Theme: Policy & Influencing
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GB11 in Peru: Marginal progress with decisions delayed
The meeting in Lima in the last week of November 2025 left many feelings of frustration and disappointment. The 11th Session of the Governing Body (GB11) of the International Treaty for Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA, the Treaty) concluded with no agreement reached over the three ‘hotspots’, (i) Digital Sequence Information/Genetic Sequence […]
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Oxfam’s reflections and position on the Multilateral System key points ahead of GB11
by Maya Piotrowska and Nout van der Vaart, Oxfam Novib Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (PGRFA) are the foundation of food production and food security. While farmers have played a key role in conserving and enhancing PRGFA to the benefit of their communities for over thousands of years, professional plant breeding companies have […]
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Launch of the Harare CoP Report ‘From Breeding for Diversity to Seed Regulations/Laws’
Workshop report launched on promoting an enabling environment for farmer seed systems
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Seeds Knowledge Repository
In this repository you will find all the material produced over the 8 years of the Sowing Diversity = Harvesting Security program. The gathering of the knowledge by many groups, over different geographies, in varying formats, is a testament to the importance of our work on seed sovereignty centering farmers and their communities. We hope […]
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Gene edited crops won’t solve hunger
Its patentability will jeopardize farmers’ and breeders’ free access to seeds instead. By Nout van der Vaart, Policy Lead Food and Land at Oxfam Novib Much has been discussed already about the European Commission’s proposal to deregulate new genomic techniques (NGTs). On January 24, members of the Environmental Committee of the European Parliament will vote […]
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GB10 debrief – a week at the 10th meeting of the FAO Plant Treaty’s Governing Body
By Nout van der Vaart and Bram de Jonge, Oxfam Novib Summary of GB10 plenary session and main discussions held From November 18-25, a team of SD=HS representatives participated in the 10th session of the Governing Body (GB10) of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA). The session, held at […]
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Case Studies from Laos
Sowing Diversity= Harvesting Security Phase II (2019-2022) The case studies presented under the Sowing Diversity equals Harvesting Security (SD=HS) Program in Laos from 2019-2022 showcase successful initiatives and outcomes in different provinces. The program has contributed to food security and economic well-being in the region. There are a total of six case studies that highlight […]
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News from the SeedNL Annual Event
By Nout van der Vaart, Oxfam Novib The Oxfam Novib SD=HS team participated in the SeedNL Annual Event, which took place in Wageningen, the Netherlands on October 5th. During the event, the team had the opportunity to co-facilitate a joint break-out session together with ISSD Uganda, to inform the audience about seed system policies and […]
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No support and legal certainty for small-scale farmers in the Global South
By Nout van der Vaart, Oxfam Novib The International Union for the Protection of New Plant Varieties (UPOV) has failed to take significant steps to expand the exception for small-scale farmers regarding the use of protected seeds for private and non-commercial use purposes. During its annual meeting in Geneva, the contracting parties did not reach […]
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Learning for Change
“Change is the end result of all true learning” -Leo Buscaglia The journey of learning that began in the second phase of the Sowing Diversity = Harvesting Security (SD=HS) program for Zambia has come to an end by the year 2023. Since 2019 Zambia has strived to achieve change through learning, unlearning, and relearning together […]
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Enhancing and supporting resilient Farmers’ Seed Systems in Zimbabwe: Findings from the National End of Season Evaluation
By Manata Jeko and Pardon Sithole Outcomes from the just-ended National end-of-season evaluation in Zimbabwe have demonstrated that the Sowing Diversity Equals Harvesting Security (SDHS) program in Zimbabwe has transformed farmers’ seed systems. A group of 30 participants from the six operational districts convened at Chibhanguza Hotel over three days to evaluate the performance of […]
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Annual Report 2022
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic was significantly lower in 2022, with restrictions being gradually lifted and more teams and activities returning to “normal”. But the year was also marked by the war in Ukraine and a worldwide economic crisis, with inflation and disruptions to the global food supplies. This came on top of a […]
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Peru’s Vibrant Events: A Medley of Diverse Experiences
By Angel Villavicencio, Milagros Ysuhuaylas, Kelly Alvarez, Pavel Lozano (Fovida) and Ana Lucía Núñez (Oxfam) Agrobiodiversity and Barter Fair – Paucará 2023 On July 20, the “First Agrobiodiversity and Barter Fair – Paucará 2023” was held in the province of Acobamba, in the Huancavelica, central highlands of Peru. Barter is an ancestral mechanism local communities […]
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Training Manual Agrobiodiversity and Farmers Rights
Foreword by Bharat Bhandari, Executive Director LI-BIRD Agricultural biodiversity, a subset of biological diversity, is the foundation of food and nutritional security. Smallholder farmers in developing countries are considered custodians of local agrobiodiversity who conserve, utilize, and maintain crop genetic diversity along with associated traditional knowledge and use cases. Changing climate coupled with other socio-economic […]
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SD=HS Newsletter | May 2023
Sowing Diversity=Harvesting Security newsletter Campaign URL Copy Twitter 0 tweets Subscribe Past Issues RSS Translate English العربية Afrikaans беларуская мова български català 中文（简体） 中文（繁體） Hrvatski Česky Dansk eesti keel Nederlands Suomi Français Deutsch Ελληνική हिन्दी Magyar Gaeilge Indonesia íslenska Italiano 日本語 ភាសាខ្មែរ 한국어 македонски јазик بهاس ملايو Malti Norsk Polski Português Português – Portugal Română Русский Español Kiswahili Svenska […]
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SD=HS Newsletter | April 2023
Sowing Diversity=Harvesting Security newsletter Campaign URL Copy Twitter 0 tweets Subscribe Past Issues RSS Translate English العربية Afrikaans беларуская мова български català 中文（简体） 中文（繁體） Hrvatski Česky Dansk eesti keel Nederlands Suomi Français Deutsch Ελληνική हिन्दी Magyar Gaeilge Indonesia íslenska Italiano 日本語 ភាសាខ្មែរ 한국어 македонски јазик بهاس ملايو Malti Norsk Polski Português Português – Portugal Română Русский Español Kiswahili Svenska […]
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Farmers’ Variety Registration System Workshop
From March 28th to March 30th, Catholic Relief Services’ S34D in collaboration with Oxfam Novib’s SD=HS hosted a Farmers’ Variety Registration System workshop in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Nearly 40 national and international seed experts were present, representing national research institutions, non-governmental organizations, USAID, and the Ethiopian government. S34D was honored to welcome distinguished guests Dr. […]
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SD=HS Newsletter | February 2023
Sowing Diversity=Harvesting Security newsletter Campaign URL Copy Twitter 0 tweets Subscribe Past Issues RSS Translate English العربية Afrikaans беларуская мова български català 中文（简体） 中文（繁體） Hrvatski Česky Dansk eesti keel Nederlands Suomi Français Deutsch Ελληνική हिन्दी Magyar Gaeilge Indonesia íslenska Italiano 日本語 ភាសាខ្មែរ 한국어 македонски јазик بهاس ملايو Malti Norsk Polski Português Português – Portugal Română Русский Español Kiswahili Svenska […]
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SD=HS Newsletter | January 2023
Sowing Diversity=Harvesting Security newsletter Campaign URL Copy Twitter 0 tweets Subscribe Past Issues RSS Translate English العربية Afrikaans беларуская мова български català 中文（简体） 中文（繁體） Hrvatski Česky Dansk eesti keel Nederlands Suomi Français Deutsch Ελληνική हिन्दी Magyar Gaeilge Indonesia íslenska Italiano 日本語 ភាសាខ្មែរ 한국어 македонски јазик بهاس ملايو Malti Norsk Polski Português Português – Portugal Română Русский Español Kiswahili Svenska […]
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Building Bridges between Practitioners and Academics
“It is one of the most interesting courses I ever took because it brought scholars and practitioners together and allowed them to interact with grassroots cases.” –Yiching Song, Farmer Seed Network in China This blog looks at the experience seven SD=HS colleagues who presented some of the case studied as ground for group work, to […]