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Kenya's smallholder farmers are engaged in a legal battle with the government to challenge a law that restricts the sharing of indigenous seeds. The Seeds and Plant Varieties Act, passed in 2012, prohibits the sharing, exchanging, selling, producing, and multiplying of uncertified seeds. The law has been in force for 12 years, and smallholder farmers argue that it has limited their ability to produce food and threatens their food security.
Peninah Ngahu, a 58-year-old smallholder farmer from Elementaita village, has been practising subsistence farming for 30 years. She says that accessing indigenous seeds was easy because farmers would share, sell, buy, and exchange them freely. However, with the introduction of the law, Ngahu can no longer share her seeds with other farmers, and this has limited her ability to produce food.
The law has also had a negative impact on the economy of smallholder farmers. Francis Gika, an organic farmer, says that the law has made it difficult for smallholder farmers to access seeds, and this has affected their ability to produce food. Gika also notes that the law has favored big multinationals, who can afford to buy certified seeds from registered seed companies.
The smallholder farmers are not alone in their fight. Greenpeace Africa, an interested party in the petition, argues that the law favors big multinationals by giving them room to exploit local resources. Elizabeth Atieno, a food campaigner at Greenpeace Africa, says that the law has rendered Kenya's food system unstable due to over-reliance on major seed companies for seed supply.
The farmers are also concerned about the impact of the law on their food sovereignty. Francis Ngiri, a farmer from Baringo County, says that the law has threatened the sovereignty of Kenyan indigenous seed varieties. Ngiri notes that multinational seed breeders are a threat to their indigenous seed varieties through exploitation.
The outcome of the petition is still pending, but the farmers are hopeful that the court will rule in their favor. Ngahu says that farming is not a crime, and she hopes that the court will grant her the freedom to plant whatever seeds she deems fit for her land without any fear.
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