Date of Award

2021

Document Type

Masters Thesis

Degree Name

M.A.

Organizational Unit

College of Arts Humanities and Social Sciences, Economics

First Advisor

Chiara Piovani

Second Advisor

Juan Carlos Lopez

Third Advisor

Henning Schwardt

Fourth Advisor

Frédérique Chevillot

Keywords

Biodiversity, Climate change, Open source seed, Plant breeding, Seed sovereignty, Sustainable agriculture

Abstract

The dynamics of the dominant industrial agriculture system restrict the seed industry’s innovative landscape, leading to significant negative consequences including an exacerbation of environmental risks which threaten global food security. This thesis explores how exclusionary intellectual property rights (IPRs) in the context of the seed industry constrict innovation, evolutionary pathways, and opportunities for the implementation of sustainable agriculture methods. To overcome these barriers, the application of an open source framework to seed innovation, specifically through the platform of the Open Source Seed Initiative, is evaluated as a tool for enhancing innovative capacities in seed development while broadening the accessibility and growth of the plant genetic resource base. Using an open source framework alongside agroecological practices can enable the seed industry to shift toward a more decentralized structure, increasing opportunities for divergent plant evolutionary pathways in support of securing the future of food production.

Publication Statement

Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.

Rights Holder

Elena A. Filatova

Provenance

Received from ProQuest

File Format

application/pdf

Language

en

File Size

82 pgs

Discipline

Economics, Sustainability, Evolution & development

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