Can public universities play a role in fostering seed sovereignty?

Type de document
journalArticle
Langue source
-- Langue source --
Titre
Can public universities play a role in fostering seed sovereignty?
Titre français
Titre anglais
Auteur(s)
  • LYON Alexandra
  • FRIEDMANN Harriet
  • WITTMAN Hannah
Editeur(s)
Autre(s)
Id
EFFZHXHA
Version
3385
Date ajout
20 avril 2021 16:52
Date modification
20 avril 2021 16:52
Résumé
Across Canada and the United States, public universities were founded with a mission to contribute to broad societal well-being. Yet, the capacity of public research institutions to develop and disseminate flexible and accessible tools for resilient agriculture has been challenged in recent decades. The role of universities in advancing extractive, rather than regenerative, economies has been amplified by the privatization of public agricultural research and extension of knowledge to farmers, particularly in plant breeding and plant genetics. In this article, we examine the history of public research for seed systems in North America through a “seed regimes” framework, arguing that a narrow focus on commercialization of public research has exacerbated inequalities inherent in the founding structure of public agricultural research, including the displacement of Indigenous land and seed relations. We then discuss how community organizations are challenging the enclosure of seed through seed sovereignty organizing and freelance plant breeding, in some cases through the development of community–university partnerships based on the principles of the cocreation of knowledge. We conclude by offering a reimagined public seed research agenda that focuses on strengthening links between public research and grassroots seed movements, as an opportunity to build more resilient seed and food systems.
Note
None
CRAW tags
  • AB - Utile à l'AB
  • FREDO semence
  • GEO Canada
  • commons
  • community-based research
  • plant breeding
  • public research
  • recherche
  • seed regimes
  • seed sovereignty
WEB tags
Titre de la publication
Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene
Pages
14
Date caractères
23/03/2021