The Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA), a pan African platform comprising civil society networks and farmer organisations working towards food sovereignty in Africa, has released a briefing paper on the deliberations that took place during the SADC Regional Workshop held on 13-14 March 2014, in Johannesburg, South Africa.
The workshop which was attended by some AFSA members reviewed the draft SADC PVP Protocol. According to AFSA: "After marathon, highly contentious and difficult discussions, AFSA members were able to persuade member states to amend key provisions in the draft SADC PVP Protocol dealing with “disclosure of origin” and “farmers’ rights”. While some space was opened through the participation of AFSA members at the very tail end of the workshop, the objections to the draft SADC PVP Protocol being based on UPOV 1991 still remain".
AFSA Briefing paper: AFSA Makes Small Gains for Farmers’ Rights in Draft SADC PVP Protocol (22nd June 2014)