This January, 157 organizations and academics from around the world petitioned the World Bank to drop the Enabling the Business of Agriculture (EBA) project, which jeopardizes farmers’ right to seeds, food security, and the future of our planet.
Our latest report – Down on the Seed. The World Bank Enables Take Over of Seeds – exposed that the EBA was demanded by the G8 to score countries on how they facilitate “doing business” in agriculture. With financing from Western donors, the EBA sought the expertise of some of the largest agrochemical firms in the world (Bayer, Monsanto, Syngenta, Pioneer, among others) to determine which “regulatory burdens” hamper their business.
In the seed sector, the EBA rewards countries that implement intellectual property rights (IPRs) to allow companies to profit from the use of their seeds by farmers. It also benchmarks how easy it is for the private sector to produce and register seeds, to access genetic resources in national seed banks, and secure majority seats on committees that introduce new seed varieties in countries.
While the Bank claims to encourage “smart and balanced policies,” the EBA largely ignores farmer-managed seed systems, which provide 80 to 90% of farmers’ seed supply in developing countries and are key to preserving agro-biodiversity and fostering resilience against climate and economic shocks.
We cannot let the World Bank dictate agricultural policies of sovereign nations at the expense of farmers.
Make your voice heard, send a message now to World Bank President Jim Yong Kim and Western donors and tell them to:
