Sign letter of support to our Malaysian colleagues

Jan 8, 2026 | Movements, Networks & Campaigns

Malaysia is being pressured to adopt a restrictive seed monopoly system that undermines farmers’ rights, biodiversity, and the right to food. Stand in solidarity with Malaysian smallholder farmers and defend their right to seeds! Sign the letter in this post by 10 January 2026.

Malaysian smallholder farmers urge their government to not join UPOV1991

UPOV 1991 is an international intellectual property regime that grants exclusive monopoly rights to commercial breeders over seeds and planting material for 20 years or more.

Why is UPOV1991 harmful?

  • Farmers’ Rights: UPOV 1991 outlaws age-old farmer practices of freely using, saving, exchanging and selling farm-saved seeds central to smallholder farming.
  • Food Security: Small-scale farmers feed around 70% of the world’s population. Weakening their right to seeds and their seed systems threatens seed and food sovereignty.
  • Biodiversity: UPOV favours uniform commercial varieties. Today, just nine crops account for over 60% of global production, accelerating genetic erosion.
  • Legal & Economic Pressure: Seed monopolies have led to lawsuits, fines and rising seed prices, pushing farmers into dependency on corporate seed markets.
  • Biopiracy: UPOV 1991 does not allow safeguards against biopiracy of native varieties and seeds, thereby undermining farmers rights including the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities.

 

Stand in solidarity with Malaysian smallholder farmers by signing their open letter 

Our colleagues at APREBES have forwarded us the open letter that will be presented to the Prime Minister of Indonesia and request that as many organisations as possible sign. The deadline to sign is January 10th.

Sign here

See full letter in English and Spanish.

Please share this call with other networks and organisations. 

Author: Maeva from ECLLD

Maeva is currently completing the Master of Resilient Farming and Food Systems at Wageningen University & Research. Prior to moving to Wagenigen, she worked as a Monitoring & Evaluation consultant in Naarm/Melbourne.