Seed Governance at the Intersection of Multiple Global and Nation-State Priorities: Modernizing Seeds in Turkey

Abstract

Given their value for both agriculture and biodiversity, seeds are the target of controversial efforts to establish intellectual property rights and variety protections that regulate sale, exchange, and breeding of genetic resources. This article examines seed governance in Turkey, a country in which many farmers continue to rely on “traditional” wheat varieties. It analyzes the tensions and ambiguities in seed governance that arise at the intersection of Turkey's goals of development and diverse priorities imposed by international frameworks. Seed governance is the product of an open-ended process of strategic elaboration among constituencies involved in trade, agriculture, development, and conservation. Although contradictions among international regulations present an array of choices, many countries including Turkey adopt laws that favor commercialization and privatization. This convergence results not simply from imposition of regulation from above, but also from developing countries' adoption of dominant global perspectives on the “modern” seed and agricultural progress.