The Battle for African Agriculture Podcast || Episode 2 with Dr. Carlos Marìa Correa

In this powerful episode of Battle for African Agriculture, Dr. Million Belay speaks with Dr. Carlos M. Correa—renowned legal scholar and Executive Director of the South Centre—about one of the most high-stakes battlegrounds in African agriculture: seed laws. Dr. Correa exposes how international agreements like UPOV 1991 were crafted without farmers and now threaten seed sovereignty across the Global South. He unpacks how trade deals and donor-driven pressures are pushing African countries to adopt legal regimes that prioritize corporate breeders over the rights of smallholder farmers, risking the erosion of biodiversity, local seed systems, and community resilience. Through sharp analysis and decades of experience, Dr. Correa highlights legal alternatives such as sui generis models and global frameworks like ITPGRFA and UNDROP that defend farmers’ rights and promote biodiversity. Together, he and Million explore how African countries can resist legal harmonization that serves foreign interests and instead champion laws grounded in local realities and food justice. This episode is a wake-up call for policymakers and a guiding light for movements working to protect seed freedom and decolonize agricultural governance.