Public hearings on the East African Community Seed and Plant Varieties Bill, 2025 have wrapped up across the EAC Partner States. Stakeholder input will feed into the East African Legislative Assembly’s committee report before the Bill goes to its second reading.
The African Resilience & Development Agency (AFRDA) took part in this process by submitting a legal and policy memorandum with ten drafting-ready amendments.
AFRDA supports the legitimate goals of regional seed-law harmonisation including easier cross-border access to quality seed, less duplication in testing and certification, stronger regional cooperation and more investment. But harmonisation shouldn’t come at the expense of the farmer-managed seed systems that millions of East African smallholder farmers rely on.
Our recommendations call for:
- Legal recognition of farmers’ rights, farmer varieties, indigenous seed, farmer-managed seed systems and community seed banks.
- Protection of farmers’ ability to save, use, exchange and improve seed.
- Evaluation and registration pathways suited to diverse, locally adapted farmer varieties.
- Safeguards for access and benefit-sharing, prior informed consent and community-developed genetic resources.
- Stronger parliamentary oversight of plant breeders’ rights.
- Meaningful representation of farmer organisations, women and civil society.
Seed legislation determines who gets to access, conserve, exchange, improve and benefit from one of agriculture’s most basic resources.
As EALA weighs the evidence it has gathered, AFRDA is calling for an inclusive, balanced outcome built in genuine partnership with farmers. A durable regional seed law has to serve East Africa’s whole seed system both formal and farmer-managed alike.
Read AFRDA’s full memorandum and proposed amendments:
https://afrda.org/pdf/afrda-memorandum-eac-seed-and-plant-varieties-bill-2025/
