Background and Aim of the Symposium

Background
How can farmers in developing countries protect their traditional knowledge? Who controls the use of seeds? Do patents foster or hinder agricultural research for development? Lively discussions about such questions are currently taking place.  One of the key issues in the debate is the increasing use of genetic engineering techniques in agriculture and the related trend to introduce patents to protect achievements. Another issue is the increased importance attributed to traditional knowledge and farmers’ rights. Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) and rural development is a concern shared by many different groups: farmers in the South, public research centres, the private industry, government agencies and NGOs working in development cooperation. 

Aim
The aim of this international symposium is to foster exchange of experience between important stakeholders and promote the debate on strategies for the future. InfoAgrar believes this will induce a learning process and lead to new forms of collaboration. Those involved in the process will contribute to developing a system of intellectual property protection that benefits food security at the global level.
The results of the symposium will serve as input for future discussions at the political level. The symposium will also provide a civil society audience with a good opportunity to learn about the state of the debate on a controversial issue.