Halewood, M.
(2013)
What kind of goods are plant genetic resources for food and
agriculture? Towards the identification and development of a
new global commons.
International Journal of the Commons, 7 (2).
pp. 278-312.
(Unpublished)
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Abstract
Plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (PGRFA) were once
widely considered to be global public goods. Recently, however, access to subsets
of PGRFA has been subject to various forms of exclusive technological and legal
restrictions. In reaction, numerous voluntary pooling initiatives – from local to
global scales – are being experimented with, in an attempt to re-strike a balance more
supportive of agricultural research and development. The first part of the paper argues
that different subsets of PGRFA can now be accurately described as public goods,
private goods, club goods and common pool resources, but that these categories do
not fully interrogate important ‘exogenous variables’ concerning PGRFA. As the
products of complex interactions between crops breeding systems and natural and
human selection, PGRFA occupy a middle ground between natural resources and
human-make cultural resources. The paper identifies which subsets of PGRFA are
(or could be) included in an evolving global plant genetic resources commons. The
paper uses Elinor Ostrom’s eight design principles for long enduring commons to
analyze the extent to which the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources
for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) supports or undermines this evolving global
commons. The paper concludes by identifying options for policy reforms to provide
better tailored institutional support for the plant genetic resources commons.
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