Calling on the USAID, DFID, DANIDA, The Netherlands, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to Stop Financing the World Bank-Managed Enabling the Business of Agriculture (EBA) Project
January 18, 2017
Dear Mr. Gates, Ms. Smith, Mr. Jensen, Ms. Patel and Ms. Ploumen,
We are writing today to urge you to stop financing the Enabling the Business of Agriculture (EBA) project, which jeopardizes farmers’ right to seeds, food security, and the future of our planet.
In 2012, the World Bank was tasked by the G8 to create a “Doing Business in Agriculture Index.”1 With your support, the Bank launched the EBA project, which will benchmark the agricultural policies of over 60 countries in 2017.
The EBA’s top-down approach dictates the so-called “good practices” to regulate agriculture and scores countries on how well they apply and implement its prescriptions. Based on the EBA scores, the World Bank leverages policy changes in agriculture.2 This is a dangerously misguided effort, as national policymaking should prioritize locally adapted solutions based on the experiences and demands of farmers, pastoralists, fisherfolks, and rural communities.
Among several categories of indicators (Finance, Transport, Fertilizer, etc.), the EBA includes a sub- indicator which evaluates seed regulations.
In developing countries, farmers source 80 to 90 percent of their seeds within farmer-managed seed systems. These systems are maintained by farmers’ own work to recycle and save seeds from their crops, and by farmer-to-farmer gifts, exchanges, and trade. Farmer-managed seed systems provide a rich diversity of seed, including varieties that are affordable and adapted to local environmental conditions. They are vital to support agro-biodiversity, food security, and resilience against climate and economic shocks.
Yet the EBA’s narrow set of “good practices” to regulate seeds systems restricts policymaking to facilitating private development and marketing of industrial seeds. The EBA uses misleading language by calling industrial seeds “quality seeds”3 and conveys the perception that farmers’ seeds are unworthy of policy support. The project pushes governments to adopt intellectual property rights framework, which curtails farmers’ rights to save, exchange, and sell seeds. It advocates for reforms to accelerate and minimize the costs of releasing industrial seeds; and places corporations at the center of every aspect of seed systems.
While the EBA reforms will not benefit the majority of farmers, they will increase the profits of a handful of private companies. Only six multinationals currently control over two-thirds of the industrial seed market, and pending agroindustry mergers stand to further consolidate this oligopoly.4 The concentration of the global seed market has a significant impact on seed prices5 as well as seed diversity. Replacing farmers’ seeds with a few uniform industrial varieties contributes to the rapid erosion of global agro-biodiversity, which is crucial to address the climate crisis.
In order to protect farmers, food security, and our planet, we urge you to stop financing the EBA project. We call on you to rather fight poverty and food insecurity by promoting vibrant local seed systems, and supporting true participation of farmers in the design of regulations and policies in the agricultural sector.
We appreciate you addressing this critical issue and look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience.
Sincerely,
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Abibiman Foundation Ghana
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Acción Ecológica Ecuador
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Action Ceinture Verte pour l'environnement (ACVE) Burundi
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Action for Solidarity Environment Equality and Diversity (ASEED) Netherlands
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African Center for Biodiversity South Africa
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Agrarian Trust USA
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Alianza Hondureña frente al Cambio Climático (AHCC) Honduras
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Alliance for Sustainable and Holistic Agriculture (ASHA) India
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Amis de l'Afrique Francophone (AMAF - Benin) Benin
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Anywaa Survival Organisation UK/Ethiopia
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Asia Pacific Forum on Women Law and Development (APWLD) Asia
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Asociación Nacional de Fomento a la Agricultura Ecológica (ANAFAE) Honduras
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Asociacion Red de Coordinación en Biodiversidad Costa Rica
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Association des Jeunes Agriculteurs de Casamance (AJAC LUKAAL) Senegal
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Association des Organisations Professionnelles Paysannes de Kayes (AOPP) Mali
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Association for Plant Breeding for the Benefit of Society (APBREBES) International
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Association pour la Défense des Droits de l'Eau et de l'Assainissement (ADDEA) Senegal
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Association Recherche Action pour la Nature (ARAN) Togo
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Banana Link UK
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Bangladesh Fish Workers Alliance Bangladesh
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Biofuelwatch USA/UK
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Bioscience Resource Project USA
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Biowatch South Africa South Africa
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Both ENDS Netherlands
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Bread for All Switzerland
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Bretton Woods Project UK
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Broadley Garden Centre UK
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Broederlijk Delen Belgium
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Cadre de Concertation des Producteur d’Arachide (CCPA) Senegal
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CARITAS Kaolack Senegal
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CCFD-Terre Solidaire France
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Center for Sustainable Development (CENESTA) Iran
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Centre de Recherche sur l'Environnement, la Démocratie et les Droits de l'Homme DRC
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Centro de Iniciativas en Políticas Ambientales Nicaragua
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Centro de los Derechos del Campesino Nicaragua
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CEPA-SL Sierra Leone
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Cercle pour la Défense de l'Environnement (CEDEN) RDC
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Citizen Consumer and Civic Action Group (CAG) India
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CNCD-11.11.11 Belgium
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Coalición Nacional de Redes y Organizaciones Ambientales (CONROA) Honduras
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Coalition pour la Protection du Patrimoine Génétique Africain (COPAGEN) Senegal
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Collectif Citoyen pour l'Agro-Ecologie (CCAE) Burkina Faso
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Community Alliance for Global Justice/AGRA Watch USA
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Construisons Ensemble le Monde (CEM) DRC
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Coordinador Civil de Masaya Nicaragua
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Coordinadora Civil Nicaragua
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Earthlife Africa South Africa
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EarthLore Foundation South Africa
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Eastern Africa Smallholder Farmers Association (EASFA) East Africa
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EcoNexus UK
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Education For Better Living Organization (EBLI) Tanzania
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Enda Pronat Senegal
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Environmental Justice Initiative for Haiti USA
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ETC Group Canada
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Fahamu Africa Senegal
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Farmworker Association of Florida USA
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Fastenopfer (Swiss Catholic Lenten Fund) Switzerland
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Fondama Haiti
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Food Sovereignty Ghana Ghana
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Foro Ambiental Santiagueño Argentina
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Foundation Karibu Tanzania
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Friends of the Siberian Forests Russia
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Gaia Foundation UK
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Gender Action International
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Global Justice UK
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GMB UK
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GRAIN International
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Greenhorns USA
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Groundswell International International
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HATOF Foundation Ghana
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ICCA Consortium International
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Indigenous Peoples Forum India
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Indigenous Perspectives India
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Initiatives d'Echanges pour un Développement Durable (IEDD) Burkina Faso
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CICODEV Afrique Senegal
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Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) USA
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International Accountability Project International
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Inyanda Land Rights Movement South Africa
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Iowa CCI USA
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JINUKUN Benin
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JM&Co UK
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Kalpavriksh India
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Kasisi Agricultural Training Centre Zambia
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La Route du Sel et de l’Espoir France
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Labour, Health and Human Rights Development Centre (LHAHRDEV) Nigeria
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Land Workers’ Allliance UK
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Local Futures International
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Mangrove Action Project International
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Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns USA
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Movement Rights USA
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Namati USA
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National Family Farm Coalition USA
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Nesara Farmers' Market India
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Network for Vital Agriculture and Nutrition Netherlands
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Nicaragua Center for Community Action (NICCA) USA
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Nothing But Tea UK
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NOUS SOMMES LA SOLUTION West Africa
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Nyambya Tea Co Uganda
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Oakland Institute USA
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Open Food Network International
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OT Watch Mongolia
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Other Worlds USA
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Pacific Network on Globalisation (PANG) Fiji
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Partners for the Land & Agricultural Needs of Traditional Peoples (PLANT) USA
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People's Dialogue Swaziland
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Platform Aarde Boer Consument Netherlands
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Popular Resistance USA
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Prosalus Spain
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Puvidham Rural Development Trust India
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Quinoa Belgium
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Rashtriya Raithu Seva Samithi India
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Red de Organizaciones Sociales de Managua Nicaragua
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Red por una América Latina Libre de Transgénicos (RALLT) Latin America
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Réseau de Lutte contre la Faim (RELUFA) Cameroon
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Ritongo Africa Kenya
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Rivers without Boundaries Mongolia
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Rythu Swarajya Vedika India
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SAUTI YA WANAWAKE Tanzania
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Seed Savers Network Kenya
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Sierra Leone Network on the Right to Food (SiLNoRF) Sierra Leone
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Slow Food International
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Social Justice Connection Canada
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Society for International Development (SID) International
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SOS Faim Belgique
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Southern African Rural Women’s Assembly South Africa
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SWISSAID Switzerland
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Tamilnadu Organic Farmers Federation India
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Teacraft UK
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Thanal India
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The Corner House UK
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The Land magazine UK
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The Rules International
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Third World Network International
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Timberwatch Coalition South Africa
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Traidcraft UK
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Tropical Agriculture Association UK
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Trust for Community Outreach and Education (TCOE) South Africa
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Union Paysanne Canada
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United Nations Association, UK Branch (UNA-UK) UK
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United Small and Medium scale Farmers' Associations of Nigeria (USMEFAN) Nigeria
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Urgewald Germany
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Walking on the South (WotS) Italy
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Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) Netherlands
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World Family UK
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Zambia Alliance for Agroecology and Biodiversity Conservation (ZAABC) Zambia
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Zestful Development Services (ZDES) Benin
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Dr. Norman Uphoff – Professor Emeritus of Government and International Agriculture and Core Faculty Member, Cornell Institute for Public Affair, Cornell University, USA
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Dr. Michel Pimbert – Professor and Executive Director of the Centre for Agroecology, Water and Resilience, Coventry University, UK
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Dr. David J. Midmore – Emeritus Professor, Central Queensland University, Australia
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Dr. Peter Dart – Honorary Associate Professor, School of Agriculture and Food Science, University of Queensland, Australia
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Dr. Amir Kassam – OBE, FRSB, Visiting Professor, School of Agriculture, Policy and Development, University of Reading, UK
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Dr. Peter Greaves – Former Senior Adviser at UNICEF’s Programme Division (micronutrients) and Former Secretary of the British Nutrition Foundation
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Dr. Michael Spann – School of Political Science and International Studies, University of Queensland, Australia
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Dr. Molly D. Anderson – William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of Food Studies, Middlebury College, USA
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Dr. Tushar Chakraborty – Head, Gene Regulation Laboratory, Indian Institute of Chemical Biology, India
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Dr. Willem A. Stoop – Agronomist, Former Researcher at CIMMYT, ICRISAT, ISNAR and WARDA and Royal Tropical Institute in Amsterdam, Netherlands
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Dr. Anne Woodfine – Tropical Natural Resources and Sustainable Land Management Specialist
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Devon Jenkins – Program Specialist, International Programs, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Cornell University, USA
Sent via email:
Bill Gates, Co-Chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Gayle Smith, Administrator of the US Agency for International Development
Kristian Jensen, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Denmark
Priti Patel, Secretary of State for International Development, United Kingdom
Lilianne Ploumen, Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation, The Netherlands
Cc.
Jim Yong Kim, President of the World Bank Group
Federica Saliola, Program Manager in the WBG Development Economics Vice-Presidency
- [1] The White House. "Fact Sheet: G-8 action on Food Security and Nutrition.” Office of the Press Secretary, May 18, 2012. https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/05/18/fact-sheet-g-8-action-food-security-and-nutrition
- [2] World Bank staff recently indicated that both Vietnam and Rwanda had used the EBA to design new seed ordinances. Multiple EBA project and donor documents clearly state a goal to influence policymaking around the world, especially in developing countries. See: USAID, Feed the Future. “Your Questions Answered about Enabling the Business of Agriculture!” Agrilinks. https://agrilinks.org/blog/your-questions-answered-about-enabling-business-agriculture; DFID, Development Tracker. “Support to the World Bank Project ‘Benchmarking the Business of Agriculture.’ (documents).” Developing Countries, Unspecified. https://devtracker.dfid.gov.uk/projects/GB-1-204123/documents.
- [3] Research has shown that widely used arguments to discredit farmers’ seeds as potentially unsafe and prone to diseases are unfounded. Studies find no significant differences between quality of farmer seeds and industrial seeds (in terms of health, absence of contaminants, etc.), and no evidence exists that seed recycling (saving the seeds for sowing at the next crop season) lowers quality. See: Coomes, Oliver T. et al. “Farmer seed networks make a limited contribution to agriculture? Four common misconceptions.” Food Policy 56 (2015): 41-50.
- [4] ETC Group. "The Monsanto–Bayer tie-up is just one of seven; Mega-Mergers and Big Data Domination Threaten Seeds, Food Security." September 15, 2016.http://www.etcgroup.org/content/monsanto-bayer-tie-just-one-seven-mega- mergers-and-big-data-domination-threaten-seeds-food
- [5] Fuglie, K., Heisey, P., King, J., and D. Schimmelpfennig. Rising Concentration in Agricultural Input Industries Influences New Farm Technologies. USDA Economic Research Service, December 2012. http://www.ers.usda.gov/amber-waves/2012-december/rising-concentration-in-agricultural-input-industries-influences-new-technologies.aspx#.V9B97z4rJcw