Tanzania, Sept. 10 -- Dar es Salaam. Farmer and civil society groups have urged the East African Community (EAC) to strengthen safeguards for smallholder farmers in a proposed regional seed law, warning that efforts to harmonise the seed market could undermine indigenous varieties and traditional systems of saving and exchanging seed.

The concerns emerged during regional consultations on the proposed EAC Seed and Plant Varieties Bill, 2025, which seeks to establish a common framework for the evaluation, registration, certification, marketing and protection of plant varieties.

The East African Legislative Assembly (Eala) Committee on Agriculture, Tourism and Natural Resources held public hearings across the eight EAC Partner States from ...