Against the grain? A historical institutional analysis of access governance of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture in Ethiopia

Abstract

Farmers' and breeders' access to a genetic diversity is essential for food system sustainability. The implementation of international agreements regulating access to plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (PGRFA) varies substantially between countries. Here, we examine why some countries implement a restrictive access governance regime, taking Ethiopia as a case. Drawing on commons theory and historical institutional analysis, we analyze historical, political, and economic factors that have shaped Ethiopia's access regime. Based on interviews with key actors and stakeholders and document analysis, we identify three overarching ideational and material factors that can explain Ethiopia's current policy: (a) the influence of narratives about Ethiopia as a biodiversity treasure trove on the Ethiopian cultural identity; (b) the economic importance of agriculture based on PGRFA with origin in the country; and (c) the political influence of the genetic resource movement that promotes farmers' rights as a counter measure to stringent intellectual property rights (IPR), and on‐farm PGRFA management as complimentary to ex situ conservation and formal seed system development. The Ethiopian case illustrates that countries' governance of access to PGRFA must be understood in connection with, and not in isolation from, IPR regimes and the historical, political, and cultural role of PGRFA in the country in question.

Politics of Seed in Ethiopia's Agricultural Transformation: Pathways to Seed System Development

“…The seed regime approach can reveal how these changes occurred, who has gained and who has lost, implicating various power relations between diverse actors. As part of this analysis, historicizing institutional development allows to examine how the prior history of conflict or cooperation, the incentives for actors to participate, power and resource imbalances, governance and institutional design, shared narratives, interests, and politics have shaped the Ethiopian seed system development (McCann, 2005;Mulesa and Westengen, 2020). Lyon et al (2021) identify three seed regimes based on Kuyek's (2007) adaptation of Harriet and Philip's (1989) food regimes.…”

“…In this case, power asymmetry relates to access to and control over seeds. Moreover, studies suggest that particular historical factors shape national seed policies within each country (Westengen et al, 2019;Mulesa and Westengen, 2020). Therefore, contestation of seed system development pathways is ongoing in Africa as the production and regulation of seeds limit farmers' political and economic participation and weaken state political interests under the current "New Green Revolution" (Scoones and Thompson, 2011;Mayet, 2015).…”

Traceability Approaches for Marine Genetic Resources Under the Proposed Ocean (BBNJ) Treaty

“…Countries such as Kenya have prescribed material transfer agreement and reporting processes for sending resources outside the country with strict use conditions 16 . Other countries like Ethiopia require letters from international users' home countries that they will enforce Ethiopia's ABS (including reporting) obligations (Mulesa and Westengen, 2020). There is little published information about whether or how countries with ABS laws manage the usage of identifiers to trace the materials and/or associated information under their monitoring frameworks within and between jurisdictions in practice.…”

Survey of access and benefit-sharing country measures accommodating the distinctive features of genetic resources for food and agriculture and associated traditional knowledge

“…Adebola, 2019). These mainly related to commercial crop species (Mulesa and Westengen, 2020) and, to a lesser extent, livestock species (e.g. Allaire, Labatut and Tesnière, 2018), species used in commercial aquaculture (e.g.…”

“…Ethiopia has an autonomous body of the federal governmentthe Ethiopian Biodiversity Institutethat is the sole CNA. Ethiopia's legal framework (Ethiopia, 2006(Ethiopia, & 2009 addresses ABS as well as the implementation of breeders', farmers' and community rights by combining elements of the CBD and the Plant Treaty (Mulesa and Westengen, 2020). The Ethiopian Biodiversity Institute has established five directorates focusing respectively on (1) genetic resource ABS, (2) crops and horticulture, (3) forests, (4) animals and ( 5) microbes (Mulesa and Westengen, 2020, p. 92).…”