Agrobiodiversity and Farmers' Rights: Dynamics and Bangladesh's Policy Responses

Agricultural biodiversity (ABD) is fundamental for breeding crops and dealing with pests and diseases. Farmers as custodians of biodiversity information and practices,essential for food security can rightfully claim benefits for their contribution. Global policy discourse affirms immense importance on it. North backed by Multi National Companies want to guarantee breeders' rights with minimum Farmers' Privilege but South wants legally protected Farmers' Rights. Instead of adopting some landmark international instruments i.e. CBD, ITPGRFA, UPOV, TRIPs, some cross cutting issues like access and benefit sharing are yet to be settled. Though conservation of ABD is vital for Bangladesh, country is characterized by lack of integrated approach and institutional memory together with dearth of capacity at international negotiation, absence of legal regime, weak institutional arrangement, and poor political commitment. Detailed in-situ and ex-situ conservation plan and country's own sui generis system is essential. This book provides an extremely useful and timely overview of the complexity and negative aggregate effects of the regime constellation governing ABD in Bangladesh.