Latest Farmer Seed Systems Resources

ACB executive director Mariam Mayet and research and advocacy officer Sabrina Masinjila recently participated in the fourth edition of the International Farmer Seeds Gathering, this year held in Antibes, France. Co-organised by Reseau Semences Paysannes, SOL and the Maison des Semences Maralpines in collaboration with the European network Let’s Liberate Diversity!, the gathering was a […]

The ACB is excited to share this new briefing paper (see below for English, French and Portuguese versions), highlighting key issues relating to recognition and support for farmer seed systems in Africa and beyond. Farmers’ seed constitutes the majority of seed used and exchanged. Crops produced from this seed contribute substantially to food and nutrition […]

This week the water-stressed city of Cape Town hosts the bi-annual Adaptation Futures conference, where scientists, business leaders, and practitioners from the world of development and agriculture will come together to engage in ‘dialogues for solutions’ to the multifarious problems wrought by our rapidly changing climate. As actors with different perspectives design modes of collaboration, […]

The National Seed Dialogue and Celebration was hosted by the African Centre for Biodiversity at Constitution Hill in December 2017. The third video in this series, Participatory Plant Breeding and Smallholder Farmers looked at issues of smallholder farmers & seed breeding/crop improvement and the potential roles of smallholder farmers in these processes were discussed. Since […]

There is growing awareness of the unique and important role smallholder farmers around the world play in conserving, using and enhancing biodiversity. Conventional breeding has created a separation between farmers and specialised breeders. Participatory plant breeding (PPB) is a field of action developed over the past 25-30 years to overcome this separation, and reunite farmers […]

A landmark decision on the establishment of an Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group to realise farmers’ rights was recently taken by the seventh session of the Governing Body (GB7) of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA; also known as the ‘Seed Treaty’). There was stiff opposition from countries from […]