What happens when you try to transfer open source ideas beyond the digital world? In Argentina we organized a workshop on open hardware and immediately afterward an event on open seeds. Some of the difficulties involved in transferring open source ideas from virtual to more material settings, and from communities of practitioners comfortable with networked, digital culture, to those that are less so, were readily apparent.
From digital commons to nurturing social relationships: How to practice open source ideas with seeds?
Ubuntu, collective seed: Bioleft project on the press
Two articles about Bioleft project and the first Bioleft seed, Ubuntu, were published last month on specialized n
n the press Bioleft project and
Argentina’s ‘Bioleft’ project shares its first open source seeds
Seeds were transferred from researchers to farmers for the first time under a new kind of open source transfer contract, called Bioleft, .
From common good to corporate ownership: The new strategy to modify the Seed Law
De bien común a propiedad corporativa: La nueva estrategia para modificar la Ley de Semillas By Maxi Goldschmidt Abstract This article reflects on the debate around the reform of Argentina’s Seed…
Open Source Seeds
Semillas con código abierto By Juan Manuel Repetto Abstract Currently, the seed industry has a high level of concentration and only three business groups control more than half of the…
T-Lab in Buenos Aires: Bioleft, co-designing open source seeds
The Latin America Hub of Pathways to Sustainabilty project is working on a system to protect biological information and ensure its circulation for research and development.
Chinese engagement in African agriculture is not what it seems
In December 2015, Chinese President Xi Jinping flew into South Africa for the Forum on China-Africa Co-operation with great fanfare. There were lots of announcements about prospective investments across Africa….
Are China and Brazil transforming African agriculture?
A new Open Access Special Issue in World Development based on our work on the changing role of China and Brazil in Africa’s agriculture is now available (links to individual…
Contested Agronomy: Four big questions to debate
We have just finished a fantastic conference co-hosted by the STEPS Centre on ‘Contested Agronomy’ with 80 participants and a vibrant discussion. I was asked to give some comments at…
Exporting China and Brazil’s agricultural know-how to Africa
Can China and Brazil use their home grown agricultural knowledge, which has driven phenomenal agricultural productivity at home, to transform agriculture in Africa? That was one of many questions discussed…