Why the Open Access Movement in Agriculture Matters | P2P Foundation

"Intellectual property rights in agriculture have created a climate of fear, dependence, and desperation. Some farmers are now reluctant to share their ideas because they fear for-profit companies will steal and patent them. These fears are not completely without merit; in fact many indigenous farmers suffer from knowledge misappropriation tangled up in long histories of social injustice and colonialism. Jane Anderson writes:

“The ethos of freedom, public, openness and commons is problematic because it does not properly deal with the baggage of the past… The whole notion of ‘the public [good]’ in intellectual property presumes a notion of inclusion and representativeness that is at odds with Indigenous experiences within colonial contexts.”

It’s important therefore to note that open is not experienced as a positive force across all marginalized populations as ‘the public’ has often been discriminatory. Marginalized populations cannot be blamed when they wonder, 'who does my open knowledge benefit?' This is a great challenge for open, but also an opportunity for reexamining our complex relationships. The overturning of proprietary development models and knowledge systems in favor of open frameworks is at the heart of social and environmental justice. The resolution of these tensions will determine the carrying capacity for the biome and the planet’s ability to maintain resiliency."