Recent efforts to draft plant variety protection (PVP) legislation in The Gambia and sub-Saharan Africa have sparked criticism from civil society organizations. Citing incongruences between intellectual property law and practices of farmer seed management, these organizations have emphasized the importance of “unfettered” seed exchange among farmers even as they have called for farmers to be granted certain exclusive rights to the varieties they develop. Where the appeals invoked a language of limits familiar to PVP, they also departed from Gambian farmers’ accounts of varietal innovation and its rewards. For farmers, attaining varietal namesakes that could travel across vast networks of farmers generated the rewards of innovation. In this way, farmers articulated a version of claims that pushes against the analytical limits set by calls for exclusive rights. [agriculture, intellectual property, innovation, value, nonhumans, Gambia, West Africa]

Ñiŋ kayito kuŋo

Kata kuwolu be keriŋ saaying ka turu kantoo luwa (PVP) londi Kambiya aniŋ a jenjeŋolu la Moofiŋdu jaŋ ye jalayiroo warandi kabo Mansakundariŋolu la kafolu bulu. Ñiŋ kafolu la daliloo mu ñineti ko, wo luwalu niŋ senelaalu la turu kuluroo maŋ ñoo taa, wo kamala, ñiŋ kafolu ye turu faliŋo bambandi senelalu teema hanniŋ a ye a tara kumandiroo keta le puru ka samaalaalu la ñantoo yiriwandi turoolu la i faŋolu ye meŋ dooku. I ye kumandiroo ke dulalu la meŋnu muluntaŋñoyata turoolu la tanko la, i naata bondiri ke Kambiya samaalaalu la karoo la turoo kutakutayandoo la aniŋ a la nafaa. Puru samaalalu, turu toomalu soto meŋ ka taama samaalaa jamaalu teema wo ye turu kutakutayando londi le. Ñiŋ silo la, samaalaalu la kumoolu aniŋ kumandiroo meŋ keta puru samaalu la ñantoolu nanee wolu maŋ ñoo taa. [senoo, turu kantoo luwa (PVP), ñakeseyaa, tinewo, sarililalu, Kambiya, Moofiŋdu Tilijiyoola]

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