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Writer's pictureUNDROP Implementation

Peasants’ Right to Seeds and the state of democracy in Moldova



The struggle for agroecology and peasants’ rights in the Republic of Moldova stands to gain significantly from the positive vote in the European Union membership Referendum. The EU adhesion process will bring additional support for civil society with measures that prioritise sustainable agriculture and empower smallholders. However, Moldova needs to carefully negotiate the agriculture chapter, to protect its small scale farmers and to properly include them in the EU Common Agricultural Policy.


For a small country like Moldova, historically under the influence of Russia, the result of the recent Referendum deciding for a future in the European Union, is a tremendous act of courage. The tight result shows a vulnerable society that is moving forward. On November 3rd, Moldovans are expected to elect their president. Maia Sandu, the popular president, first woman president of the Republic of Moldova, is running for her second mandate, challenged by the former prosecutor Alexandr Stoianoglo.


In the Republic of Moldova, there is significant potential in terms of genetic resources, due to its favourable geographical location, climate, and culture. This potential could be harnessed to empower peasants and enable them to produce local seeds and contribute to the local economy and welfare of rural communities. In this context, the potential loss of traditional seeds is a pressing issue, exacerbated by poverty and the advances of industrial farming.


By using the UN Declaration for the Rights of Peasants and other people working in rural areas (UNDROP) as a source for official terminology, Grădina Moldovei (The Garden of Moldova) seeks to reference this legal framework in the national legislation and advocate for peasants’ right to sell their seeds, emphasising one key article of the declaration:



1. Peasants and other people working in rural areas have the right to seeds, in accordance with article 28 of the present Declaration, including: 


(a) The right to the protection of traditional knowledge relevant to plant genetic resources for food and agriculture; 


(b) The right to equitably participate in sharing the benefits arising from the utilization of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture; 


(c) The right to participate in the making of decisions on matters relating to the conservation and sustainable use of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture; 


(d) The right to save, use, exchange and sell their farm-saved seed or propagating material. 


2. Peasants and other people working in rural areas have the right to maintain, control, protect and develop their own seeds and traditional knowledge. 


3. States shall take measures to respect, protect and fulfill the right to seeds of peasants and other people working in rural areas. 


4. States shall ensure that seeds of sufficient quality and quantity are available to peasants at the most suitable time for planting, and at an affordable price. 


5. States shall recognize the rights of peasants to rely either on their own seeds or on other locally available seeds of their choice, and to decide on the crops and species that they wish to grow. 


6. States shall take appropriate measures to support peasant seed systems, and promote the use of peasant seeds and agrobiodiversity. 


7. States shall take appropriate measures to ensure that agricultural research and development integrates the needs of peasants and other people working in rural areas, and to ensure their active participation in the definition of priorities and the undertaking of research and development, taking into account their experience, and increase investment in research and the development of orphan crops and seeds that respond to the needs of peasants and other people working in rural areas. 


8. States shall ensure that seed policies, plant variety protection and other intellectual property laws, certification schemes and seed marketing laws respect and take into account the rights, needs and realities of peasants and other people working in rural areas.


Grădina Moldovei’s work regarding the implementation of UNDROP 


Grădina Moldovei was founded in 2014 by Mariana Seremet with the goal of establishing an alternative to the state seed bank¹. Through this initiative, she aimed to create a community of agroecologists and permaculturists.


“Our initial discussions regarding the building of the seed bank focused on both possibilities and obstacles… we didn’t initially frame the Right to seeds as a right, but more as an opportunity to exchange and sell our seeds,” said Anatolie Albin, the NGO’s legal counsellor. 


“We promote UNDROP, organise meetings, hold discussions with officials in the Republic of Moldova. Republic of Moldova voted at the UN General Assembly for the adoption of this declaration. We’ve also hosted events on promoting agroecology and implementing UNDROP, even though the declaration itself is not legally binding”, he adds. 


The Rights of Peasants in Moldova


Moldova’s population is roughly split 50-50 between urban and rural areas, with rural communities heavily reliant on subsistence farming, indispensable to their daily lives. Most often simply referred to as peasant household farming, Anatolie explains us how they work:


“Almost every Moldovan cultivates their land, as it provides an additional and essential support to the family’s food security. In cities like Chișinău, many informal peasants sell their products in local markets”.

Seeds are a key right of peasants and serve as vital genetic resources, especially in times of crisis. The ongoing war in Ukraine and other conflicts in Eastern Europe have created a widespread “desperation” - a desire to go back to the land. As peasants are pressured to face crises, they need greater control over natural resources and more sustainable practices. Since seeds are the key natural resource used as means of food production, it is essential to shift food security policies’ focus from economic objectives towards a Human Rights approach. 


In times of crisis, subsistence agriculture, practised by many Moldovan peasants, plays a vital role in ensuring food security and sustainability. However, current agricultural policies tend to favour large industrial farms, marginalising smallholders. For real progress to be made, the legal framework must adopt an inclusive approach that recognises the peasant farming system, including the traditional seeds production. 


The NGO also advocates for additional peasants’ rights, such as the Right to Participation:


“There are other rights we focus on: the Right to Land, which is highly problematic; democracy - how well peasants participate in decision-making processes; and the access to market, an economic dimension that results from the realisation of certain rights”, adds Anatolie.


In Moldova, the rural population needs to understand that their identity as peasants include several rights that need to be recognised. They dedicate their lives growing food, and that implies being able to make a living from it.


The NGO aims to further promote the need for peasants and other rural people to actively participate in democratic processes, to insist on their rights and to be involved in decision-making. This is a long conversation to be had, as neither the government nor the rural communities fully grasp the potential of agroecology or small scale farming:


“It will take time, discussions, and advocacy to promote these concepts”, adds Anatolie Albin.


The proposal of Grădina Moldovei


In April 2023, Grădina Moldovei (The Garden of Moldova), being an NGO that focuses on agro-biodiversity and especially on peasant seeds, proposed to the Constitutional Court a review of the national law on seeds, to align with the provisions of the Constitution, in support of the Right to Food and other international commitments. The reason being that one of the clauses was unconstitutional. According to Grădina Moldovei:


In para. (2), art. 1 of Law 68/2013 provides that law does not extend to the production of seeds in individual households for use for personal consumption, provided that the seeds are not exposed to marketing. This prohibition disproportionately and unduly restricts the Human rights of peasants. It is necessary to remark that comparison to the industrial seed production system is improper . The Human Rights to be protected are: the Right to Food, the Right to Seed, the Right to a Healthy Environment, Equal Opportunities and Gender Equality”.

The Right to Seeds must be treated in Moldova, as it results from the Right to Food guaranteed by the Constitution (art. 37 and 47). 


UNDROP is not binding, so any reference to it has to be supported by other binding treaties and declarations. The proposal is based on a list of international acts, starting from the Universal Declaration on Human Right (1948) ending with UNDROP. Also referred to the General Comments of the UN Committee on economic, social and cultural rights, as well as to the policy recommendations of FAO and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, regarding the definition of the adequate Right to Food. All those references are used in order to provide a direct link between the Right to Seeds and the Right to Food.


The proposal highlights the impact of the restriction on small, subsistence family farmers, particularly on peasant women who have a central role in saving seeds and practising agroecology. These peasants grow food primarily for their own consumption and for the local market, while also preserving agro-biodiversity. The NGO emphasises that most seed-saving efforts are carried out by women, and the restriction on seed sales disproportionately affects their economic interests, depriving them of fair compensation for their essential work in preserving local agricultural heritage. 


Grădina Moldovei presented all the necessary arguments, focusing on the existing trends in the EU regarding seed, heterogeneous material² and organic farming.


In Moldova, the Ministry of Agriculture has already intensified its work to align the legal framework with the Community acquis³:


“Although the law on the Right to Seeds was amended, and the changes came into effect this summer, they only addressed the commercial sector and the seed production industry, which doesn’t help us at all. That’s why we keep maintaining a dialogue with the Ministry of Agriculture, we need to be more persistent in our efforts”, concludes the NGO’s legal counsellor.


Currently, Moldova’s national legislation prohibits the sale of peasant seeds, by excluding them from the standards imposed by UPOV (1991). Consequently, it undermines their Right to Biological Diversity and their contribution to climate change. 


Right now, Grădina Moldovei’s proposal is sitting on the desk of Moldovan authorities, slowed down by institutions, certain experts and some public officials from the ministries. They argue that including peasants seeds in the legislation, might affect businesses or food safety, by using the pretext that seed quality cannot be properly controlled. 


“At some point, we will need to revise the project and submit it again, as we have agreements with certain deputies and we can potentially initiate public discussions on the issue”, declares the legal counsellor. 


“Currently we cannot advance because we are in a period of electoral fever”, he adds.


The current European Union’s legislation could benefit the cause of peasants’ rights to seeds. However, the ongoing reform process of the EU seeds legislation is now going backwards. The proposed rules would drastically restrict seeds exchanges between farmers and it would deregulate new genetic engineering technologies (known popularly as GMOs). If the current negotiations ignore the voice of peasants and move forward to support the industrial seeds production, patents, intellectual property rights and GMOs, the result would influence also the standards of non-EU countries and the rights of peasants everywhere.  


“Cooperation and solidarity is essential. We also work with international partners, mainly from Eastern Europe, such as Eco Ruralis from Romania, as well as experts from FAO, to convince the Moldovan authorities that we, the peasants, are their partners and we are part of the solution”, concludes Anatolie.

Article written by: Cristina Suliman.


 

¹ seed bank = its aim is to preserve and propagate peasant, local seed varieties.

² heterogeneous material = scientific term used to describe peasant seed varieties.

³ Community acquis = the accumulated legislation, legal acts and court decisions that constitute the body of European Union law.

UPOV (1991) - International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants, 1991 Act = a treaty body with the objective to provide an effective system for plant variety protection. It does so by defining a blueprint regulation to be implemented by its members in national law.

GMOs = genetically modified organisms.

FAO = Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

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