ABSTRACT
The Zambian Plant Breeder’s Rights Act, 2007, requires that, to be protectable, varieties must be distinct, uniform and stable.1 It also requires that they have demonstrable value for cultivation and use. The act does not have any specific provisions on farmers’ varieties. This chapter provides an account of the very significant efforts made by a number of actors to include clauses in the act that would have created sui generis intellectual property protections for farmers’ varieties. Ultimately, these efforts were not successful. It is important, nonetheless, to learn from them.
