Seed banks and national policy in Brazil

Increasingly, seeds are the domain of professional breeders, agribusiness and policy makers. They decide what makes for a good variety and they develop legislation that excludes other varieties. Despite this, family farmer organizations and social movements in Paraíba, Brazil, have managed to strengthen decentralized farmer-driven seed selection and distribution systems and public seed policies. They may well be opening the way for another seed regime in the country, with its own access and benefit-sharing mechanisms.