Farmers\' Rights to Livelihood in the Hindu-Kush Himalayas

Contents: Acronyms. Preface. Contributors. 1. Introduction/Ratnakar Adhikari. 2. Biodiversity, farmers\' rights, biotechnology and patents/S. Bala Ravi. 3. CoFaB: A developing country alternative to UPOV/Suman Sahai. 4. Recognizing farmers\' rights as human rights/Shafqat Munir. 5. Agreement on agriculture: A South Asian perspective/Hiramani Ghimire. 6. Safety and quality imperatives within the SPS/TBT Regime: A HKH perspective/Wajid H. Pirzada. 7. Plant genetic resources and farmers\' rights: The case of Bangladesh/Uttam Kumar Deb, M.J.H. Jabed and Md. Abdur Razzaque. 8. Legal and institutional mechanisms to protect farmers\' rights in Nepal/Krishna Prasad Pant. 9. Protecting farmers\' rights for sustainable agriculture development in Nepal/Madhusudan P. Upadhyay. 10. Current policy situation, issues and gaps in plant genetic resource for food and agriculture policy in Nepal/Devendra Gauchan, Bimal Baniya, Madhusudhan Upadhyay, Anil Subedi and Bhuwon Sthapit. 11. A log-frame of Sui Generis System to protect farmers\' rights: Pakistan\'s perspective/Wajid H. Pirzada. 12. WTO and its economic implications to Sri Lankan farming community/Roshen Epaarachchi. 13. Farmers\' rights: Their relevance for Central Himalayas/Ghayur Alam. Annexures: i. Brief report of the roundtable on protecting farmers\' rights in the Hindu-Kush Himalayas. ii. Brief report of the second regional consultation meeting on farmers\' rights.

From the Preface: In an era of non-discrimination, hastened by the national treatment requirement of the WTO, the distinction between foreign and national goods in becoming increasingly blurred. While increased competition in the goods as well as service market has enhanced consumer welfare, it has reduced producers\' and workers\' welfare because of the closure of the factories and abandonment of farming as an occupation by many farmers who find themselves misfit in the present competitive environment. The impact of these changes are likely to be felt by all farmers alike, however, the burden of adjustment is likely to fall disproportionately on mountain farmers."