The report points to extreme territorial inequality: 85 per cent of agricultural holdings are smaller than two hectares but control only 9 per cent of cultivable land, while the largest 0.1 per cent control more than half. Dispossession also affects fisheries, pastoral territories and areas targeted by climate, conservation and renewable-energy projects, as well as communities affected by conflict and displacement.

The report calls for stronger, binding measures to protect territorial rights, including legal recognition of collective and customary territories, restitution and compensation for dispossession, and stronger rights for rural women. It also recommends limits on land and water concentration, agrarian reform and redistribution, legally binding human-rights instruments to regulate business enterprises, and meaningful consultation and, free, prior and informed consent for development and climate-related projects.

Read the full report below:

La entrada New Report by the UN Working Group on UNDROP on territorialities of land and sea se publicó primero en Defending Peasants' Rights.

The seed is the first link in every food chain. However, what for millennia was a common good safeguarded by farming communities is today at the centre of a global dispute between human rights, food sovereignty and intellectual property.

A new report presented to the United Nations Human Rights Council argues that the international governance of seeds is increasingly shifting towards commodification, corporate concentration and the criminalisation of ancestral practices such as saving, exchanging or selling farmers’ seeds.

The document, entitled The Right to Seeds: Custodianship, Enclosure and Resistance, was prepared by the Working Group on the rights of peasants and other people working in rural areas. It was presented by Shamlali Guttal, Chair of the Working Group, who also presented the report on the official visit to Ghana carried out from 5 to 14 May 2026.

The diagnosis is unequivocal: seeds are progressively being transformed from biocultural heritage into commodities subject to intellectual property regimes, commercial certification and corporate control.

From common good to private property

The report identifies two opposing models. The first views seeds as common goods that underpin food sovereignty, biodiversity and the collective rights of rural peoples. The second regards them as economic assets subject to patents, plant breeders’ rights and global trade rules.

According to the Working Group, the balance between the two visions has clearly shifted in favour of the latter.

During the presentation of the report, Shamlali Guttal recalled that seeds are not simply commodities for peasants and Indigenous peoples.

“Seeds are the beginning of every meal, the memory of every harvest and the hope of future life. They are a living heritage, developed over generations through selection, exchange and adaptation to different soils, ecosystems and climates”.

Guttal also stressed that Article 19 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants recognises the right of peasants to save, use, control, protect and develop their own seeds. Consequently, States have an obligation to respect, protect and fulfil that right.

International rules on intellectual property, trade agreements and certification systems have imposed growing restrictions on those who save, exchange or sell seeds outside commercial circuits. What for centuries constituted an ordinary farming practice is beginning to be treated as a legal infringement in numerous countries.

The concentration of the global market

The privatisation of seeds is advancing alongside an unprecedented concentration of the industry. The report states that four companies — Bayer, Corteva, Syngenta and BASF — control more than half of the global commercial seed market.

This concentration does not only affect prices. It also directs genetic research, shapes agricultural policies and favours homogeneous varieties designed for intensive agricultural systems dependent on fertilisers and pesticides.

This erodes agricultural diversity and increases farmers’ dependence on large companies supplying seeds and inputs.

In response to this trend, the report highlights the importance of seed systems managed by farmers themselves. In some regions of Africa and Asia, these systems provide up to 90% of the seeds used for food crops.

During her intervention, Guttal explained that these traditional systems are the main reservoir of agricultural genetic diversity and constitute a fundamental basis for food sovereignty and resilience in the face of climate change.

The International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture recognises farmers’ rights and establishes a multilateral system for access and benefit-sharing. However, the Working Group warned that these commitments are implemented unevenly and that resources allocated to the benefit-sharing fund remain insufficient.

When saving seeds becomes a crime

One of the most alarming aspects of the report is its description of a growing process of criminalisation of traditional seed-related practices.

In different countries, farmers have faced legal proceedings for exchanging, reusing or selling planting material saved on their farms. The report documents cases in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Europe, with sanctions including heavy fines and even prison sentences.

Plant variety protection regimes, particularly those inspired by the 1991 Act of the UPOV Convention, expand breeders’ exclusive rights over reproductive material. In some countries, restrictions may extend to practices as commonplace as saving seeds from one harvest for use in the next.

The document also warns of the growing use of surveillance technologies, genetic markers, drones and satellite imagery to detect alleged infringements involving protected seeds.

For the Working Group, there is an obvious paradox: while peasant systems continue to provide between 70% and 90% of the seeds used in numerous countries, it is precisely these systems that face the greatest legal restrictions.

Guttal also warned about the expansion of patents on genetic sequences and the use of information obtained from digital databases.

“Genetic sequences can be registered or patented without the physical seed having been used. This practice may allow genetic resources to be used without respecting benefit-sharing obligations”.

The invisible custodians

The report pays particular attention to the role of rural women. It identifies them as the main custodians of genetic diversity and as responsible for the selection, conservation and transmission of knowledge about seeds in much of the world.

However, agricultural policies and regulatory frameworks often render this contribution invisible. The privatisation of seeds and the imposition of certification systems disproportionately affect women, as they restrict practices that are fundamental to their economic and food autonomy.

The erosion of traditional systems does not only entail the loss of biodiversity. It also reduces the scope for action of those who have historically sustained food security at local level.

For this reason, the Working Group calls on States to guarantee equality for rural women in seed governance through secure land tenure, effective representation in decision-making bodies and recognition of their traditional knowledge and their role as the principal custodians of seeds.

Biodiversity under threat

For the UN, the dispute over seeds is inseparable from the global ecological crisis. The accelerating loss of plant genetic diversity is emerging as one of the most concerning signs of contemporary industrial agriculture.

The report states that approximately three quarters of crop genetic diversity was lost during the 20th century, as local varieties, adapted to their territories, were replaced by an increasingly limited number of commercial varieties.

The expansion of genetically modified organisms and new gene-editing technologies also increases the risks of genetic contamination and private appropriation of resources historically developed by farming and Indigenous communities.

The document records cases of contamination of native maize and cotton varieties with unauthorised genetically modified material in Latin America. It also reports lawsuits against farmers who had not knowingly planted patented seeds, but whose fields contained plants originating from such material.

The report also warns of new forms of biopiracy associated with the digitisation of genetic sequences. Thanks to these technologies, companies and institutions can register and patent biological characteristics derived from traditional varieties without physically accessing the original seeds.

This practice weakens benefit-sharing mechanisms and may facilitate the appropriation of knowledge developed by farming and Indigenous communities.

For this reason, Guttal called for new genomic techniques to be subjected to independent risk assessments and traceability and labelling requirements before any deregulation process.

Seeds, territory and conflicts

The defence of seeds cannot be separated from the defence of land. The report stresses that traditional systems depend on living territories where communities can cultivate, exchange and pass on knowledge between generations.

For this reason, forced displacement, land grabs, large-scale agribusiness projects, armed conflicts and environmental degradation constitute direct threats to the right to seeds.

The loss of territories also means the loss of knowledge, locally adapted varieties and community exchange networks that underpin the resilience of food systems.

In this regard, the Working Group recommended that, in situations of armed conflict, occupation or other crises, farmers’ seeds and related infrastructure be recognised as civilian assets essential to the survival of the population.

Peasant resistance and judicial victories

In response to these trends, the document records numerous experiences of resistance. Cooperatives, community seed banks, seed-exchange fairs and participatory plant-breeding programmes continue to sustain an essential part of global agricultural biodiversity.

Guttal stressed that these initiatives should not be treated as marginal activities, but as public goods deserving the same support as formal seed-breeding programmes.

The Working Group also highlights several legal and policy experiences. Among them is the African Model Legislation for the Protection of the Rights of Local Communities, Farmers and Breeders, developed through the ARIPO Arusha Protocol, which offers a human-rights-compatible alternative to the 1991 UPOV model.

Indian legislation expressly protects farmers’ right to save, use, exchange and sell seeds saved on their farms, alongside breeders’ rights.

In Brazil, the Food Acquisition Programme directs public procurement towards traditional and agroecological seeds.

The report also records several judicial victories. In 2021, the Supreme Court of Honduras declared the national plant variety protection law unconstitutional, invoking Article 19 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants.

In Kenya, both the Supreme Court and the High Court have recognised the constitutional protection of customary farming practices involving the exchange of seeds. In November 2025, the High Court held that “sharing seeds is not a crime”, a decision whose significance, according to the Working Group, extends beyond the country’s borders.

These experiences show that another form of seed governance is possible, based on human rights, food sovereignty and the conservation of biodiversity.

A dispute over the future of food

Beyond the agricultural question, the report raises a fundamental political question: who controls the resources that make food production possible?

The Working Group’s conclusion is unequivocal. Seeds cannot be reduced to simple commodities. They constitute the material basis of fundamental rights such as food, health, culture and a healthy environment.

Treating them exclusively as objects of private property not only threatens biodiversity and food sovereignty, but also deepens the economic dependence of millions of farmers around the world.

For this reason, the Working Group urges States to recognise and protect peasant seed systems, strengthen agroecology and guarantee the right of rural communities to save, exchange, develop and sell their own seeds.

In the words of Shamlali Guttal, protecting seeds also means protecting the communities that have cared for them for generations: their rights, their territories, their knowledge and their ability to cope with climate change and other crises.

In other words, returning seeds to their original status: the living heritage of peoples rather than a commodity of the markets.

La entrada Seeds Under Lock and Key: UN Experts Denounce the Privatisation of Peasant Life se publicó primero en Defending Peasants' Rights.

(Geneva, 16 September 2026) — La Via Campesina, supported by CETIM and FIAN International, is in Geneva from 12 to 19 September to participate in the 63rd session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UN HRC), which is taking place from 7 September to 7 October 2026.

This 63rd session is particularly important for us, as peasants, because UN Member States will consider the renewal of the mandate of the Working Group of Experts on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas. The Working Group’s three-year mandate, established in 2023, is coming to an end in October.

It is therefore crucial that the Member States of the Human Rights Council support and vote in favour of renewing the mandate.

Why is UNDROP important to us?

UNDROP is very important to us because we fought for its adoption to protect the rights and role of peasants and other people working in rural areas. They are the people who feed populations, preserve biodiversity, protect ecosystems, and sustain local economies and cultures.

UNDROP provides an internationally recognised human rights framework that supports measures such as comprehensive agrarian reform, the protection and strengthening of traditional seed systems, and the promotion of local food production. It strengthens the legitimacy of States in adopting policies that protect peasants and support food sovereignty.

The Declaration is also an important voice for countries and communities whose economies remain largely rural.

As Elizabeth Mpofu, a peasant farmer from Zimbabwe, explains:

“Rural communities and peasants produce more than 80% of the food we consume. Not only that, we, particularly women, are the backbone of local food markets, supplying a diversity of foods that does not come from supermarkets or stores. This frees our governments to focus on other urgent social, physical and economic development needs. Through our peasant seed systems, we have created vibrant rural economies, generated employment for millions of people, and educated our children.

My story is the story of billions of rural women who play an important role in the social reproduction of labour and in fighting hunger, malnutrition, unemployment and poverty around the world.”

Our mission in Geneva

Our mission here is to keep up the advocacy work we began almost thirty years ago when we launched this process of recognizing the rights of peasants at the international level.

The LVC delegation will meet with and engage the missions of UN HRC Member States, advocating for the renewal of the mandate of the Working Group of Experts on UNDROP.

The Working Group is essential to ensuring continuity in international efforts to advance the implementation of UNDROP. It supports dialogue, cooperation and capacity-building among States, independent experts and UNDROP rights holders.

The Working Group also ensures that the realities and struggles of peasants and other people working in rural areas continue to be represented within the UN system. Its work strengthens the struggle for peoples’ food sovereignty.

Defending the Right to Seeds

While in Geneva, LVC delegates will participate in and contribute to a Side Event and a Public Conference on the Right to Seeds. These events will take place following the presentation of the UNDROP Working Group’s report on the Right to Seeds to the UN Human Rights Council today.

The Right to Seed report can be accessed here

The Right to Seeds is central to the struggle for peasant rights, food sovereignty and agroecology. Peasant seed systems, built through generations of knowledge, exchange and collective stewardship, are essential for protecting biodiversity, sustaining local food systems and strengthening the autonomy of rural communities.

For La Via Campesina, renewing the mandate of the Working Group is not simply about maintaining a UN mechanism. It is about ensuring that the voices, rights and struggles of peasants remain visible and recognised within the international human rights system.

Globalise the Struggle! Globalise Hope!

La entrada LVC Calls on the UN Human Rights Council to Renew the Mandate of the Working Group of Experts on UNDROP se publicó primero en Defending Peasants' Rights.

Purpose:To inform the Working Group on the rights of peasants for their visit to Paraguay

Deadline: 14 September 2026

Background

The Working Group on the rights of peasants and other people working in rural areas, established pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 54/9, will conduct a country visit to Paraguay from 16 to 27 November 2026, at the invitation of the Government of Paraguay.

The visit will make an independent, impartial and objective assessment of the progress made in the implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of peasants and other people working in rural areas (UNDROP) in Paraguay. The Working Group will issue a detailed end of mission statement on 27 November 2026 and present a final report the UN Human Rights Council in 2027.

The Working Group invites individuals and organizations, including peasants, small-scale fishers, rural workers, civil society organizations, activists, and academics, to share information on the issues below to help prepare for the visit.

Key questions and types of input/comments sought

All submissions are welcome. The questions below are a guide, not an exhaustive list. Please answer only those most relevant to your life, work or experience.

1. What progress has Paraguay made in protecting the rights of peasants, rural communities and rural workers? Please share good practices, laws, or policies.
2. What are the main challenges to implementing UNDROP and protecting the rights of peasants and rural workers in Paraguay? What lessons learned can you share?
3. What legislative, judicial, administrative, or policy measures has Paraguay adopted, or failed to adopt, to realize the rights of peasants and rural workers as laid out in UNDROP? Are there any measures you consider progressive or regressive?
4. What are social, economic, political and environmental challenges that affect peasant communities, Indigenous peoples, and rural workers?
5. What are the main trends and actors that have influence over the livelihoods of peasants and rural workers, as well as over their access to land, water, and natural and productive resources?
6. What issues specifically affect rural women and girls?
7. What challenges do workers engaged in agriculture, aquaculture, forestry and artisanal fishers face in Paraguay?
8. Which locations, organizations, or communities should the Working Group visit to see these issues first-hand?
9. Please share any relevant reports, research, or other documents.

How inputs will be used?

The Working Group greatly appreciates the effort that goes into making such contributions and looks forward to reviewing all submissions.

Please feel free to circulate this call for inputs widely in your networks.

Confidentiality of inputs

All submissions received will be published on our website unless requested otherwise, and will inform the preparation of the country visit and the consequent report.

La entrada Call for input – Working Group on UNDROP visits Paraguay se publicó primero en Defending Peasants' Rights.

La entrada New Report by the UN Working Group on UNDROP on the Right to Seeds: Defending the Commons, Resisting Corporate Control se publicó primero en Defending Peasants' Rights.

*Image: El mundo campesino. Elena Rusca

By Elena Rusca, June 25th, 2026

Interview with Geneviève Savigny, a member of the UN Working Group on the Rights of Peasants (UNDROP)

Geneva, June 25th, 2026 — Elena Rusca

As food, climate, and geopolitical crises intensify, small-scale farmers—who feed the majority of humanity—remain among those most vulnerable to poverty, dispossession, and violence. Since 2018, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants (UNDROP) has provided an unprecedented framework for protecting their collective rights, their seeds, their lands, and their knowledge. But its implementation remains fragile. Geneviève Savigny, a member of the Working Group on the UNDROP, analyzes the agricultural, seed-related, and political challenges facing the world’s rural areas today—from West Africa to Latin America.

UNDROP: A Historic Text Born of Peasants’ Struggles

Adopted in 2018 by the United Nations General Assembly, the Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas is one of the most ambitious instruments of the international system. The result of nearly twenty years of mobilization led by La Vía Campesina, it seeks to protect those who produce most of the world’s food but who remain the most vulnerable to poverty, expropriation, violence, and political marginalization.

UNDROP recognizes rights that are rarely explicitly stated in other international texts:

• the right to land,
• the right to seeds,
• the right to water,
• protection against evictions,
• participation in decision-making,
• collective and customary rights,
• and the recognition of peasant knowledge.

To ensure its implementation, the Human Rights Council established a Working Group in 2023 composed of five independent experts. Geneviève Savigny, a farmer and former member of the Peasants’ Confederation and La Vía Campesina, is a member of the group.

An international working group to defend the rights of peasants

— How was your working group formed?

G. Savigny: “The working group was formed by the Human Rights Council after a resolution was adopted in the fall of 2023. We were selected during the winter, and there are five of us. Personally, I am a farmer and a former member of the Peasants’ Confederation and La Vía Campesina. The others are Carlos, an anthropologist and professor in Colombia; David, a law professor in Armenia; Shalmalee, former director of the NGO Focus on Global South; and Uche, a Nigerian law professor working in the United States.”

— How do you work, specifically?

G. Savigny: “Our group holds two annual five-day in-person sessions, usually one in Geneva and another in New York. This year, we decided to replace the second session with country visits. We just completed a visit to Ghana, and another is scheduled for November in Paraguay. Each time, two members of the group go, along with our staff.”

— What do you do during these visits?

G. Savigny: “We meet with representatives from various ministries related to agriculture and food, and then with representatives of farmers, fishermen, herders, and rural women. In Ghana, the meetings had to be arranged through the government or local authorities so we could meet with village chiefs. The goal is to understand how farmers’ rights are being implemented, what the strengths are, and what can be improved. We then draft a report that will be presented in the fall.”

Participation: An Essential Right, Yet Difficult to Exercise

— You published a report on the right to participation. What were your conclusions?

G. Savigny: “Participation is truly indispensable for ensuring that the situation of rural men and women is taken into account and addressed appropriately. But there is still much to be done, including for practical reasons: translation, distance, and the difficulties of traveling to centers of power.

As for women, there is a particular challenge in freeing themselves from domestic chores and daily work in order to participate in decisions that affect them. This adds an extra layer of difficulty in a rural world where work is very demanding and often isolating.”

Seeds: A Crucial Challenge in the Face of Multinationals

— This year you are working on the right to seeds. Why is this so important?

G. Savigny: “Article 19 of the UNDROP specifies that farmers must have the right to maintain farmer-based seed systems: to save, reproduce, exchange, and sell seeds. The state must also support the existence of this system. This is not always the case, as there is a very dynamic, even aggressive commercial system in place, depending on how you look at it.”

— Do GMOs play a role in this issue?

G. Savigny: “Yes, of course. With technological advances, we now have much easier and faster ways to create GMOs. To facilitate their distribution and commercialization, seed companies no longer want them to be called GMOs, but rather NGT—New Genomic Techniques. They want it to be recognized that these traits could occur naturally, so there would be no need to label them.

But there are patents filed on them! And there is a fear that patented traits—which are not labeled—might appear naturally in farmers’ plants that they have been selecting for years.”

— What does this mean for farmers?

G. Savigny: “The patent on the CRISPR-Cas system, for example, belongs to a single company. There is an ever-increasing concentration of rights that determine whether or not seeds can be multiplied. In response to this, many seed laws impose strict rules for the certification and commercialization of seeds, which contradicts farmers’ right to seeds.

Farmers must assert this right, and governments must realize that—even for the sake of biodiversity and plant resilience—the small-scale breeding carried out by local farmers must not be halted. There is an entire system that must be preserved if we want to maintain significant biodiversity and crop diversity.”

Land and Territory: Collective Rights Yet to Be Recognized

— They are also working on the issue of land. What is the main challenge?

G. Savigny: “We’re working on Article 17 of the declaration, which addresses the rights to land and territory. Interestingly, UNDROP highlights the importance of collective and customary rights. This is important because that’s where the problem lies in many places: since there are no clear property titles, the situation becomes informal.”

— And in Switzerland, how do you view access to land?

G. Savigny: “I believe the right to land serves to illuminate new paths. Secure access to land is needed, not necessarily ownership. I hope that in Switzerland we can develop leasing arrangements or forms of collective ownership that provide security for those who cultivate the land.

There’s a major problem: an entire generation is reaching the end of their working lives with meager pensions and few resources. Sometimes they don’t want to pass the land on to younger people. It’s a widespread social problem. If we want high-quality food production, we must also solve the problem of access to land.

Buying land is prohibitively expensive. And we have to be careful because in some countries, even in Europe, it’s corporations that are buying up the land.”

Latin America: A “Peasantization” Under Attack but Essential

— For our Chilean readers, what is your perspective on “peasantization” in Latin America?

G. Savigny: “In Latin America, I believe ‘peasantization’ is essential. Together with indigenous peoples, they form the core of an agricultural sector that is, at the same time, under intense attack from the rise of highly intensive industrial agriculture.

This is reinforced by free trade agreements aimed at increasing exports of products and raw materials. What the farmers there say is that this does not serve to protect them.

It’s a region I don’t know perfectly well, but it seems so rich and diverse. From a cultural standpoint, it is rural and indigenous. In Latin America, artisanal production methods remain very important. Food quality also comes from being able to eat fresh vegetables everywhere.”

— Is it also a struggle against transnational corporations?

G. Savigny: “Of course. Small farmers must be supported; transnational corporations must be held in check, because they have a natural tendency—I think it’s even their business model—to expand, consolidate, and maximize profits. But there must be limits, because otherwise, it’s destructive both environmentally and socially.”

The UN’s “special procedures”: explaining the mandate

— Can you explain what the special procedures are?

G. Savigny: “Working groups are part of the special procedures, as are special rapporteurs. They focus on a particular aspect of human rights, such as the right to food or the right to water. We are a working group: instead of a single special rapporteur, there are five of us, which reflects the diversity and breadth of the issue.

Our role is to implement the Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas, the UNDROP. It is a text adopted in 2018 by the UN General Assembly that comprises twenty-eight articles summarizing the rights necessary for peasant activities.

It defines what constitutes a peasant, the obligations of States, non-discrimination, women’s rights, the right to resources, the right to participation, to information, to education, and so on—all detailed in a manner tailored to the rural context.”

The Working Group will present its reports on land and seeds this coming September in Geneva. These documents, which will be submitted to the UN General Assembly, should shed crucial light on the issue.

La entrada Without land, without seeds, there is no future for farmers se publicó primero en Defending Peasants' Rights.

Ghana: Rural transformation risks leaving peasants behind, political will needed to move forward, say UN experts

ACCRA – Ghana stands on the cusp of an agricultural transformation, but there is an urgent need to ensure small-holder farmers, artisanal fishers, and pastoralists are not left behind through the country’s implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas (UNDROP), the Working Group on the rights of peasants and other people working in rural areas said in a statement today.

“Ghana has a robust human rights framework and has demonstrated genuine willingness to engage with its commitments through the Fisheries and Aquaculture Act 2025, the Social Protection Act 2025, the Affirmative Action (Gender Equity) Act 2024, and the ratification of ILO Work in Fishing Convention (No. 188),” the Working Group said in a statement at the conclusion of their official visit to the country.

“However, there is a persistent gap between the law and policy and their meaningful implementation on the ground. Small-holder farmers, artisanal fishers and pastoralists, who constitute the actual backbone of food production, continue to suffer from poverty and exclusion,” they said.

The experts warned that the government’s drive toward mechanised, export-oriented agriculture risks entrenching a dual food system. This model heavily serves large-scale, input-intensive commercial agriculture, while the family-based agrarian sector is left increasingly marginalised.

Land tenure insecurity is an ongoing challenge, as the country’s dual tenure system exposes subsistence farmers to sudden dispossession with limited legal recourse.

“Women, youth and elderly farmers face compounded disadvantages within both statutory and customary systems. Despite their critical roles throughout farming and fishing, and despite strong legal protections, women remain excluded from land ownership and decision-making due to deeply entrenched social norms,” they added.

Ghana is simultaneously confronting a severe environmental emergency fuelled by illegal gold mining, or “galamsey”.

“Galamsey is the most acute, rapidly expanding and politically charged environmental emergency facing the country. The contamination of rivers, destruction of farmland and the spread of heavy-metal contamination reach far beyond mining sites,” the experts said. Sustained by powerful interests, it has become a national security, food and nutrition security, and public health emergency intertwined with elite capture.

The experts also highlighted the deep, multi-dimensional exclusion of pastoralists.

“Their nomadic way of life renders them structurally invisible to governance systems designed around settled tenure. Many in Fulbe communities face barriers to citizenship documentation, effectively placing them outside the reach of any legal protection framework.”

The erosion of grazing pastures, worsened by climate pressure and agricultural expansion, is generating an escalating cycle of conflict between pastoralists and settled farmers.

Economic barriers such as intermediary dominance, poor rural road infrastructure, and an absence of cold-chain facilities lead to catastrophic post-harvest losses, which are compounded by climate change shocks. Smallholder farmers and artisanal fishers are additionally excluded from finance by their inability to provide conventional collateral.

“The policy and legislative framework that Ghana has assembled constitutes a strong foundation that commands respect for human rights. Yet implementing laws to address all these issues demands genuine political courage that challenges entrenched interests, and a commitment to deeper social norm change without which legal frameworks remain aspirational,” the experts said. UNDROP calls for nothing less, on behalf of peasant farmers, fisherfolk, pastoralists and other rural workers.

The Working Group will present a report on the visit including findings and recommendations to the UN Human Rights Council in September 2026.

See the End of Mission Statement on the country visit to Ghana below:

The Working Group on Peasants and other people working in rural areas is comprised of five independent experts from all regions of the world. The Chair-Rapporteur is Carlos Duarte (Colombia), other members are Geneviève Savigny (France); Shalmali Guttal (India), Uche Ewelukwa Ofodile (Nigeria) and Davit Hakobyan (Armenia).

Special Rapporteurs/Independent Experts/Working Groups are independent human rights experts appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council. Together, these experts are referred to as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. While the UN Human Rights office acts as the secretariat for Special Procedures, the experts serve in their individual capacity and are independent from any government or organization, including OHCHR and the UN. Any views or opinions presented are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the UN or OHCHR.

Country-specific observations and recommendations by the UN human rights mechanisms, including the special procedures, the treaty bodies and the Universal Periodic Review, can be found on the Universal Human Rights Index https://uhri.ohchr.org/en/

UN Human Rights, country page – Ghana

For inquiries and media requests, please contact: Cynthia Prah (prah@un.org) Public Information Officer in Accra, or Stee Asbjornsen (stee.asbjornsen@un.org) in Geneva.

For media inquiries related to other UN independent experts please contact Maya Derouaz (maya.derouaz@un.org) or Dharisha Indraguptha (dharisha.indraguptha@un.org)

Follow news related to the UN’s independent human rights experts on Twitter: @UN_SPExperts.

La entrada Official visit of the UNDROP Working Group to Ghana: Challenges and Opportunities se publicó primero en Defending Peasants' Rights.

Held in the context of the UN Working Group’s latest report, which focuses specifically on rural peoples’ right to participation, the discussion explored how this right—far from being a procedural formality—constitutes a cornerstone of democratic governance and a central pillar of rural peoples’ civil and political rights. The webinar created a space for exchange between grassroots actors and international human rights mechanisms, strengthening bridges between local struggles and global advocacy.

The webinar placed the findings of the UN Working Group’s report at the centre of the discussion, examining:

• The democratic and political significance of participation under UNDROP
• Barriers that prevent rural communities from influencing public decision-making
• The Working Group’s recommendations to States
• Practical strategies and good practices that enhance meaningful participation
• The role of collective advocacy and solidarity in advancing implementation

Panellists:

• Carlos Duarte, Current Chair of the UN Working Group on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas
• Loupa Pius, World Alliance of Mobile Indigenous People (WAMIP)
• Modesta Arevalos Ortiz, International Federation of Rural Adult Catholic Movements (FIMARC)
• Jones Spartegus, World Forum of Fisher People (WFFP)
• Norah Mlondobozi, Rural Women Assembly (RWA)
• Saúl Vicente, Unidad de la Fuerza Indígena y Campesina (UFIC – Mexico)
• Paula Gioia, La Via Campesina (LVC)

Through their interventions, the panellists shared regional experiences, community perspectives, and movement strategies for strengthening participation at local, national and international levels.

We invite you to watch the recording and engage with this important dialogue as part of the broader collective effort to ensure that those who feed the world and protect its ecosystems are fully included in shaping the policies and decisions that determine their future.

Webinar held on 10 December 2025.

La entrada Video of our Webinar | Nothing About Us Without Us – Realising the Right to Participation of Rural Peoples and Workers through UNDROP se publicó primero en Defending Peasants' Rights.

Background

Seeds are foundational to food systems, biodiversity, culture and rural livelihoods. They constitute the starting point of food production and are central to the ways in which peasants and Indigenous Peoples have developed, preserved and transmitted agricultural knowledge adapted to diverse ecological conditions across generations.

Seeds play a critical role in maintaining agricultural biodiversity, as they embody the genetic diversity necessary to enhance resilience to pests, diseases, environmental degradation and climate variability. Beyond their biological function, seeds are also closely linked to cultural heritage, social relations and, in some contexts, spiritual and ceremonial practices.

For peasants and other people working in rural areas globally, including Indigenous Peoples, pastoralists, fishers and forest peoples, seeds are inseparable from livelihoods and autonomy. The ability to cultivate, harvest, save, exchange and improve seeds underpins food security, income generation, self-determination and the sustainability of rural communities. Peasant seed systems have historically sustained a wide diversity of crops and plant varieties adapted to local ecosystems and climatic conditions, contributing to food sovereignty, nutrition and resilience.

The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas (UNDROP) explicitly recognizes the right to seeds (article 19), including the right of peasants to save, use, exchange and sell farm-saved seeds and propagating material. The realization of this right is closely interconnected with other rights recognized in UNDROP, including the right to food and food sovereignty (article 15), the rights to land and other natural resources (article 17), rights related to biodiversity (article 20), the right to a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment (article 24), and the right to participation in decision-making processes affecting peasants’ lives (article 10). In the same manner, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) recognizes Indigenous Peoples’ rights to maintain, control, protect and develop their traditional knowledge, innovations and cultural heritage, including genetic resources and seeds (article 31), in connection with their rights to lands, territories and resources, self-determination and development.

International environmental and agricultural frameworks reinforce the protection of peasant seed systems. The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) affirms the importance of conserving biological diversity, sustainable use of its components, and equitable benefit-sharing from genetic resources, while recognizing the traditional knowledge and practices of Indigenous Peoples and local communities. The International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) recognizes farmers’ vital role in conserving and improving plant genetic resources and affirms Farmers’ Rights, including protection of traditional knowledge, equitable benefit-sharing, and participation in decision-making on plant genetic resources.

Despite these normative frameworks, seed systems worldwide are increasingly shaped by legal, economic and technological developments, which in some contexts, may undermine peasant seed systems. These may include restrictive seed laws and certification regimes, intellectual property protections, trade and investment agreements, corporate concentration in the seed sector, and the digitalization of genetic resources. Such developments have raised concerns regarding the marginalization of traditional practices, erosion of seed diversity, misappropriation of traditional knowledge and persistent inequalities, including gender-based and structural discrimination.

In line with its mandate to promote and monitor the implementation of UNDROP, the Working Group on peasants is preparing a thematic report to clarify the content and scope of the right to seeds, assess challenges and good practices in its implementation, and formulate recommendations to States and other actors to ensure that seed governance frameworks are consistent with human rights, biodiversity conservation and food sovereignty.

The Working Group encourages submissions from States, international and regional organizations, national human rights institutions, civil society organizations, peasant movements, Indigenous Peoples, academics, private sector actors, and other relevant stakeholders. Submissions from right-holders and their representative organizations are particularly encouraged.

Key questions and types of input/comments sought

Seeds in Context: Significance and Practice

1. What is the social, cultural, economic and environmental significance of seeds in your local, national or regional context, including their contribution to food security, livelihoods and environmental sustainability?

2. What practices exist in your country and/or community for cultivating, harvesting, saving, exchanging, sharing and improving seeds?

3. How are roles and responsibilities related to seeds distributed within communities or societies, including among women, men, youth, Indigenous Peoples and other groups?

National and International Frameworks

4. What national laws, regulations or policies govern the saving, use, exchange and sale of peasant seeds, including measures for their protection? How effective are these frameworks in recognizing and upholding the right to seeds and in supporting the conservation of native and traditional seeds?

5. How do national legal and policy frameworks address the interests of peasants and rural communities in relation to those of commercial seed actors?

6. How have international instruments related to peasants’ rights, seeds and biodiversity, including UNDROP, UNDRIP, the CBD and the ITPGRFA, been reflected in national laws and policies, and what concrete impacts or benefits have they had for peasant and rural communities?

Challenges, Responses and Good Practices

7. What are the main challenges or threats faced in exercising the right to seeds, and how have communities, organizations or authorities responded to them?

8. What national, regional or international mechanisms have been used to promote or defend the right to seeds, and what has been their effectiveness?

9. What gaps remain in the protection and support of the right to seeds? Please share examples of laws, policies, practices or community-led initiatives that could be strengthened, replicated or scaled up.

Next Steps

Input/comments may be sent by e-mail. They must be received by 19 February 2026 .

Inputs should include the contributor’s name, organization (if applicable) and contact details for follow-up.

Additional supporting materials, such as reports, academic studies or background documents, may be included as annexes or provided through web links.

Unless otherwise specified by those making a submission, submissions will be made public on the Working Group’s website.

Email address: hrc-wg-peasants@un.org

Email subject line: Input for HRC Report on Seeds

Word/Page limit:
1000 words

Accepted file formats:
Word, PDF

Accepted Languages:
English, French, Spanish

La entrada Call for Inputs: Report of the UNDROP Working Group on the Right to Seeds se publicó primero en Defending Peasants' Rights.

Background

The Working Group on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas, established by Human Rights Council resolution 54/9, is preparing its fourth thematic report, addressing Peasant Territories of Sea and Land. This report analyses how the impairment of rights based on land, water, and forests affects the dignity, stability, and livelihoods of peasants and rural workers.

Access to land, water, forests, and marine territories is central to the survival, identity, and autonomy of rural populations. These groups, including peasants, indigenous peoples, pastoralists, nomads, migrant communities, rural workers, and artisanal fishers, are rights-holders recognized by the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas (UNDROP).

However, “peasant territorialities,” defined as socio-ecological and cultural spaces where lifestyles, sustainable production, and collective governance intersect, face increasing pressure. Pressure arising from resource concentration, fragmentation, privatization, and extraction not only threaten livelihoods and stability but also exacerbate rural conflicts and forced displacement, often leading to systemic human rights violations.

This report recognizes that peasant territories are not merely resource “containers,” but spaces of material and symbolic life where the rights to food, water, a healthy environment, participation, and self-determination converge. The report will consider international frameworks such as UNDROP, the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure, the work of Treaty Bodies, as well as indigenous and environmental rights standards, to address violations of UNDROP stakeholder rights.

There is a growing trend toward rural ownership concentration and the corporate capture of natural resources. The expansion of the “blue economy” can, without adequate safeguards, excludes traditional fishing communities. “Green grabbing” (appropriation disguised as conservation) and “blue grabbing” (appropriation of coastal spaces for tourism or energy projects), alongside armed conflict and structural violence, often lead to dispossession.

Finally, the Report will identify good practices, structural challenges, and concrete recommendations to protect rural and coastal peasant territories.

The Working Group invites governments, peasants and other people working in rural areas, international and regional organizations, national human rights institutions, civil society, academics, companies and any other interested individuals and organizations to provide written inputs.

Key questions and types of input/comments sought

1. How is the concept of “peasant territory” understood in your local or regional context?
2. What legal, political, cultural or customary instruments exist in your country or region that recognize or protect peasant territories (land, water, forests, sea)?
3. How does Article 17 of the UNDROP relate to the processes of access to land and nature in their local realities?
   
   Concentration and Access to Resources
4. What is causing the concentration of rural property in your region? Is there data available on fragmentation or grabbing?
5. What impact does water privatization or industrial forest exploitation have on peasant communities?
6. How does the maritime economy affect fishing and coastal communities? Are there cases of dispossession or exclusion?
7. How do nature conservation agendas intersect with peasant lands and agrarian reform processes?
   
   Challenges and good practices
8. What are the main obstacles faced by peasant, ethnic or fishing communities in accessing, controlling and managing their territories?
9. What strategies, laws, movements or initiatives have been successful in defending or recovering territories? (Examples: agrarian reforms, collective titling, strategic litigation, community resistance).
10. How are the phenomena of “Green Grabbing” or “Blue Grabbing” being dealt with in context?
11. What role do peasant and young women play in the defense and management of territories? Are there good practices of empowerment and participation?
12. How do armed conflicts or political violence affect territorial dispossession? Are there examples of post-conflict recovery?
    
    Recommendations
13. What concrete actions should States, international organizations (UN, FAO, UNDP), civil society organizations and communities themselves take to protect and strengthen peasant territorialities?
14. What justice, public policy or financing mechanisms are urgent to reverse the concentration and guarantee equitable access to resources?

How inputs will be used?

Please send your submission via email to hrc-wg-peasants@un.org by 19 February 2026, with the subject:Input for UNGA Report on Territory.

Contributions must be sent in WORD/PDF format, in English, French, or Spanish, with a maximum of 1,000 words. Please indicate your details (name, government/ institution/ organization, contact details) for any follow up queries.

Additional supporting materials, such as reports, academic studies, and other background materials may be linked in the body of the submission or annexed to the submission.

Unless otherwise specified by those making a submission, submissions will be made public on the Working Group’s website.

Please feel free to circulate this call for inputs widely in your networks.

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The Working Group on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas has issued a briefing paper on peasants’ right to seed, in connection with the Eleventh Session of the Governing Body of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA), held from 24 to 29 November 2025 in Lima, Peru.

It provides an overview of key issues on the agenda, including Farmers’ Rights under Article 9 of the Treaty, the functioning of the Multilateral System, digital sequence information, and benefit-sharing arrangements. ​

The paper shows how peasants’ and Indigenous Peoples’ seed systems relate to binding human rights obligations recognized in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas (UNDROP), with particular attention to the right to seeds in Article 19.

It summarizes the Working Group’s main recommendations to GB‑11, such as recognizing the collective nature of peasants’ rights, reviewing national seed and intellectual property laws, addressing digital biopiracy, establishing a standing committee on Farmers’ Rights, and reframing benefit-sharing so that it strengthens community-led seed systems and agrobiodiversity conservation.

La entrada Peasants’ right to seed – Briefing paper by the Working Group on peasants and other people working in rural areas se publicó primero en Defending Peasants' Rights.

Defending Peasants’ Rights hereby republishes the press release issued by the UN Working Group on Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas on 11 December 2025 (available here)

GENEVA – UN experts* today welcomed a landmark ruling of the High Court of Kenya declaring unconstitutional provisions of the Seed and Plant Varieties Act that criminalised the saving, use, exchange and sale of Indigenous and farm-saved seeds.

“This judgment rightly recognises that seed sharing is not a crime, but a fundamental element of peasants’ identity, resilience and contribution to national food systems,” said the Working Group on Peasants and other people working in rural areas.

The High Court of Kenya found that the law, which granted exclusive marketing and property rights over seeds to breeders and seed companies and exposed farmers to potential imprisonment of up to two years for seed-saving and seed-sharing, violated farmers’ rights to life, livelihood and food. The Court stressed that centuries-old practices of seed-sharing form the backbone of Kenya’s food security and cultural heritage.

“This decision is a significant affirmation that the human rights of peasants and the imperatives of food security and biodiversity must prevail over overly restrictive intellectual property regimes,” the Working Group said.

The experts noted that similar restrictive provisions, often modelled on the 1991 Act of the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV), have been incorporated into national laws in many countries – criminalising age-old practices in Indigenous and peasant agriculture.

“The Kenyan ruling sends a clear and timely message that human rights obligations cannot be subordinated to commercial seed monopolies or narrow interpretations of plant breeders’ rights,” the Working Group said.

The decision is consistent with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas (UNDROP), in particular article 19, which recognises the right to seeds, including the right to save, use, exchange and sell farm-saved seed or propagating material. The experts recalled their Briefing Paper on the Right to Seeds**, which clarifies that States must ensure that seed policies, certification schemes and intellectual property frameworks, are designed and applied in a manner that respects, protects and fulfils these rights, and that peasants-managed seed systems are legally recognised and actively supported.

“Courts play a critical role in ensuring that national laws comply with international human rights standards,” the Working Group said. “Where legislative frameworks have criminalised traditional seed systems or restricted peasants’ customary practices, judicial review offers an essential safeguard to restore the primacy of human rights and the right to food.”

The experts commended the courage and perseverance of Kenyan peasants, Indigenous Peoples and civil society actors who mobilised to secure seeds rights before the Court. “Their determination offers inspiration to peasant movements worldwide and shows that when courts uphold human rights, they defend not only the livelihoods of small-scale farmers and Indigenous Peoples but also the future of diverse, resilient and sovereign food systems,” they said.

“Kenya’s ruling should inspire similar human-rights-based interpretations of seed laws and plant variety protection regimes in other jurisdictions,” the Working Group said.

*The Working Group on Peasants and other people working in rural areas is comprised of five independent experts from all regions of the world. The Chair-Rapporteur is Carlos Duarte (Colombia), other members are Geneviève Savigny (France); Shalmali Guttal (India), Uche Ewelukwa Ofodile (Nigeria) and Davit Hakobyan (Armenia).

**Briefing paper on the right to seeds, issued by the Working Group in connection with the Eleventh Session of the Governing Body of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA), held from 24 to 29 November 2025 , details how States can integrate UNDROP obligations under the right to seeds to safeguarding peasants’ and Indigenous Peoples’ traditional practices and biodiversity.

Special Rapporteurs/Independent Experts/Working Groups are independent human rights experts appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council. Together, these experts are referred to as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. While the UN Human Rights office acts as the secretariat for Special Procedures, the experts serve in their individual capacity and are independent from any government or organization, including OHCHR and the UN. Any views or opinions presented are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the UN or OHCHR.

Country-specific observations and recommendations by the UN human rights mechanisms, including the special procedures, the treaty bodies and the Universal Periodic Review, can be found on the Universal Human Rights Index https://uhri.ohchr.org/en/.

UN Human Rights, country page – Kenya

For inquiries and media requests, please contact: Jamshid GAZIYEV, Secretary of the Working Group on peasants and rural workers (jamshid.gaziyev@un.org).

For media inquiries related to other UN independent experts, please contact Maya Derouaz (maya.derouaz@un.org) or Dharisha Indraguptha (dharisha.indraguptha@un.org)

Follow news related to the UN’s independent human rights experts on X: @UN_SPExperts.

La entrada Kenya’s seed sharing ruling a milestone for peasants’ rights and food security: UN experts se publicó primero en Defending Peasants' Rights.