Latest Farmer Seed Systems Resources

The sixth factsheet in this series looks at how women are the custodians of seed system and play a central role in ensuring food security. English | French | Portuguese | Shona | Swahili | Sotho | Zulu For the next factsheet in this series, click here.

The fifth factsheet in this series look at what it means for a farmer to be seed sovereign. For the sixth factsheet in the series, click here.

The third factsheet in this series looks at the legal protection given to a breeder who’s discovered a new plant variety. English | French | Portuguese | Shona | Swahili | Sotho | Zulu Click here for the next factsheet.

The second factsheet in this series takes a closer look at how the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture has made an impact on farmers and farmers’ rights. English | French | Portuguese | Shona | Swahili For the next factsheet in the series, click here.

In the first factsheet in this series we look at the farmer-managed seed system and unpack this age old practice. English | French | Portuguese | Shona | Swahili Click here for the next factsheet. Click here to find an introduction to GMOs.

Use the links below to read the factsheets in the language of your choice: English | French | Portuguese | Shona | Swahili English | French | Portuguese | Shona | Swahili English | French | Portuguese | Shona | Swahili | Sotho | Zulu English | French | Portuguese | Shona | Swahili English […]

This report is a result of research conducted in partnership with Tshintsha Amakhaya, Farmer Support Group, TCOE Zingisa and Surplus People Project. The report investigates the state of farmer-managed seed systems in rural South Africa. Through three case studies in Eastern Cape, Northern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, the report highlights both the fragility and perseverance of […]

The ACB submitted comments on the Plant Breeders’ Rights and Plant Improvement Bills, to the Select Committee on Land and Mineral Resources on the 24th January 2017. These bills restrict the saving, trading, exchanging, and sale of seed. This can have massive ramifications on seed and food sovereignty, agricultural biodiversity, access to diverse seed, and […]

This report is the product of field work conducted by ACB and Kusamala Institute for Agriculture and Ecology in Dowa district in central Malawi. The objective of the research was to deepen our understanding of the role of farmer seed varieties in smallholder production systems that have come under heavy pressure from concerted Green Revolution […]

This scoping exercise to deepen our understanding of the current context of seed use, main crops and varieties in the research localities in order to gather evidence of the ongoing importance of farmer seed systems in the agricultural practices and livelihoods of smallholder farmers, to identify cases of biodiversity loss and to use this information […]

In this report by the African Centre for Biodiversity (ACB), in partnership with Mtandao wa Vikundi vya Wakulima Tanzania (MVIWATA) and Sustainable Agriculture Tanzania (SAT), based on field work conducted in Morogoro and Mvomero in 2016. It is a continuation of a research partnership with MVIWATA and SAT started in 2014, which has focused on […]

The African Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) in partnership with the União Nacional de Camponeses (UNAC, National Peasants Union), and Kaleidoscopio has today released preliminary findings in a research project: ‘Agricultural investment activities in the Beira Corridor, Mozambique: Threats and opportunities for small-scale farmers.’ Joining Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi to the coast of Mozambique, the Beira […]