| Farmers have communally nurtured and conserved the global diversity for centuries through the traditional agricultural practices of freely sowing, saving, exchanging and selling seeds. These traditional practices of farmers are increasingly described as "farmers' rights". This thesis explores the nature of "farmers' rights" as understood in international agreements, domestic legislation, academic and other literature. It further examines the impact of the international intellectual property regime (comprising of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights and the Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants) on these rights of farmers.; Further, the thesis examines the possibilities for providing legal recognition of farmers' rights and protecting global biodiversity through the Convention on Biological Diversity, 1992 and the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. Steps inspired by these international treaties at the national, regional and international levels to protect "farmers' rights" include benefit-sharing arrangements and are examined in this thesis. |
