This thesis is a study of the relationship between plant breeders’ rights on the one hand and access to seed and planting material on the other hand for smallholder farmers in Kenya with a view to ultimately enquire whether the legal spaces that exist within plant breeder’ rights legislation can enable smallholder farmers to positively contribute towards the country overcoming food security problems. Kenya is selected as the study area because agriculture provides the bulk of employment and livelihoods in the country yet most of the famers are smallholders, obtaining seed and planting material from informal sources and therefore they do not provide a market for protected varieties of seed. Kenya has had a plant breeders’ rights system since 1995 and in 2016, ratified the 1991 Act of the International Convention for the 24 Protection of New Varieties of Plants, thus further signifying explicit interest to fully comply with this instrument. This research also aims to contribute to advancing the existing body of scholarly work on plant breeders’ rights in relation to access to seeds.
Formatted Contents Note
Acronyms List of Tables Chapter 1: General Introduction Chapter 2: Seed systems support in Kenya: consideration for an Integrated Seed Sector Development approach Chapter 3: Plant breeders’ rights regime in relation to relevant international obligations: implications for smallholder farmers in Kenya Chapter 4: Opportunities and threats to harmonization of national plant breeders’ rights legislations through regional agreements: ARIPO and SADC Chapter 5: Plant breeders’ rights licensing as a tool to facilitate access of seed for smallholder farmers: observations from Kenya Chapter 6: A differentiated approach to plant breeders’ rights in Africa Chapter 7: Conclusions References Appendix: Date and place of interview of anonymous informants Summary