Calling on the World Bank to End the Enabling the Business of Agriculture (EBA)

January 18, 2017

Dear Dr. Jim Yong Kim,

We are writing today to urge you to put an end to the Enabling the Business of Agriculture (EBA) project, which jeopardizes farmers’ right to seeds, food security, and the future of our planet.

In 2012, the World Bank was tasked by the G8 to create a “Doing Business in Agriculture Index.”¹ With the support of the US, UK, Danish, and Dutch governments as well as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Bank launched the EBA project, which will benchmark the agricultural policies of over 60 countries in 2017.

The EBA’s top-down approach dictates the so-called “good practices” to regulate agriculture and scores countries on how well they apply and implement its prescriptions. Based on the EBA scores, the World Bank leverages policy changes in agriculture.² This is a dangerously misguided effort, as national policymaking should prioritize locally adapted solutions based on the experiences and demands of farmers, pastoralists, fisherfolks, and rural communities.

Among several categories of indicators (Finance, Transport, Fertilizer, etc.), the EBA includes a sub- indicator which evaluates seed regulations.

In developing countries, farmers source 80 to 90 percent of their seeds within farmer-managed seed systems. These systems are maintained by farmers’ own work to recycle and save seeds from their crops, and by farmer-to-farmer gifts, exchanges, and trade. Farmer-managed seed systems provide a rich diversity of seed, including varieties that are affordable and adapted to local environmental conditions. They are vital to support agro-biodiversity, food security, and resilience against climate and economic shocks.

Yet the EBA’s narrow set of “good practices” to regulate seeds systems restricts policymaking to facilitating private development and marketing of industrial seeds. The EBA uses misleading language by calling industrial seeds “quality seeds”³ and conveys the perception that farmers’ seeds are unworthy of policy support. The project pushes governments to adopt intellectual property rights framework, which curtails farmers’ rights to save, exchange, and sell seeds. It advocates for reforms to accelerate and minimize the costs of releasing industrial seeds; and places corporations at the center of every aspect of seed systems.

While the EBA reforms will not benefit the majority of farmers, they will increase the profits of a handful of private companies. Only six multinationals currently control over two-thirds of the industrial seed market, and pending agroindustry mergers stand to further consolidate this oligopoly.⁴ The concentration of the global seed market has a significant impact on seed prices⁵ as well as seed diversity. Replacing farmers’ seeds with a few uniform industrial varieties contributes to the rapid erosion of global agro-biodiversity, which is crucial to address the climate crisis.

In order to protect farmers, food security, and our planet, we urge you to put an immediate end to the EBA project. We call on the World Bank to rather fight poverty and food insecurity by promoting vibrant local seed systems, and supporting true participation of farmers in the design of regulations and policies in the agricultural sector.

We appreciate you addressing this critical issue and look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience.

Sincerely,

1. Abibiman Foundation Ghana

2. Acción Ecológica Ecuador

3. Action Ceinture Verte pour l’environnement (ACVE) Burundi

4. Action for Solidarity Environment Equality and Diversity (ASEED) Netherlands

5. African Center for Biodiversity South Africa

6. Agrarian Trust USA

7. Alianza Hondureña frente al Cambio Climático (AHCC) Honduras

8. Alliance for Sustainable and Holistic Agriculture (ASHA) India

9. Amis de l’Afrique Francophone (AMAF – Benin) Benin

10. Anywaa Survival Organisation UK/Ethiopia

11. Asia Pacific Forum on Women Law and Development (APWLD) Asia

12. Asociación Nacional de Fomento a la Agricultura Ecológica (ANAFAE) Honduras

13. Asociacion Red de Coordinación en Biodiversidad Costa Rica

14. Association des Jeunes Agriculteurs de Casamance (AJAC LUKAAL) Senegal

15. Association des Organisations Professionnelles Paysannes de Kayes (AOPP) Mali

16. Association for Plant Breeding for the Benefit of Society (APBREBES) International

17. Association pour la Défense des Droits de l’Eau et de l’Assainissement (ADDEA) Senegal

18. Association Recherche Action pour la Nature (ARAN) Togo

19. Banana Link UK

20. Bangladesh Fish Workers Alliance Bangladesh

21. Biofuelwatch USA/UK

22. Bioscience Resource Project USA

23. Biowatch South Africa South Africa

24. Both ENDS Netherlands

25. Bread for All Switzerland

26. Bretton Woods Project UK

27. Broadley Garden Centre UK

28. Broederlijk Delen Belgium

29. Cadre de Concertation des Producteur d’Arachide (CCPA) Senegal

30. CARITAS Kaolack Senegal

31. CCFD-Terre Solidaire France

32. Center for Sustainable Development (CENESTA) Iran

33. Centre de Recherche sur l’Environnement, la Démocratie et les Droits de l’Homme DRC

34. Centro de Iniciativas en Políticas Ambientales Nicaragua

35. Centro de los Derechos del Campesino Nicaragua

36. CEPA-SL Sierra Leone

37. Cercle pour la Défense de l’Environnement (CEDEN) RDC

38. Citizen Consumer and Civic Action Group (CAG) India

39. CNCD-11.11.11 Belgium

40. Coalición Nacional de Redes y Organizaciones Ambientales (CONROA) Honduras

41. Coalition pour la Protection du Patrimoine Génétique Africain (COPAGEN) Senegal

42. Collectif Citoyen pour l’Agro-Ecologie (CCAE) Burkina Faso

43. Community Alliance for Global Justice/AGRA Watch USA

44. Construisons Ensemble le Monde (CEM) DRC

45. Coordinador Civil de Masaya Nicaragua

46. Coordinadora Civil Nicaragua

47. Earthlife Africa South Africa

48. EarthLore Foundation South Africa

49. Eastern Africa Smallholder Farmers Association (EASFA) East Africa

50. EcoNexus UK

51. Education For Better Living Organization (EBLI) Tanzania

52. Enda Pronat Senegal

53. Environmental Justice Initiative for Haiti USA

54. ETC Group Canada

55. Fahamu Africa Senegal

56. Farmworker Association of Florida USA

57. Fastenopfer (Swiss Catholic Lenten Fund) Switzerland

58. Fondama Haiti

59. Food Sovereignty Ghana Ghana

60. Foro Ambiental Santiagueño Argentina

61. Foundation Karibu Tanzania

62. Friends of the Siberian Forests Russia

63. Gaia Foundation UK

64. Gender Action International

65. Global Justice UK

66. GMB UK

67. GRAIN International

68. Greenhorns USA

69. Groundswell International International

70. HATOF Foundation Ghana

71. ICCA Consortium International

72. Indigenous Peoples Forum India

73. Indigenous Perspectives India

74. Initiatives d’Echanges pour un Développement Durable (IEDD) Burkina Faso

75. CICODEV Afrique Senegal

76. Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) USA

77. International Accountability Project International

78. Inyanda Land Rights Movement South Africa

79. Iowa CCI USA

80. JINUKUN Benin

81. JM&Co UK

82. Kalpavriksh India

83. Kasisi Agricultural Training Centre Zambia

84. La Route du Sel et de l’Espoir France

85. Labour, Health and Human Rights Development Centre (LHAHRDEV) Nigeria

86. Land Workers’ Allliance UK

87. Local Futures International

88. Mangrove Action Project International

89. Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns USA

90. Movement Rights USA

91. Namati USA

92. National Family Farm Coalition USA

93. Nesara Farmers’ Market India

94. Network for Vital Agriculture and Nutrition Netherlands

95. Nicaragua Center for Community Action (NICCA) USA

96. Nothing But Tea UK

97. NOUS SOMMES LA SOLUTION West Africa

98. Nyambya Tea Co Uganda

99. Oakland Institute USA

100. Open Food Network International

101. OT Watch Mongolia

102. Other Worlds USA

103. Pacific Network on Globalisation (PANG) Fiji

104. Partners for the Land & Agricultural Needs of Traditional Peoples (PLANT) USA

105. People’s Dialogue Swaziland

106. Platform Aarde Boer Consument Netherlands

107. Popular Resistance USA

108. Prosalus Spain

109. Puvidham Rural Development Trust India

110. Quinoa Belgium

111. Rashtriya Raithu Seva Samithi India

112. Red de Organizaciones Sociales de Managua Nicaragua

113. Red por una América Latina Libre de Transgénicos (RALLT) Latin America

114. Réseau de Lutte contre la Faim (RELUFA) Cameroon

115. Ritongo Africa Kenya

116. Rivers without Boundaries Mongolia

117. Rythu Swarajya Vedika India

118. SAUTI YA WANAWAKE Tanzania

119. Seed Savers Network Kenya

120. Sierra Leone Network on the Right to Food (SiLNoRF) Sierra Leone

121. Slow Food International

122. Social Justice Connection Canada

123. Society for International Development (SID) International

124. SOS Faim Belgique

125. Southern African Rural Women’s Assembly South Africa

126. SWISSAID Switzerland

127. Tamilnadu Organic Farmers Federation India

128. Teacraft UK

129. Thanal India

130. The Corner House UK

131. The Land magazine UK

132. The Rules International

133. Third World Network International

134. Timberwatch Coalition South Africa

135. Traidcraft UK

136. Tropical Agriculture Association UK

137. Trust for Community Outreach and Education (TCOE) South Africa

138. Union Paysanne Canada

139. United Nations Association, UK Branch (UNA-UK) UK

140. United Small and Medium scale Farmers’ Associations of Nigeria (USMEFAN) Nigeria

141. Urgewald Germany

142. Walking on the South (WotS) Italy

143. Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) Netherlands

144. World Family UK

145. Zambia Alliance for Agroecology and Biodiversity Conservation (ZAABC) Zambia

146. Zestful Development Services (ZDES) Benin

147. Dr. Norman Uphoff – Professor Emeritus of Government and International Agriculture and Core Faculty Member, Cornell Institute for Public Affair, Cornell University, USA

148. Dr. Michel Pimbert – Professor and Executive Director of the Centre for Agroecology, Water and Resilience, Coventry University, UK

149. Dr. David J. Midmore – Emeritus Professor, Central Queensland University, Australia

150. Dr. Peter Dart – Honorary Associate Professor, School of Agriculture and Food Science, University of Queensland, Australia

151. Dr. Amir Kassam – OBE, FRSB, Visiting Professor, School of Agriculture, Policy and Development, University of Reading, UK

152. Dr. Peter Greaves – Former Senior Adviser at UNICEF’s Programme Division (micronutrients) and Former Secretary of the British Nutrition Foundation

153. Dr. Michael Spann – School of Political Science and International Studies, University of Queensland, Australia

154. Dr. Molly D. Anderson – William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of Food Studies, Middlebury College, USA

155. Dr. Tushar Chakraborty – Head, Gene Regulation Laboratory, Indian Institute of Chemical Biology, India

156. Dr. Willem A. Stoop – Agronomist, Former Researcher at CIMMYT, ICRISAT, ISNAR and WARDA and Royal Tropical Institute in Amsterdam, Netherlands

157. Dr. Anne Woodfine – Tropical Natural Resources and Sustainable Land Management Specialist

158. Devon Jenkins – Program Specialist, International Programs, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Cornell University, USA

Sent via email:

Jim Yong Kim, President of the World Bank Group

Cc.

Bill Gates, Co-Chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Gayle Smith, Administrator of the US Agency for International Development

Kristian Jensen, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Denmark

Priti Patel, Secretary of State for International Development, United Kingdom

Lilianne Ploumen, Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation, The Netherlands

Federica Saliola, Program Manager in the WBG Development Economics Vice-Presidency

• [1] The White House. “Fact Sheet: G-8 action on Food Security and Nutrition.” Office of the Press Secretary, May 18, 2012. https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/05/18/fact-sheet-g-8-action-food-security-and-nutrition
• [2] World Bank staff recently indicated that both Vietnam and Rwanda had used the EBA to design new seed ordinances. Multiple EBA project and donor documents clearly state a goal to influence policymaking around the world, especially in developing countries. See: USAID, Feed the Future. “Your Questions Answered about Enabling the Business of Agriculture!” Agrilinks. https://agrilinks.org/blog/your-questions-answered-about-enabling-business-agriculture; DFID, Development Tracker. “Support to the World Bank Project ‘Benchmarking the Business of Agriculture.’ (documents).” Developing Countries, Unspecified. https://devtracker.dfid.gov.uk/projects/GB-1-204123/documents.
• [3] Research has shown that widely used arguments to discredit farmers’ seeds as potentially unsafe and prone to diseases are unfounded. Studies find no significant differences between quality of farmer seeds and industrial seeds (in terms of health, absence of contaminants, etc.), and no evidence exists that seed recycling (saving the seeds for sowing at the next crop season) lowers quality. See: Coomes, Oliver T. et al. “Farmer seed networks make a limited contribution to agriculture? Four common misconceptions.” Food Policy 56 (2015): 41-50.
• [4] ETC Group. “The Monsanto–Bayer tie-up is just one of seven; Mega-Mergers and Big Data Domination Threaten Seeds, Food Security.” September 15, 2016.http://www.etcgroup.org/content/monsanto-bayer-tie-just-one-seven-mega- mergers-and-big-data-domination-threaten-seeds-food
• [5] Fuglie, K., Heisey, P., King, J., and D. Schimmelpfennig. Rising Concentration in Agricultural Input Industries Influences New Farm Technologies. USDA Economic Research Service, December 2012. http://www.ers.usda.gov/amber-waves/2012-december/rising-concentration-in-agricultural-input-industries-influences-new-technologies.aspx#.V9B97z4rJcw