Latest Farmer Seed Systems Resources
9 October 2020
Struggle for recognition of traditional land, territories and seed in Brazil
(Por favor, clique aqui para Português) In recent weeks, a wave of solidarity from many parts of Brazil and from several countries around the world has reached southern Minas Gerais, in support of the resistance of the 450 farming families, who have organised and lived at camp “Quilombo Campo Grande” over the past 22 years. […]
READ20 July 2020
Corporate capture of seed Is jeopardising farmers sovereignty
In a film by Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung, ACB research and advocacy officer Sabrina Masinjila talks about the corporate capture of seeds and how laws favour hybrid seeds and not farmers who care for indigenous seeds. Watch here: https://youtu.be/kEqKDLv65dc
READ8 July 2019
Seed and gene banks play a critical role in conserving and sharing indigenous crop seeds
On a trip to Harare for partnership exploration meetings, the African Centre for Biodiversity visited the Genetic Resources and Biotechnology Institute of Zimbabwe. Gene banks such as these are primarily established to conserve the genetic resources that form the basis for all food production. Seed collections start at the level of community seed banks and […]
READ20 March 2019
Alternatives to FISP: Farm Input Subsidy Programmes in Africa
In August 2018, the Rural Women’s Assembly (RWA) and the African Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) hosted a speak-out for SADC smallholder farmers in Windhoek, Namibia, on Farm Input Subsidy Programmes (FISPs). FISPs are government agricultural programmes that promote the use of Green Revolution inputs produced by multinational corporations. These top-down packages have proven to be […]
READ6 July 2018
Video: Smallholder Farmer Autonomy Over Seed Production
Video: Smallholder Farmer Autonomy Over Seed Production – the final release in a series of six videos from the ACB hosted event, National Seed Dialogue and Celebration, held in December 2017 at Constitution Hill. Smallholder farmers feed the world, providing up to 70% of food consumed globally. The seed is the first link in the […]
READ22 June 2018
Video: Value of Household and Community Seed Banks – the fifth video release in a series of six videos from the ACB
Availability of and access to diverse, quality seed is a key element in successful crop production. Commercial seed systems focus only on seeds where profits can be made. Over time this has resulted in neglect and disappearance of diverse indigenous and farmer varieties, and a shrinking of agricultural biodiversity. Local seed banks owned and run […]
READ31 May 2018
Participatory Plant Breeding and Smallholder Farmers
At the National Seed Dialogue and Celebration, hosted by the African Centre for Biodiversity at Constitution Hill in December 2017, this session on 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 the beginning of […]
READ18 May 2018
Spiritual and Cultural Value of Seed in South Africa
Spiritual and Cultural Value of Seed in South Africa is one of a series of six videos covering discussions from the ACB hosted event, National Seed Dialogue and Celebration – December 2017. The seed, like the big bang, or evolution, or the atom … bears the mystifying tale of a beginning. We fill our bellies […]
READ