This judgment establishes powerful legal precedent globally, affirming that the ancient right of farmers to save and share seeds supersedes commercial interests, reshaping the legal balance of power between communities and agribusiness worldwide.
Parts of the law “granted extensive proprietary rights to plant breeders and there was no corresponding right that was given to the farmers. So, it favoured big commercial and corporate interests over the rights of farmers,” Wambugu Wanjohi from the Law Society of Kenya said.
Very good news indeed! The global IP regime around seeds is pretty bad, but this is not affecting that. It’s about even worse restrictions in Kenya specifically.
Reuters says the same thing with more context and less gushing:
Very good news indeed! The global IP regime around seeds is pretty bad, but this is not affecting that. It’s about even worse restrictions in Kenya specifically.