Kenya’s smallholder farmers are challenging a law preventing them from sharing indigenous seeds

The law ‘sold Kenya’s food system to the highest bidder’

Originally published on Global Voices

This story by Jackson Okata was originally published by Minority Africa and a shorter version is republished on Global Voices as part of a content-sharing agreement.

For 30 years, Peninah Ngahu, 58, has practised subsistence farming on her one-acre farm in Elementaita, a village 175 km (108.74 miles) west of Kenya’s capital, Nairobi. “Accessing indigenous seeds was easy because farmers would share, sell, buy, and exchange them freely. A farmer who had a surplus of indigenous seeds would freely share with those who lacked, and this ensured that every farmer had something to plant, and this guaranteed our food security,’’ Ngahu told  Minority Africa.

According to Ngahu, things changed when a new law came into force.

“Currently, I cannot take my seeds and distribute them to farmers across the village because the law bars me,’’ she said. “One can only do that clandestinely. This has literally limited the smallholder farmers’ ability [to produce] food.’’

In 2012, Kenya’s parliament passed the Seeds and Plants Varieties Act to regulate the country’s seed production, processing, testing, certification, and marketing. The law also restricts the introduction of new varieties, controls seed importation, and grants proprietary rights to persons breeding or discovering new varieties.

In September 2022, some 15 smallholder farmers filed a petition at the country’s High Court seeking to compel the government to review sections of the law that ban the sharing and exchange of uncertified and unregistered seeds.

The farmers usually acquire seeds through farmer-managed systems that encourage informal seed saving and sharing, a practice the Seeds and Plant Varieties Act opposes.

Veronica Kiboino, a smallholder farmer from Baringo County, west of Nairobi, said that seed sharing and exchanging guarantee her planting and harvesting every other season.

“If I have millet seeds and my neighbour has maize seeds, we can simply exchange a portion of what we have and get what we lack,’’ she said. “Seed sharing and exchange is money-free, which makes it cost-effective for any smallholder farmer.’’

According to the law, any person found sharing, exchanging, selling, producing and multiplying uncertified seeds is liable to a prison sentence of up to two years or a fine of up to KES 1,000,000 (7,692 USD) or both.

In the petition, the farmers, led by Richard Opete, argue that the seed law has denied them their traditional right to exchange indigenous seeds.

“As smallholder farmers, all we want is for us to be allowed to freely share our indigenous seeds like our forefathers did without the fear of being jailed or fined,’’ said Opete.

He noted that exchanging and sharing seeds among farmers remains the only option for many who cannot afford to buy certified seeds from registered seed companies or dealers.

“If we are talking about realising food and nutrition security for the country, then we must allow farmers to use whatever seeds that grow well on their soil. We cannot talk about food security while limiting the farmers from sharing climate-resilient seeds,’’ Opete added.

Francis Gika, who practises organic farming, said that the government should tap into traditional methods used by smallholder farmers to multiply and preserve seeds and adapt to changing weather patterns.

“The government should help us improve on what we are doing rather than criminalise it,’’ he said. Gika terms the seed law as selective, oppressive and against smallholder farmers. “Where will a smallholder farmer like me get the KES 200,000 (1,538 USD) needed to register and get certification for a seed variety as the law demands?”

Gika warned that the punitive law directly affects the economic well-being of smallholder farmers because “without seeds, they cannot produce enough food to sell and make money.”

Sovereignty of seed management

Greenpeace Africa says that “the current seed law favours big multinationals by giving them room to exploit local resources and that the law sold Kenya’s food system to the highest bidder.’’

Elizabeth Atieno, a food campaigner at Greenpeace Africa, observed that Kenya’s food system has become unstable due to overreliance on major seed companies for seed supply.

“When you restrict a farmer from sharing and exchanging seeds they can freely and easily access, the result is diminishing production, less food and starving populations,’’ says Atieno. “Certified seeds come at a cost, which works against most smallholder farmers, and at times, the supply fails to meet the demand.’’

Atieno explained that a win in the court would pave the way for integrating the farmer seed management system into the law, enabling smallholder farmers to share and exchange indigenous seeds.

For farmers like Francis Ngiri, instead of punishing the farmer, the seed law should be keen on documenting all Kenyan indigenous seed varieties to protect their sovereignty and history.

“Multinational seed breeders are a threat to our indigenous Kenyan seed varieties through exploitation and this is what the seed law should instead be dealing with,” Ngiri said.

Stakeholder push

Experts pushing for the review of the seed law argue that restricting farmers from sharing and exchanging non-certified seeds is simply stopping them from using and sharing indigenous seeds.

Agronomist Ben Wanyoro explained further: “Indigenous seeds are naturally adapted to the environment, and restricting their use puts our biodiversity at risk, especially in this era of climate change.’’

The Participatory Ecological Land Use Management (PELUM), Kenya, said the petition is in the interest of indigenous seed varieties, which should be protected at all costs.

“Special attention must be accorded to the farmer-managed seed system because they have the capacity and knowledge to nurture indigenous seeds, and any prohibitive laws should be scrapped to allow continuity,’’ said Rosinah Mbenya, country coordinator, PELUM Kenya.

In October 2022, the Kenyan government approved the use of genetically modified organism (GMO) seeds, citing the need to address the effects of drought and improve food security by adopting pest- and disease-resistant crops. This decision was criticized by organic farmers in the country.

Kenya’s agriculture sector contributes 33 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and another 27 percent indirectly through linkages with other sectors. Agriculture employs more than 40 percent of Kenya’s population and 70 percent of Kenya’s rural people.

Indigenous farmers argued that continued enforcement of the seed law is putting indigenous seeds at risk of extinction. Seed Savers Network Kenya is a grassroots smallholder farmer network championing the use and preservation of indigenous seed varieties in Kenya through community seed banking, exchange and sharing.

Seed Savers Network advocacy officer Dominic Kimani argues that criminalising informal seed exchange and sharing encourages biopiracy and reduces plant genetic diversity: “The current law reduces diverse seed access and aggravates food and nutritional insecurity in the country.” He added that forcing farmers to rely on hybrid seeds poses a big threat to food biodiversity and traditional food cultures.

Local farmers are still awaiting the outcome of the petition. Ngahu hopes that the court process will be favourable to smallholder farmers like her.

“Farming is not a crime, and therefore, I look forward to an outcome that will grant me the freedom to plant whatever seeds I deem fit for my land without any fear,’’ says Ngahu. “As a person, I cannot attain food and nutrition security when I have limitations on the types of seeds I can plant on my own farm.’’

Written by Minority Africa