Published on: 2026-09-16
Source: United Nations – United Nations –
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September 16, 2026 Human Rights
In Tunisia, a farmer can face trial for exchanging traditional seeds. In Indonesia, small farmers were prosecuted for independently breeding and distributing seeds outside the official certification system. And in Italy, a tomato producer received a one-year suspended prison sentence and had to pay about 100 thousand euros in fines and compensation.
These cases are presented in a new report by the UN Working Group on the rights of peasants, submitted to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.
Penalties are also provided for violations of rights to protected commercial varieties. In Ghana, unauthorized sale of such varieties is punishable by 10 to 15 years in prison. In Japan, violation of breeders’ rights can result in up to 10 years of imprisonment, while in the Philippines it ranges from three to six years.
“Seeds are the beginning of every meal, the memory of every harvest, and the hope for future life,” stated Shalmali Guttal, the chair-rapporteur of the Working Group. According to her, for peasants and indigenous peoples, this is not just a commodity but a living heritage created over generations.
From exchanging between neighbors to a market worth $81 billion
In many countries, 70 to 90 percent of the seeds sown still come from traditional systems: farmers save part of the harvest, replant seeds, exchange them with neighbors, or sell them at local markets.
At the same time, the global seed market volume in 2026 reached approximately 81 billion dollars. More than half is controlled by four corporations – Bayer, Corteva, Syngenta, and BASF, and the top ten companies account for 70 percent of the market.
In contract farming, farmers may be required to use seeds from a specific company. In some industrial systems, they have to be purchased before each season, often along with fertilizers and pesticides. As the authors of the report note, this deprives peasants of the ability to decide independently what to grow, increases expenses, and can drive families into debt.
Certification rules also become an obstacle. Requirements for genetic purity and uniformity were developed primarily for industrial varieties and are poorly suited for local varieties, whose value often lies precisely in diversity and the ability to adapt to changing conditions.
When traditional knowledge becomes a foreign patent
Particularly broad patent protection applies in the United States, where it can extend to an entire plant, its genes, traits, and methods of biotechnological processing, including seed preservation and replanting.
Experts warn about biopiracy – situations when companies obtain patents on genetic resources or knowledge that peasants and indigenous peoples have developed over generations. One of the most well-known examples is a patent granted in the USA related to basmati rice, which has been cultivated for centuries in South Asia. The report also mentions patent disputes surrounding neem and turmeric.
Now the genetic code of a plant can be obtained from a digital database and patented without even having physical seeds. This allows hiding the material’s origin and circumventing obligations to share benefits with the communities that preserved it.
Women are the keepers of seeds
Rural women play a special role in preserving local varieties. In Bangladesh, thanks to their work, plants resistant to soil salinization and floods in vulnerable coastal and riverine areas have been preserved. In West Africa, women select varieties of sorghum and millet whose stalks are suitable for fencing and roofing.
© UNDP India Rural women play a special role in the preservation of local varieties.
At local markets and fairs, they exchange not only seeds but also knowledge about where to grow them, what conditions they can withstand, and how to use them.
Seeds are stored in the kitchen
Old varieties continue to live on thanks to traditional cuisine. In the Czech Republic, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and other countries, their preservation is linked to local dishes, festivals, and ceremonies. In China, a revival of interest in ancient recipes has created small markets for old agricultural crops. In Thailand, local varieties are used in everyday dishes, while in Morocco and Tunisia, the popularization of traditional food is associated with the restoration of native plants.
Meanwhile, since 1900, the world has lost 75 percent of the genetic diversity of agricultural plants. This reduces the resilience of food systems to diseases and climate change.
Seeds during the war
The working group called for traditional knowledge, community seed reserves, and related infrastructure to be considered civilian objects vital to the population in conditions of armed conflict, occupation, and natural disasters. Humanitarian aid should restore local systems rather than create dependency on commercial seeds.
Signs of change
There are also signs of change. In 2021, the Supreme Court of Honduras overturned a law that violated the right to food. And in November 2025, the High Court of Kenya declared the provisions criminalizing farmers unconstitutional. “Seed exchange is not a crime,” the court ruled.
What experts recommend
The working group called on states to enshrine the right of peasants to save, use, exchange, and sell seeds grown on their farms. Laws on plant variety protection, certification, and intellectual property should not criminalize traditional seed practices.
Experts also recommend directing more government support to traditional seed systems, community seed banks and cooperatives, seed fairs, and participatory plant breeding. Special attention is suggested for the rights of rural women, including access to land, participation in decision-making, and recognition of their knowledge as seed custodians.
Another recommendation is to enact effective laws against biopiracy. Companies using genetic resources should disclose their origin, obtain community consent, and share benefits with them fairly.
Presenting the report to the Human Rights Council, Guttal specifically called for new genomic technologies to undergo independent risk assessment and for requirements for their tracking and labeling to be established.
Independent experts are appointed by the UN Human Rights Council. They are not UN staff members and do not receive a salary for their work. The experts act in a personal capacity and independently of governments and any organizations.
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