MEDIA FOR CHANGE NETWORK

The Witness Radio and Seed Savers Network Joint Radio program boosts Farmers’ knowledge of seed and food sovereignty.

Published

5 months ago

February 4, 2026

Across Africa, seed laws are increasingly structured to favor commercial seed systems, leaving smallholder farmers with limited control over the seeds they rely on for food production. While governments often justify these laws as necessary for quality control and increased productivity, farmers and civil society organizations argue that they deepen dependency, erode Indigenous knowledge, and undermine food sovereignty.

Smallholder farmers produce the majority of the world’s food. Recognizing practices such as saving, exchanging, and replanting seeds can empower farmers and reinforce their vital role in food security.

In response to this challenge, Witness Radio, in partnership with the Seed Savers Network (SSN) in Kenya, is joining hands to save African indigenous seeds by using media to build power and share knowledge and skills with smallholder farmers across Africa and beyond on seed sovereignty and farmer-led food systems.

Last Thursday, Witness Radio and the Seed Savers Network aired the first episode of the program live, featuring representatives of smallholder farmers and civil society organizations from across the African continent. The discussion, which was live on Witness Radio, focused on sharing Indigenous knowledge and practical approaches to saving and conserving African Indigenous seeds.

“It is a crucial time to speak about food sovereignty because, as Indigenous People, talking about food sovereignty is not just an agricultural issue, according to us. It’s a vital act of decolonization and a sign of cultural survival to us and also self-determination.” Said June Bartuin, the Executive Director for Indigenous Peoples’ for peace and climate justice, Kenya, during the first episode of the program.

Across Africa, several policies and laws restrict farmers’ rights to save, exchange, and sell their own seeds. In East Africa, the recently introduced EAC Seed and Plant Varieties Draft Bill 2025 has sparked protests from smallholder farmers and activists, who argue that some of its provisions threaten farmer-led seed systems and favor multinational seed companies.

In Ghana, the Plant Variety Protection Act of 2020 restricts farmers’ seed management practices, underscoring the urgent need for policy reforms that support farmer-led seed systems.

“We have this Plant Variety Protection Act of 2020, which has made it easier for seed companies and the commercial sector to control the seed system,” said Atim Robert Anaab, who works with Trax Ghana and the Beela Project in Northern Ghana, adding that, “The law requires seeds to be certified according to standards that most small-scale farmers simply cannot meet.”

Such laws have reshaped Africa’s food systems by pushing farmers toward commercial seeds that must be purchased every planting season. These seeds are often sold alongside chemical fertilizers and pesticides, significantly increasing production costs for smallholder farmers.

Priscilla Nakato, Chairperson of the Informal Alliance of Communities Affected by Irresponsible Land-Based Investments in Uganda, noted that these policies have also displaced traditional storage and seed preservation practices.

“In the past, every household had a granary, used not only to store food but also to preserve seeds for the next planting season. Many communities still hold this resilience, and reviving these practices can inspire hope for food sovereignty.”

Beyond economics, restrictive seed laws are accelerating the erosion of Indigenous knowledge and cultural practices. June Bartuin explained that women were traditionally the custodians of seeds, preserving them using low-cost methods such as smoke storage in traditional houses.

“This maize could be stored for two, three, even five years, and when planted, it germinated very well,” she added.

The collaboration between Witness Radio and the Seed Savers Network brings together grassroots organizing and community media to amplify farmers’ voices. The Seed Savers Network, a grassroots organization based in Kenya, works with more than 500,000 farmers and supports 121 community seed banks across the country.

According to Mercy Ambani, Resource Mobilization Officer at Seed Savers Network, the organization focuses on rebuilding farmers’ confidence, knowledge, and rights, making platforms such as Witness Radio ideal for reaching farmers directly.

“Our vision is to protect seed sovereignty, conserve biodiversity, and strengthen farmers’ rights through policy advocacy and practical action,” she said.

Through initiatives such as the Seed School, farmers, researchers, and activists are trained in seed selection, storage, preservation, and community seed bank management.

“In December 2024, Kenyan farmers achieved a landmark court ruling that struck down parts of the Seed and Plant Varieties Act, showing the power of collective action and legal advocacy to protect farmers’ rights.”

“This ruling showed that there is power in numbers,” said Ambani. “When farmers raise their voices together, change is possible.”

Regional knowledge exchange is also growing. Farmers from Uganda and Ghana who attended the Seed Savers Boot Camp have returned to their communities to establish household seed banks, kitchen gardens, and farmer field schools.

“My home has become a farmer’s field school. People are hungry for this knowledge,” said Nakato.

Without reforms that recognize and protect farmer-managed seed systems, farmers risk losing control over their seeds — and with them, control over food, culture, and livelihoods.

“If we lose our seeds, we lose our culture, our food, and our future,” Bartuin emphasized.

Wokulira Geoffrey Ssebaggala, Team Leader at Witness Radio, highlighted the importance of creating space for farmers to share knowledge and experiences.

“We are providing a platform where farmers and experts can exchange knowledge on sustainable farming practices. We believe this radio content will have a real impact on food and seed sovereignty across Africa.” Mr. Ssebaggala added.

The radio series will continue to provide practical knowledge, farmer voices, and policy analysis to support sustainable agriculture across Africa.

MEDIA FOR CHANGE NETWORK

Ugandan farmers take TotalEnergies’ pipeline to UK court

Published

6 hours ago

July 9, 2026

witnessradio.org

Police apprehend a Ugandan activist during a protest against the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) plans in Kampala, Uganda, on 15 September, 2023. © Reuters

Four Ugandan farmers filed a case against the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) at the UK’s High Court on Tuesday, seeking to have Ugandan constitutional, environmental and climate law applied to EACOP Ltd, the UK-registered company financing the project

Rights NGO Avaaz, which is supporting the case, has called it “first-of-its-kind” litigation against the $5.6 billion project, led by French energy giant TotalEnergies, which holds the majority stake.

Due to begin operating in 2027, EACOP would become the world’s longest heated pipeline, running 1,443km (897 miles) from Uganda’s oilfields near Lake Albert to the Tanzanian coastal port of Tanga.

The claim was filed before the pipeline starts operating and asks the court to enforce Uganda’s legal protections against a company incorporated in England and Wales.

EACOP has already faced several lawsuits in France, where a Paris court ruled last week that TotalEnergies was liable for emissions generated by its clients, a decision hailed as a landmark for climate law.

A ‘global test case’

The claimants argue the project would affect more than 100,000 people through land acquisition, and that it crosses critical freshwater systems and protected habitats.

“The case seeks remedies that could go to the heart of the project’s commercial viability, including an injunction to stop oil being transported through the pipeline,” Avaaz said in a statement earlier this year.

The NGO said it believes this is the first time Ugandan environmental law has been brought before a foreign court, describing EACOP as a “global test case for whether new fossil fuel megaprojects can still be forced through despite mounting legal, financial, climate and community opposition.”

Claimants say a successful ruling could ultimately prevent the pipeline from becoming operational.

Company denies harm

TotalEnergies maintains that “strict measures have been taken to avoid, mitigate and offset” the project’s environmental impact, pointing to efforts to restore forest and wetland areas and boost biodiversity nearby.

Ugandan opponents of the pipeline, meanwhile, have told local media they have faced intimidation and arrest by police in the area, where the project is seen as a political priority.

The UK claim alleges that the pipeline violates Uganda’s constitution and breaches the country’s environmental and climate legislation.

(with newswires)

Source: rfi.fr

MEDIA FOR CHANGE NETWORK

Lawyers Move to Court to Stop New Luxury Tourism Projects in Maasai Mara

Published

1 day ago

July 8, 2026

witnessradio.org

A coalition of regional legal and environmental organisations has moved to court seeking to halt the approval and development of new luxury tourism facilities in the Maasai Mara National Reserve, arguing that the projects threaten one of the world’s most important wildlife ecosystems.

The petition, filed before the Environment and Land Court, seeks orders stopping further construction of high-end tourist accommodation within the reserve pending the determination of the case.

Those behind the petition include East Africa Law Society, Natural Justice, JustAct and Africa Centre for Peace and Human Rights, who have sued several government agencies and private investors involved in the developments.

Among the respondents are Marriott International, The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, Minor Hotels, National Environment Management Authority (NEMA), Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) and the Narok County Government.

Narok Governor Patrick Ole Ntutu and the Maasai Mara National Reserve date in Narok County.

Photo| County Government of Narok / Maasai Mara National Reserve.

The petitioners contend that approvals granted for the tourism developments violated constitutional and environmental safeguards, arguing that the projects were allowed within ecologically sensitive areas meant primarily for wildlife conservation.

Court documents further claim that the developments sit close to critical wildlife habitats and migration routes linking the Maasai Mara ecosystem with Serengeti National Park.

This, according to them, potentially disrupts the annual wildebeest migration that attracts thousands of tourists every year.

They have asked the court to certify the matter as one raising substantial constitutional questions and refer it to the Chief Justice for the appointment of a five-judge bench to hear the case.

The latest legal challenge comes months after the planned opening of the luxury Ritz-Carlton safari camp sparked public debate, with conservationists raising concerns that the facility could interfere with wildlife movement near the Sand River.

At the time, the Kenya Wildlife Service dismissed claims circulating online that the camp had blocked the wildebeest migration, describing videos shared on social media as misleading.

“The Ritz-Carlton safari camp is situated within a designated tourism investment low-use zone, as provided for in the Maasai Mara National Reserve Management Plan, 2023-2032,” KWS said at the time.

The agency also maintained that camps established along the Mara, Sand and Talek rivers have historically coexisted with wildlife movements without obstructing migration.

Source: kenyans.co.ke

MEDIA FOR CHANGE NETWORK

More than 17,000 people in the Philippines face eviction from their ancestral land for a multimillion-dollar energy project.

Published

4 days ago

July 6, 2026

witnessradio.org

By Witness Radio Team,

In the Visayas and Mindanao regions, in the Iloilo municipality on Panay Island in the central Philippines, thousands of Indigenous Tumandok people face forced displacement as a major energy project advances through their ancestral territories.

The Jalaur River Multi-Purpose Project, a state-backed dam and hydropower initiative, has triggered fears of forced evictions affecting more than 17,000 people and has already submerged ancestral land belonging to Indigenous communities.

The Tumandok have relied on the river basin as burial grounds, fishing sites supporting their livelihoods, and sacred landscapes preserved through oral history and cultural tradition for decades.

In 2012, the Korean Export-Import Bank provided a USD 260 million loan to the Philippine government for a multi-purpose project on the Jalaur River. Authorities present the project as a long-term solution for irrigation, flood control, and hydropower generation, designed to benefit agricultural production across thousands of hectares of farmland. However, host communities say the development has come at a high human cost.

The dam project, which began in the 1960s, entered a new construction phase in 2012, triggering new waves of human rights violations, from attacks and killings to arrests, and is expected to reach full completion in 2027.

As construction progresses, Indigenous ancestral domains within the project-affected watershed—covering approximately 16,780 hectares in the Calinog component—are being impacted by the Jalaur River Multi-Purpose Project Stage II. Community leaders say this is displacing Indigenous families from their homes amid concerns over inadequate consultation and potential violations of Indigenous land rights and free, prior, and informed consent standards.

Article 19 of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples requires states to consult and cooperate in good faith with the Indigenous peoples concerned, through their own representative institutions, to obtain their free, prior, and informed consent before adopting and implementing legislative or administrative measures that may affect them.

Article 32(b) of the same declaration urges states to make consent the objective of consultation before any projects that affect Indigenous peoples’ rights to land, territory, and resources, including mining and other uses or exploitations of resources.

John Ian Alecianga, coordinator of the Jalaur River People’s Movement, says opposition to the project has drawn allegations of intimidation, killings, arrests, and a heavy security presence in affected communities.

“Mobilizing these indigenous communities to fight for their rights has come at a cost. Indigenous leaders and activists have been subjected to surveillance, harassment, and red-tagging due to their resistance to the dam,” John said in an exclusive interview with our team.

According to John, tensions escalated in December 2020 when a police attack in Tumandok communities killed at least nine Indigenous leaders and elders and led to the arrest of 16 others.

“The military was deployed, human rights were violated, many elders were killed, and others were arrested, escalating into what we call a massacre. A fake search warrant was used in a staged operation to enter the houses of the Tumandok leaders. This is how much the government has ignored the rights of the indigenous peoples from the project conception until the project implementation,” he said. “The event remains one of the most traumatic moments in the ongoing conflict around the project,” John added.

Despite pressure, Indigenous communities continue to resist eviction through local and international advocacy networks, calling for justice for those killed in 2020, recognition of their land rights, and immediate protection from further displacement.

“The people are resisting because land is their life. Without it, there will be no community. There will be no identity,” he said.

The Jalaur River People’s Movement also seeks accountability through international mechanisms, including engagement with South Korean institutions linked to project financing.

NGO WORK5 days ago

‘Oil is a curse’: villages in Uganda face land ownership uncertainty

MEDIA FOR CHANGE NETWORK1 week ago

NEMA says it is restoring wetlands, but poor urban families say it is using the exercise to grab their land for new infrastructure projects – now they demand compensation and resettlement.