war economic recovery and was later adopted by some East Asian countries.” The EPRDF started to articulate this concept in the early 2000s.
- 33.
None of the domestic NGO representatives interviewed, who work in this area of agrobiodiversity conservation, sustainability and participatory plant-breeding methods or farmers’ rights, that is Movement for Ecological Learning and Community Action (MELCA), ISSD, ABN and AFSA, were consulted in formulating 782/2013, which for these groups remains a commercial seed law aimed at commodification of the seed sector. The exemption allowing seed saving and selling in Article 3.2 is the only feature of seed sovereignty that these groups could be satisfied with arising from 782/2013. This is significantly more than other African countries have been able to hold on to in seed legislative changes at this time, notably Kenya’s SPVAA 2012.
- 34.
This began as a ‘Seed Initiative of the Eastern and Central Africa Programme for Agricultural Policy Analysis’ (ECAPAPA) which initiated a pilot phase in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania in 1999. Nine more countries including Ethiopia were added in 2001 and became part of the Seed Regional Working Group (SWG), which in 2004 became EASCOM, whose core mandate was to review seed laws, policies and regulations with a view to regional harmonisation of seed (Waithaka et al. 2011, p. 8).
- 35.
Some export problems emerged when an Ethiopian grower had his 20,000 roses confiscated at Schiphol Airport in November 2008 and was charged with illegally selling them in the EU, which according to Hassena et al. (2016), arose because Ethiopia had failed to enact IP PVP legislation and consolidate proper export arrangements.
- 36.
http://www.oecd.org/aidfortrade/47027163.pdf [accessed online 4 October 2016].
- 37.
Teff varieties the Dutch company had taken arising from an MoU signed with EBI which has to date not been resolved and has never benefitted the Ethiopian State and its communities.
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O’Grady Walshe, C. (2019). Ethiopia: A Transformationalist Seed Law. In: Globalisation and Seed Sovereignty in Sub-Saharan Africa. International Political Economy Series. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-12870-8_5
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