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| THE CONTENTS OF FARMERS'
RIGHTS: Towards a common ground of understanding When discussing Farmers' Rights it is useful to seek to establish a common ground of shared perceptions, a lowest common denominator. Such a common understanding would enable advancing the discussion on Farmers' Rights from the concept and to concrete measures to be proposed. It could also provide a basis for widening the common understanding on the contents of Farmers' Rights among stakeholders. Such a working definition would not be exhaustive, but cover the elements of an understanding which are shared among most stakeholders. Based on the many perceptions on the concept (compiled in by Regine Andersen through the Farmers' Rights Project), the following working definition may be seen as a lowest common denominator: Farmers' Rights consist of the customary rights of farmers to save, use, exchange and sell farm-saved seed and propagating material, their rights to be recognized, rewarded and supported for their contribution to the global pool of genetic resources as well as to the development of commercial varieties of plants, and to participate in decision making on issues related to crop genetic resources. Such a 'minimum definition' does not directly address the latent conflict between Farmers' Rights and intellectual property rights. Rather, it seeks to establish a common ground from which to address the crucial issue of Farmers' Rights, which is necessary to develop a fruitful dialogue among stakeholders on necessary measures to be taken – also with regard to intellectual property rights. Pages in this sub-section:  THE
CONTENTS OF FARMERS' RIGHTS Two
approaches to Farmers' Rights Approaches to protecting farmers' traditional
knowledge Approaches
to ensuring equitable benefit sharing Approaches to ensuring farmers'
participation in decision-making Approaches to farmers' customary
use of propagating material Conditions for the combination of
approaches Towards a
common ground of understanding What this may mean in
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