For generations, Zambian farmers have cultivated a diversity of crops using age-old seed systems and their intimate knowledge of the land they till. This agricultural heritage is now under threat, with proposed changes to both our Seed and Plant Variety Protection (PVP) laws underway. The proposal to repeal the current Plant Breeders' Rights Act (2007) and replace it with the draft Bill (2024) intends to bring Zambia’s regulatory standards in line with the 1991 Act of the UPOV Convention. Similarly, narrow seed certification standards under the Plant Variety and Seeds Act do not recognise diverse farmer’s seed varieties and local marketing strategies, making the seed sector less than conducive for smallholder seed producers. This poses a massive risk to our nation's food security and seed sovereignty.

The Zambia Alliance for Agroecology and Biodiversity (ZAAB) irrevocably rejects any repeals of Zambia’s current seed and PVP laws without proper consultation of the most affected parties: the custodians of seed themselves, the farmers. Seed laws based on UPOV91 guidelines, even when they do not entail joining the Convention, are not conducive to farmers’ rights.

ZAAB members have been following the developments in Zambia’s seed and Plant Variety Protection laws since 2010. With a wide range of multistakeholders, we have expressed concern that Zambia has not fulfilled its policy obligations related to farmers’ rights. Instead, ongoing initiatives continue to prioritise restrictive privatisation agendas that favour multinational corporations and foreign market control of Zambia’s seed and agriculture sectors, which is detrimental to the robust and competitive development of the sector and undermines local economic growth and livelihoods.

Despite its grand promises of growth and innovation, UPOV91 prioritises multinational corporations' interests over farmers' rights. Globally, farmer seed systems have an estimated value of 7 billion dollars, a huge market that multinational corporations want to tap into.

Furthermore, multinational corporations operating in Zambia, like SeedCo, made over USD 15 million in profit in 2021, and Syngenta made more than USD 3.5 billion in profits from its global operations in 2020. These companies simply do not need more incentive to invest and grow at the expense of smallholder farmers. Amending Zambian law to standards for their market expansion is an ill-placed rationale and cannot be accepted.

Zambia's current PBR Act offers a more balanced approach, recognising both farmers' rights and intellectual property protection. By contrast, UPOV 1991 imposes a “one-size-fits-all” system, ignoring the fact that the agricultural systems of countries differ and that in Zambia, farmers’ seed systems are the foundation for our agricultural sector.

The consequences of adopting the UPOV 1991 guidelines are far-reaching. It will give companies complete control over seed, limiting farmers' capacity to save, use, and exchange seed—actions that are critical to farmers’ livelihoods. It will also lead to increased dependence on foreign seed varieties, the erosion of agrobiodiversity, and a decline in food security. It will undermine the development of the local seed industry and rural economies and irreversibly damage Zambia’s food system.

There is enough control over Zambia’s seed as it stands. We cannot afford to shrink that space further by joining UPOV or using it’s guidelines to determine our own seed systems.

ZAAB has made numerous submissions to this end to the Ministry of Agriculture, the SCCI, and various policy and legislative review processes. To date, arguments put forward by the SCCI do not even remotely justify the repeal and replacement of the current PBR Act of 2007. On the contrary, Zambia’s seed industry has been rapidly growing under the current laws, with an increasing number of Zambians investing in this sector to meet the diverse local market needs. The numerous small seed businesses owned by Zambians serve as proof of this.

Concentrated foreign seed market dominance also fails the primary objective of a seed sector: to provide appropriate, accessible, and affordable diverse seed varieties to suit local conditions for small-scale and commercial sectors while ensuring the ongoing conservation and development of plant genetic resources for the benefit of humankind.

ZAAB has made numerous submissions to this end to the Ministry of Agriculture, the SCCI, and various policy and legislative review processes. To date, arguments put forward by the SCCI do not even remotely justify the repeal and replacement of the current PBR Act of 2007. On the contrary, Zambia’s seed industry has been rapidly growing under the current laws, with an increasing number of Zambians investing in this sector to meet the diverse local market needs. The numerous small seed businesses owned by Zambians serve as proof of this.

Concentrated foreign seed market dominance also fails the primary objective of a seed sector: to provide appropriate, accessible, and affordable diverse seed varieties to suit local conditions for small-scale and commercial sectors while ensuring the ongoing conservation and development of plant genetic resources for the benefit of humankind.

Zambia must be allowed to chart its own course towards agricultural development. We cannot afford to sacrifice our food sovereignty and the livelihoods of our farmers to the demands of multinational corporations. It is imperative that we reject the proposed alignment with UPOV 1991 and strengthen our existing PBR Act to protect the rights of our farmers and preserve our agricultural heritage.

We say NO TO UPOV!