441-00831 (Agriculture)

Thank you for sharing the petition to the House of Commons regarding farmers’ seeds and agricultural development around the world.

The Government of Canada understands that many small family farmers, particularly in the Global South, place considerable value on their ability to save seeds, and that smallholders often choose specific seed varieties that allow for replanting of saved seeds in subsequent years. Moreover, this practice of saving traditional varieties of seeds has been used for generations.

The petition requests that the Government of Canada and the House of Commons:

• Adopt international aid policies that support small family farmers, especially women, and recognize their vital role in the struggle against hunger and poverty; and
• Ensure that Canadian policies and programs are developed in consultation with small family farmers, and that they protect the rights of small family farmers in the Global South to preserve, use, and freely exchange seeds.

Please be assured that Canada’s international assistance policies are designed to support small family farmers, and in particular, women and girls. Canada’s Feminist International Assistance Policy (FIAP) sets out priorities for Canada’s development assistance by targeting investments, partnerships, innovation, and advocacy efforts that seek to eradicate poverty and support the poorest and most vulnerable.

In addition, the FIAP has a strong focus on gender equality and women’s empowerment to reduce poverty and inequality. Agriculture is often the sole source of livelihood for rural women in developing countries, who are also the most affected by poverty, malnutrition, and climate change. These women producers play an important role in agriculture and food systems. Canada recognizes that providing female smallholders with equal access to resources could reduce the number of people living with chronic hunger by as much as 17 percent, providing help and hope to as many as 150 million people around the world.

Complementing Canada’s support to smallholder farmers, the FIAP also supports women agrientrepreneurs running small and medium-sized businesses in agri-food value chains. Since 2016-17, over 90 percent of Global Affairs Canada’s international development assistance disbursements to agriculture and food systems projects included gender considerations, up from 62 percent in 2008-09.

With regard to the request that Canadian policies and programs be developed in consultation with family farmers, Canadian agricultural and development policies support this request. For example, Canada’s Next Agricultural Policy Framework is being developed in close consultation with all stakeholders, including Canadian producers. This was also the case in the development of the Food Policy for Canada, which engaged more than 45,000 people, including small Canadian farmers, Indigenous groups, civil society organizations, and others.

In addition to domestic consultations, Canadian development assistance projects are designed in consultation with key stakeholders and beneficiaries in developing countries. Given Canada’s focus on supporting the poorest and most vulnerable, this means that for many projects, smallholder farmers, especially women farmers, are consulted as project beneficiaries or stakeholders.

Canada also supports the ability of farmers to select the best plant varieties to suit their own individual needs and circumstances. This may include heritage seeds and heirloom varieties, which can be saved and exchanged freely. Farmers around the world are also choosing newer seed varieties that may be subject to intellectual property rights. Canada’s international assistance investments have included support for seed security among smallholder farmers. For example, Canada financially supported the Seeds of Survival Scale-Up Program of Seed Change (formerly USC Canada), which trained small holder farmers in developing countries to select and utilize improved, local open-pollinated seed varieties, to establish their own community seed banks and to build community seed self-sufficiency as a basis for food security.

Thank you again for sharing this petition on this important subject.