New website from the Farmers' Rights Project

Dear all,

We here at the Farmers* Rights Project of the Fridtjof Nansen Institute in Norway have recently launched a new website you might be interested in: www.farmersrights.org.

The website is about Farmers' Rights as they are addressed in the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. It has been developed as a tool for decision makers, practitioners, and others involved in the realization of Farmers' Rights. At this website you will find information on the history, legal status and contents of Farmers' Rights, on the state of implementation of these rights, and a comprehensive database on legislation and policies. You will find concrete recommendations on how to go about implementing Farmers' Rights in your own country, including success stories from all over the world. The prospects for implementing Farmers' Rights internationally are also discussed, and you will find overviews of literature and organizations related to Farmers' Rights, a calendar of coming events, and answers to 'frequently asked questions' (FAQ).

We hope that you will find this website useful, and would appreciate comments, suggestions and additional resources that can help us further improving it as a tool for the realization of Farmers* Rights. Please note that our users are invited to contribute in various ways to different topics.

We also take this opportunity to inform you about our new report: *Success Stories from the Realization of Farmers* Rights Related to Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture*. The 17 stories of this report tell about achievements in all the different areas of Farmers* Rights that are addressed in the International Treaty. You can download the report for free here: www.fni.no/doc&pdf/FNI-R0408.pdf . We hope it will inspire further implementation of these rights that are so important for food security and poverty alleviation.

Best wishes,

Regine Andersen

Senior Research Fellow and

Director of the Farmers* Rights Project

Fridtjof Nansen Institute

E-mail: regine.andersen@fni.no

and

Tone Winge

Researcher

The Farmers* Rights Project

Fridtjof Nansen Institute

E-mail: tow@fni.no

The Fridtjof Nansen Institute

P.O. Box 326

N-1326 Lysaker

NORWAY

Tel.: + (47) 67 11 19 00

Fax.: + (47) 67 11 19 10

E-mail: farmers.rights.project@fni.no

Web: www.farmersrights.org