Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA) strongly condemns sleight of hand moves by ARIPO to join UPOV 1991, bypass national laws and outlaw Farmers' Rights

Addis Ababa, Accra 3 April 2014 - The Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA) strongly condemns the move by the African Regional Intellectual Property Organisation (ARIPO) to join UPOV 1991, which will effectively outlaw the centuries-old African farmers’ practice of freely using, exchanging and selling seeds/propagating material. These practices underpin 90% of the agricultural system within the ARIPO region.