Article 9.1 of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture recognizes “the enormous contribution that the local and indigenous communities and farmers of all regions of the world, particularly those in the centers of origin and crop diversity, have made and will continue to make for the conservation and development of plant genetic resources which constitute the basis of food and agriculture production throughout the world.”  Article 9.2 defines “farmers’ rights” as “(a) protection of traditional knowledge relevant to plant genetic resources for food and agriculture;  (b)  the right to equitably participate in sharing benefits arising from the utilization of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture;  and  (c)  the right to participate in making decisions, at the national level, on matters related to the conservation and sustainable use of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture.” Article 2 of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) International Code of Conduct for Plant Germplasm Collecting and Transfer defines the term as “the rights arising from the past, present and future contributions of farmers in conserving, improving, and making available plant genetic resources, particularly those in the centres of origin/diversity.  These rights are vested in the International Community, as trustee for present and future generations of farmers, for the purpose of ensuring full benefits to farmers, and supporting the continuation of their contributions, as well as the attainment of the overall purposes of the FAO International Undertaking on Plant Genetic Resources.”