By Witness Radio team.
Agriculture, a cornerstone of livelihoods and economies throughout the East African Community (EAC), is now at a crossroads. The laws about seeds, once straightforward, have evolved into a complex web that now decides who controls food systems, how fair they are, and whether biodiversity and farmers’ rights are protected.
The draft Bill, as seen by Witness Radio, aims to provide for the coordination of evaluation, release, and registration of plant varieties among Partner States; to establish standard processes for seed certification and the protection of plant varieties within the Community; and to provide for related matters. According to its promoters, the Bill, based on Article 106 of the East African Community Treaty, aims to provide for seed certification, testing, and marketing, thereby facilitating and creating an enabling environment for private sector seed multiplication and distribution.
Advocates view it as a step toward regional integration, improved food security, and increased trade —a potential boon for the region. However, experts, civil society organizations (CSOs), and smallholder farmers believe the Bill contains many problems that could harm the very people who feed the majority of East Africans.
While the Bill may seem like a technical regulation, experts argue that it actually concerns control over food systems, farmers’ rights, and agricultural diversity. At a recent discussion hosted by civil society organizations and farmer groups in East Africa, panelists participated in a two-hour dialogue titled “The EAC Seed and Plant Varieties Bill, 2025: What is at Stake for Smallholder Farmers?” The event, organized by a Kenyan Seed Savers Network and its partners, highlighted concerns that the Bill favors commercial seed systems while neglecting those managed by farmers.
One of the most criticized aspects of the Bill is its reliance on the Distinct, Uniform, and Stable (DUS) criteria for seed release. Experts say these standards benefit uniform commercial seed varieties but often exclude diverse and adaptable indigenous or farmer-managed seeds. For instance, Tanzania’s Quality Declared Seed (QDS) system allows farmers to produce seeds without facing costly testing requirements. Dr. Peter Munyi, an advocate and agricultural legal expert, warns that if the EAC Bill is approved as it stands, such flexible systems could be compromised.
“It’s very dismissive of small-scale farmers and farmer seed systems because it has a very typical approach to the seed law of its variety release system, its certification system. The variety release requires seed to be consistent with DUS requirements, which are very expensive. Only commercial seed breeders or well-funded research institutions can really afford these tests.”
According to Dr. Munyi, this is a deliberate move to disengage smallholder farmers from the agricultural sector, despite their significant contribution to producing most of the World’s food. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)’s 2021 research, smallholder farmers account for more than 80 percent of the World’s food.
“The law is crafted in such a way that it locks smallholder farmers out of the seed system. When you require laboratory testing and multi-location trials, you’re effectively saying only big companies and donors can participate.”
The Seeds and Plant Varieties Bill closely mirrors a 2018 USAID-backed draft, which also faced criticism for advancing commercial interests at the expense of traditional systems.
“Both the 2018 Bill and the current Bill are discriminatory and inequitable in their approach because they don’t treat all farmers and all seed in the same way,” said Mariam Mayet, Executive Director of the African Center for Biodiversity.
She explained that the bias is intentional as the Bill aims to support commercial seed systems and create markets for multinational seed companies.
“It is not designed to strengthen food security or protect the rights of farmers who feed most of the population.” Mayet warned, adding that, “Once this Bill is passed, farmer-managed seed systems will be further criminalized and marginalized. This Bill takes that repression to a regional level.”
The Bill also introduces uncertainty around plant breeders’ rights. According to Dr. Kabanda David of the Center for Food and Adequate Living Rights (CEFROHT), the draft law is vague on the scope of these rights. It does not explicitly guarantee farmers’ long-standing ability to save, reuse, exchange, or sell protected seeds. Without such exceptions, smallholder farmers could be criminalized for traditional practices.
The Seeds and Plant Varieties Bill, 2025, may appear to be a step toward regional integration, but experts warn that it is dangerously skewed toward corporate seed systems. Left unchanged, it could deepen inequality, erode biodiversity, and undermine food sovereignty for millions of East Africans.
Experts, CSOs, and farmer groups insist that if the Bill is to proceed, it must provide explicit protections for farmers’ rights, including saving, exchanging, and selling seed, recognize and strengthen farmer-managed seed systems through a parallel legal framework or supportive policies, and guarantee meaningful participation of farmers and local communities in shaping seed regulations.
