By Amb. Emmanuel Mwamba
HH PUSHES BAD LAW TO PROTECT SEED GROWERS, AND OUTLAW TRADITIONAL SEED VARIETIES
A law to protect giant agribusiness and seed growers like Monsanto is underway.
The draft law designed to repeal the Plant Breeder’s Rights Act, 2007
(Act No. 18 of 2007) will create the Seed Control and Certification Institute and will outlaw unregistered varieties, such as traditional seeds, from being planted in Zambia.
Further the law will protect, guarantee and secure the rights of plant breeders.
Plant breeders are basically genetic engineers and their main objective is to improve crops by utilizing different breeding techniques.
But leading seed company Monsanto has been sued several times for selling GMO strains to poorer countries, but ultimately the quality of the crop was less, meaning the farmers actually ended up losing money by switching to the Montsanto strain rather than making money.
Further the farmers were tied to use the seeds than any other breed.
You don’t have to be a farmer to see the harm and monopoly that this law will create in Zambia.
He who controls your food, controls you. If you can’t grow what you eat, you become a slave to whoever grows the foods..the grower depends on the seeds.
Growing seeds will become a singular and monopolistic undertaking to control the value chain.
