Banking for the future: - Third World Network

Published by The Development Fund/ UtviklingsfondetAll rights reserved The Development Fund/ Utviklingsfondet, NorwayFirst published 2011Readers are encouraged to make use of, reproduce, disseminate and translate material from thispublication with acknowledgement of this publication.For more information please contactThe Development Fund/ UtviklingsfondetGrensen 9BN- 0159 OsloNorway+47 23 10 96 00www.utviklingsfondet.nopost@utviklingsfondet.noContributors at the Development Fund: Andrew P. Kroglund, Annette Wilhelmsen, Bell BattaTorheim, Kristin Ulsrud, Pitambar Shresta, Rosalba Ortiz, Sigurd Jorde and Teshome HundumaMulesa.Acknowledgement: First of all, thanks to all working with community seed banks on a daily basisand for sharing their experiences with us! Thanks to Nicha Rakpanichmanee (Thailand), GirmaG. Medhin (Ethiopia), Bethel Nakaponda (Zambia), Eduardo Aquilar-Espinoza (Costa Rica),Deepak Kumar Rijal (Nepal), C. K. Saha (Bangladesh), K.Siva Prasad (India) and Vivian VictoriaChristiaens (Zimbabwe) for documenting the experiences of community seed banks in differentcountries and thereby providing essential material for this report. A warm thanks to RegassaFeysissa and Melaku Worede for proving valuable background information on community seedsbanks. Regine Andersen and Tone Winge have kindly written a chapter on linking community seedbanks to Farmers’ Rights for this report. Despite short notice, Andrew Mushita, Charles Nkhoma,Fredrik Fredriksen, Neth Dano, Trygve Berg and Vanaja Ramprasad have provided valuablefeedback on parts of the report.The Development Fund is a Norwegian independent non-governmental organisation (NGO).Our global programme on agricultural biodiversity supports local partners in the Global South incommunity based management of crop genetic diversity. Work at the field level is complementedby advocacy and information work at the national and international levels. The programme issupported by NORAD.Layout: Åsmund GravemTrykk: GrøsetCover photo: Seeds of pulses at the market, Burma Photo: Jean-Leo DugastBack cover photo: Woman dries melon seeds in Kigbara-Dere, Nigeria. Photo: George Osodi2

5Community seed bank in India. Photo: Green Foundationyield increase. Besides, modern varieties are genetically distinctfrom each other, uniform and stable (i.e. they fulfil the so calledDUS criteria of formal breeding: distinct, uniform and stable).Chapter II: Linking community seedbanks and Farmers’ RightsRegine Andersen 5 and Tone Winge 6Basically, realising Farmers’ Rights means enabling farmersto maintain and develop their crop genetic resources as theyhave done since the dawn of agriculture and recognising andrewarding them for this indispensable contribution to theglobal pool of genetic resources. The realisation of Farmers’Rights is a precondition for the maintenance of crop geneticdiversity, which is the basis of all food and agriculturalproduction in the world. Since farmers are the custodians anddevelopers of crop genetic resources in the field, their rights inthis regard are crucial for enabling them to continue this role.For this reason, Farmers’ Rights constitute a cornerstone inthe International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Foodand Agriculture, or the Plant Treaty. This treaty aims at theconservation and sustainable use of crop genetic resources,5 Dr. Regine Andersen is senior research fellow at the Fridtjof Nansen Institute anddirector of the Farmers’ Rights Project (www.farmersrights.org).6 Tone Winge is research fellow at the Fridtjof Nansen Institute, working for theFarmers’ Rights Project.their accessibility, and the sharing of benefits arising fromtheir use.Parties to the Plant Treaty recognise the enormouscontributions that farmers have made, and will continue tomake, in conserving and developing plant genetic diversity,and in making this diversity available. According to the PlantTreaty, the responsibility for realising Farmers’ Rights restswith the national governments. The governments are free tochoose measures according to their own needs and priorities.Measures suggested in the Plant Treaty include protectingand promoting traditional knowledge relevant to cropgenetic resources, enabling farmers to participate equitablyin the sharing of benefits arising from the utilisation of suchresources, as well as in national decision making on relatedmatters. Furthermore, the treaty addresses the rights thatfarmers have to save, use, exchange and sell farm-saved seedand propagating material. We will have a closer look at thesecomponents of Farmers’ Rights.Components of Farmers’ RightsProtecting traditional knowledge first and foremost meanstaking measures to halt this knowledge from disappearing.This can be done by collecting and documenting theremaining knowledge, sharing it to ensure continued use,teaching it to the younger generations, and encouraging itsuse. In some countries, stakeholders are concerned aboutprotecting traditional knowledge from misappropriation.There are several examples of how this can be done while atthe same time ensuring that the knowledge can be shared, forexample in the form of catalogues.

7Chapter III: Making a case oflocal experiencesCommunity seed banks have been set up in many countries.Here is a short visit to some in Bangladesh, Costa Rica,Ethiopia, Honduras, India, Nepal, Thailand, Zambia andZimbabwe.Sustainable agriculture secures Bangladesh’sseed futureThe formal seed system only covers about 20% of the seedrequirements in Bangladesh. 8 The rest has to be covered bythe informal seed system, which is challenged by floods andcyclones that destroy crops. The private research organisationUBINIG established a community seed wealth centre toaddress the problem of loss of crop genetic diversity andsecure farmers’ access to locally adapted seeds. Locally,UBINIG works with the movement Nayakrishi Andolon (NewAgricultural Movement of Bangladesh). Their philosophycalls for changes in life style by practicing biodiversity-basedecological agriculture with no use of pesticides, minimaluse of chemical fertilisers and careful use of ground water.UBINIG has set up several seed huts, which in principlefunctions as community seed banks.According to Nayakrishi Andolon, seed conservation is anart belonging to women. Women’s Seed Networks are bodiesof autodidact and experienced women who provide technicalcapacity building to the community, give information to theseed wealth centre and take part in meetings. Both the centreitself and the management committee in each seed hut are runby women.The seed network of 3000 farmers in the districts whereNayakrishi Andolon operates emphasises indigenouspractices of seed maintenance. UBINIG has no mid or longterm seed conservation system. The seeds are stored forlimited periods in the houses of farmers, in their seed huts orat the seed wealth centre. Thus, UBINIG has to regenerate itsseeds every year.Any member of the movement can collect seeds from theseed huts if they promise to deposit double the quantity theyreceived when the harvest is finished. The seeds are sold toother farmers of the village, and the cost of the seed huts ismaintained from the income. All varieties are registered anda database of varieties is being maintained at each seed wealthcentre and also centrally at UBINIG.Management among farmers is based on collective decisionsand information sharing. This is to ensure that, in everyplanting season, all available varieties at farmer’s householdsare planted and seeds collected and conserved for the nextseason. Diversity is always encouraged as long as it does notbecome an economic stress on the farmer. Seed exchangeis encouraged and this is mainly done through the women’sseeds. The relation between Bangladesh’s National Gene Bankand the community seed wealth centre is just starting to beexamined. UBINIG has received 1500 rice varieties from theBangladesh Research Institute which are now maintained inthe community seed wealth centres. In addition, NayakrishiAndolon sometimes receives technical support from, andcollaborates with public research institutions.Farmers as seed producers in Costa RicaMany farmers in Costa Rica are organised in associationsof producers. These units provide their members with anintegral agricultural package and help them improve theirincome through multiplication of seeds. Both the collectionof local seeds and the multiplication process in farmer’s fieldsare done by researchers in close collaboration with seedcommittees consisting of farmers. In addition, the NationalInstitute of Innovation and Agrarian Technology Transfertransfers materials and in some cases the National ProducersCommission (CNP) reproduces seed.The local materials collected are stored, developed andvalidated in research stations by scientists and farmers, basedon seed committees’ records of what materials are used andwhere they come from. Committees are also responsible forchoosing breeding strategies. At present, striving for higheryields to satisfy the demands of the market has a higherpriority than keeping diversity in farmers’ field.The national Costa Rican partner in the regional ParticipatoryPlant Breeding Programme in Mesoamerica (PPB-MA)purchased a cold chamber at the end of 2008 that willfunction as a community seed bank for all the neighbouringproducers’ associations . But as of February 2011, thecommunity seed bank is still not fully operational, due tolack of funds. Furthermore, opinion varies among farmersas to which seeds should go into the community seed bank,how this bank should be organised and what role shouldbe assigned to the seed committees. Overall, conservationof seeds is at an early stage, since the main focus of theassociations is to reproduce seeds for marketing.8 C. K. Saha (2009): “Case Study Report on Community Based Management ofCommunity Seed Wealth Center”, Development Fund

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9Bringing traditional varieties back to farmersin EthiopiaEthiopia is regarded as a secondary centre for durum wheatdiversity. This diversity has been endangered due to theintroduction of modern varieties of wheat, as well as byrepeated droughts and unprecedented food crises in the1970s and 1980s. To counter this development, researchersfrom the national gene bank at the Institute of BiodiversityConservation (IBC) collected traditional varieties of durumwheat from different agro-ecological zones. In addition tothis ex situ conservation, twelve community seed banks wereconstructed in six different districts from 1994 to 2002 9 .The community seed banks aims at contributing to asustainable conservation strategy and supporting seedexchange of traditional varieties among farmers. Banks aremanaged by the local farmers, who use them to exchangeseeds of traditional varieties from diverse crops, such aswheat, teff, barely, lentil, beans and chickpeas. Havingregistered in crop conservation associations, farmers borrowand return seeds from the community seed banks. As intereston their seed loan, they are obliged to return more seeds thanthey initially received, thereby helping to increase the banks’seed stock.One of the twelve seed banks is the Ejere Community SeedBank, situated in the central highlands of Ethiopia. Since 2001it has been managed by an NGO called Ethio-Organic SeedAssociation (EOSA) in collaboration with the IBC.Through community seed banks, farmers’ varieties that hadbeen lost on farms were brought back from the national genebank at IBC. At the same time, samples of the remainingdiversity in farmers’ field were collected. Now, the communityseed bank in Ejere maintains about 90 accessions of durumwheat out of which 50 are under screening. Each year, theIBC undertakes renewal of this collection. EOSA, on itspart, works to increase the interest of the private sector inagricultural products of traditional varieties for processingand trade. EOSA also provides training and direct technicalsupport for farmers.“People considered it a miracle whentraditional varieties were brought backto their door steps after having beenconsidered lost completely.”Tadesse Reta (45), farmer and memberof Ejere Community Seed BankSaving seeds in Honduras: relief when theweather hitsIn Honduras, as in most of the world, the commercial seedsystem is generally not designed with the interests of smallscalefarmers in mind. The Honduran NGO Foundation forParticipatory Research with Honduran Farmers (FIPAH)helps farmers organise community-wide research teamsknown as Comités de Investigación Local (CIALs). Thesefarmer research teams identify the most pressing localagricultural problems and find solutions, one of which isthe establishment of community seed banks. Here bothtraditional varieties and varieties improved throughparticipatory plant breeding are stored.Several CIALs have set up community seed banks to ensurethat the poorest farmers always have access to quality plantmaterials. This helps to ensure that communities have a stablesupply of food. In 2000, FIPHA assisted the establishmentof one seed bank in the community of Santa Cruz in Yoritoin Northern Honduras. Initially, the community seed bankfocused on rescuing traditional varieties in the area. Afterreceiving training, the community also started to provideseeds to its members.During the flooding caused by a tropical storm in 2008,farmers in Yorito lost approximately 90 present of theirmaize and bean harvest. The stocked seeds in the bank wereimmediately distributed to farmers and all farmers attached tothe community seed bank managed to plant again when thestorm stopped. The response was effective and no other reliefservice came so quickly and directly to the farmers rescue.According to former, local CIAL leader, the late Don LuisAlonso, the inhabitants of Yorito were saved by its communityseed bank. “After the flood, we distributed seeds to ourmembers and other farmers in the community. Thus, we areless dependent on support from outside,” said Alonso. Thiscontrasts with the situation in 1997, when hurricane Mitch hitthe country. Then farmers had to receive seeds from outsidewithout being familiar with their quality or characteristics.“Local varieties of wheat have lowproductivity, but give us considerablesecurity since they withstand extremeand unfavourable climatic conditionsand are less demanding in terms ofmanagement and input requirement.Their food preparation qualities aresuperior and highly demanded forspecialty products such as local beerproduction. Productivity of localvarieties, particularly in durum wheat,needs to be improved.“Getachew Admassu (52), farmer and memberof Ejere Community Seed Bank9 Severin Polreich (et al.) (2005): ”Assessing the Effectiveness of the CommunitybasedSeed Supply System for in Situ Conservation of Local Wheat Varieties”, paperpresented at the Conference on International Agricultural Research for Development,Stuttgart-Hohenheim, October 11-13, 2005Images opposite side:1. Community seed bank in Rampur Dang, Nepal. Traditional seedstorage structure made of bamboo for storing tubers. Photo: LI-BIRD.2. Rice management in Northern Thailand. Photo: CBDC-Nan.3. Visitors learning from diversity block established by the communityseed bank of Kachorwa in Nepal. Photo: LI-BIRD

10Meeting poor farmers’ needs in IndiaIn India, resource poor farmers face the dilemma of procuringexpensive modern seeds with potentially higher yields orkeeping traditional varieties that are less vulnerable to pestand disease and better adapted to varying climatic conditions.If the crop is lost, it is difficult for them to pay back the loansoften obtained when buying modern varieties. Trying toimprove this situation, the NGO Green Foundation focuseson strengthening community based biodiversity conservation.Their aim is to protect the ecology and encourage the smalland marginal farmers to adopt sustainable agriculturalpractices. Among other things, Green Foundation motivatedmembers of local Krushi self-help groups to establishcommunity seed banks in a selected cluster of villages.Each community seed bank has members from four to sevenneighbouring villages. Self-help group members who areinterested in conservation take active part in managing theseed banks. Green Foundation, on its part, trains farmersin seed selection, storage by traditional methods and recordkeeping and manages disbursals of seeds. Farmers receiveseeds from the bank in return for double the quantity afterthe harvest. In times of crop failure, farmers compensate withother varieties which they hold and return the seed the nextseason.1Community sharing of information on seed varieties, storingcapacity, germination, crop yields and disease resistanceare crucial to enhance local knowledge of seed production.Female members are showing particular deep interestin saving and exchanging seeds, as well as in practicingtraditional pest control measures. At present, GreenFoundation facilitates nine functioning community seedbanks in the district of Ramanagaram in South India, eachproviding 70-80 farmers with seeds every season. Farmerscontribute to conservation of the traditional varieties byincreasing the area under which the traditional varieties aregrown.Green Foundation also has a back-up gene bank in case aparticular variety of seed is lost. The seeds are grown outseasonally and field days are organised to show the diversitywithin the gene bank. Researchers from the agricultureuniversity and extension department are invited to the fielddays, where they share their expertise.Increasing farmers’ income in NepalAs part of a global on-farm crop conservation project inNepal, community seed banks have been established by theNepal Agriculture Research Council and the NGO LocalInitiatives for Biodiversity, Research and Development (LI-BIRD). The community seed bank in itself is managed byAgriculture Development Community Society (ADCS), afarmers’ organisation.The seed bank deals with a variety of local seeds as well asimproved varieties. In addition, some rice varieties bred fromtraditional varieties with the technical assistance of LI-BIRDare included.In collaboration with partner organisations ADCS collects,regenerates, multiplies and promotes diversity on-farm.The diversity and knowledge gathered through differenttechniques, such as diversity fairs, biodiversity registrationand diversity blocks, have improved farmers’ access to seedsof preferred varieties. To refresh seeds maintained in the seedbank and meet local demands, seeds of the crop varieties areregenerated each year.2

11The seed bank offers local people seeds of local origin aswell as preferred improved varieties, and it empowers thecommunity with respect to conservation, use and marketing.Farmers and farmers groups frequently visit the seed bankfor technical input, facilitation of saving and credit schemes,business advice and funding for small scale businesses. Thisstrongly suggests that ADCS is becoming a key institutionin the area. However, maintaining seed quality has been achallenge for ADCS, as it lacks quality control mechanismsand trained man power.The most important lesson learned from the project is thatmost crop varieties of local origin are maintained by wealthierhouseholds. Poorer farmers use those varieties, but are unableto invest resources for the sake of conservation for futureuse. In this situation, the community seed bank can maintainvarieties preferred by small scale farmers, who often operatein marginal environments where local varieties are preferred.The seed access provided by community seed banks thereforedirectly improves the food security of small scale farmers.ADCS has also established a diversity fund, which hasbeen effective in raising the incomes of small scale farmers,including landless households. By accepting fund rules, thosewho borrow from the diversity fund agree to be responsiblefor the regeneration of one traditional variety. The fundthus strengthens small scale businesses and contributes toconservation of traditional varieties. Most of the diversityfund loan takers have been resource poor farmers or peoplefrom socially excluded and ethnic minorities.Involving high school students in ThailandIn 2000, a seed bank was established in the mountainousNan Province in North Western Thailand to solve commonproblems of insufficient seeds, poor seed quality and highproduction costs. The Thung Kong Community Seed Bankwas initiated by Pin Kamsaen and her relatives. In her late 40s,Pin was illiterate but enthusiastic about sharing her traditionalknowledge about seed saving and plant breeding. Staff fromthe NGO Joko Learning Centre recognised her qualities andgave Pin multiple training opportunities both locally andabroad.Thung Kong Community Seed Bank has successfullyintegrated its activities into the local high school curriculum.With active support from the school’s biology teacher, thecommunity seed bank benefits from the weekly contributionin documentation and labour from Grade 11 students, as partof their science curriculum. Students help with planting andharvesting, as well as with recording properties of traditionalvarieties and new seeds. Some attend the Farmers’ FieldSchool on Saturdays during the growing season to learnadditional techniques.The establishment of Thung Kong community seed bank wenthand in hand with the establishment of Thung Kong Farmers’Field School, initiated by Joko Learning Centre. The schoolcurriculum is matched to each rice growing season and taughtin an actual field. The on-farm research itself is taken up byindividual farmers, notably Pin. With her rice field locatednext to the forest, Pin often discovers new genetic materials.She cultivates these varieties into seeds for propagation.Somkuan, treasurer at the community seed bank, breedsselected varieties that are put up for sale as foundation seedsto local buyers and other farmer networks.Thung Kong Community Seed Bank receives some seedsupplies from rice research scientists, from the governmentoffice in north-eastern Thailand and from universities in thenorthern region. Joko Learning Centre’s technicians and ruraldevelopment workers provide support on pest managementand organic production techniques as well as advice onmanagement of community seed banks. The Thung KongCommunity Seed Bank also has a one-way relationship withfarmer-breeders in the region. Members collect new varietiesduring study trips. In return, the seed bank serves as aneducational model and initial seed supply for other farmergroups from across Thailand.Distributing modern varieties in ZambiaPoor farmers in rural Zambia face problems in accessinggood quality seed when they need it. This has frequently ledto farmers doing their sowing late and consequently resultsin poor harvests. To meet these challenges, the British/Irish NGO Self Help Africa is working with seed growerassociations in Northern, Western and Eastern provinces ofZambia, where community seed banks have been established.However, like some seed companies, these community seedbanks rely on seed bred by the Zambian Agriculture ResearchInstitute rather than promoting local crops and varieties.Thus, the community seed banks work as outlets of improvedvarieties.The trained members of the seed growers associationsparticipate in seed multiplication. Members have to pay afee and are then allowed to buy shares in the association onwhich interest is paid whenever it makes money from bulkselling of modern varieties. However, seed companies andtraders take advantage of informal sector seed producers’ lackof a readily available market for the seeds they produce, andthe insufficient training in marketing skills. Companies andtraders buy seeds from them at very low prices, repack thesame seeds with their logo on it and sell it at up to three orfour times the price.Images opposite side:1. Seeds bags in Ethiopia. Photo: Ashnan Films, Canada2. Farmers from Western part of Nepal visiting community seed bank atKachorwa Bara, Nepal. Photo: LI-BIRD

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13There has been a general shift from using traditional varietiesbecause they are late maturing and low yielding compared toimproved varieties. This shift has been compounded by themany programmes that promote modern varieties such as theFarmer Input Support programme, which provides subsidisedhybrid seed and fertilisers. Even the community seed banks ofthe seed growers associations tend to promote only the use ofimproved varieties.Seed fairs promote seed diversity in ZimbabweIn 1991/1992 a severe drought contributed to geneticerosion in Zimbabwe’s agriculture. As a response, the NGOCommunity Technology Development Trust (CTDT)set up community seed banks in close consultation withcommunities. These were to provide back-up facilities forfarmers’ varieties, capture traditional knowledge and enablefarmers’ access to local seeds of reasonable quality.One such bank is The Uzumba Maramba PfungweCommunity Seed Bank, established in 1998. It is locatedin a semi-arid area and serves four different administrativeareas. There are two rooms in the building constructed tobe relatively cool, maintaining a temperature ideal for seedstorage. Seeds brought to the bank undergo a thoroughcleaning process, to rid the seeds of pests and diseases.Germination tests are conducted every two years to assessseed viability. Seeds with low germination percentages areregenerated.The Uzumba Maramba Pfungwe Community Seed Bank ismanaged by farmers. The community elects a managementcommittee responsible for the coordination and managementof all activities. Both CTDT and the government’s agriculturalextension services provide technical assistance and capacitybuilding to farmers. The National Gene Bank also collaboratesby providing materials and seeds to the bank as well astechnical management.Collection and cleaning of seeds are done by individualhouseholds and farmers who have been capacitated in seedhandling. Because of socio-economic and cultural normsand values, women play an important role in communalfarming and are therefore largely contributing through seedselection in the fields, cleaning and bringing seeds to thecommunity seed bank as well as participating at seed fairs.Youth participation is minimal; only a few are engaged inconservation bring their seeds to the bank. Many youngpeople are not interested in farming and many have moved tocities looking for employment.The community seed bank functions as a meeting place forfarmers to exchange information and local knowledge on cropgenetic diversity. In order to increase awareness, seed fairsare conducted at the community seed bank every year andat national level biannually. These fairs provide an additionalmeeting forum for farmers. They also enable communitiesto evaluate the level of diversity and to assess and monitorgenetic erosion.Chapter IV: Arguing the case forcommunity seed banksAs can be seen from the previous chapter, different forms ofcommunity seed banking practices are being promoted indifferent countries. Some are highly specialised in collection,regeneration, distribution and maintenance of local cropdiversity and documentation of associated information andtraditional knowledge. Others are engaged in production andmarketing of seeds of improved farmers’ varieties. The presentchapter sums up the lessons learned from the cases examinedand presents some current and future challenges.Why are community seed banks established?Most community seed banks in the presented case countrieshave been established to combat seed insecurity. Suchinsecurity is mainly due to drought causing crop failure(e.g. in Ethiopia and Zambia), flood and cyclones (e.g. inBangladesh) and introduction of modern varieties andpolicies promoting it through subsidies or by other means(e.g. in India, Nepal, Thailand, and Zimbabwe). Modernvarieties are increasingly replacing traditional ones. They areexpensive for small scale farmers and hence inaccessible. Inaddition, in the cases examined, introduced modern varietieshave not met local needs and thus have failed to adapt. Thisfailure is particularly evident in the case of irrigated andpaddy rice growing areas in India, Nepal and Thailand, aswell as in growing areas for maize in Zimbabwe and maizeand beans in Honduras. In the case of Zambia, focus ontraditional varieties is almost non-existent. Here, communityseed banks mainly provide improved varieties; the issue ofconservation is not taken into consideration in bank practiceand management.In some countries (e.g. Costa Rica) the motivation behindthe seed bank is for marketing high quality seeds of improvedfarmers’ varieties and modern varieties at community level.This differs from the “traditional” goals of community seedbanks: addressing the challenges of seed insecurity in timesof shortage and human and nature induced calamities, inaddition to on-farm conservation of crop genetic diversity.Who are involved?Farmers are the primary stakeholders in the community seedbanks approach for management of agricultural biodiversity.Their knowledge of agro ecosystems, crops and varieties, havebeen central in the management of community seed banks.Farmers have elected committees to manage the seed banks(e.g. in Ethiopia), while in Costa Rica and Zambia farmerswere organised in seed producing associations.Images opposite side:1. Seeds at display in India. Photo: Green Foundation.2. Seed storage in India. Photo: Green Foundation.3. Traditional storing of rice seeds, taro cormel and potato tubers incommunity seed bank in Gadariya, Nepal. Photo: LI-BIRD

15All community seed banks in the case studies were initiatedor supported by NGOs. The NGOs played a useful rolein organising and training farmers in collaboration withdifferent national institutions. However, high reliance onNGOs is a challenge for the sustainability of communityseed banks. This challenge seems to have been overcomein Nepal, where farmers managing community seed bankshave established a community biodiversity managementfund, which is being used for conservation and developmentof plant genetic resources and improving livelihoods of thetarget group. Generally, community seed banks in many caseshave remained innovative demonstration examples. Theyhave not received the institutional support required for ascaling-up that would make them part of larger strategies forconserving crop genetic diversity.In some cases, national gene banks have served as a source ofdiversity in varieties for farmers managing community seedbanks. In some of the examined cases, gene banks restoredlost varieties to certain areas through farmers (Ethiopia).In Zimbabwe, the national gene bank works in closecollaboration with the community seed bank by providingmaterials for restoration of local varieties. Here, the nationalgene bank also acts as a backup for varieties. However, inmost of the case countries there is a loose connection betweengene banks and community seed banks, that is, between exsitu and on-farm conservation.Agricultural research institutions are involved in training offarmers in breeding, plant variety selection, seed productionand storage (e.g. in Nepal, Thailand and Costa Rica). Theyprovide farmers with pre-breeding materials for furtherselection and seeds for multiplication. Furthermore, researchinstitutions are interested in using organised farmers asoutlets for distributing their varieties and even multiplyingthem (e.g. in Zambia).Sometimes governmental agricultural extension officescollaborated with community seed banks to promote modernvarieties (e.g. Zambia). On the other hand, in Thailand andNepal, agricultural extension offices were used to promotefarmers’ varieties that were improved through ParticipatoryPlant Breeding and Participatory Variety Selection in additionto modern varieties from the formal sector. Thus, the role ofagricultural extension in management of crop genetic diversityvaries, depending on the activities of the community seedbanks.How do community seed banks work?The operational modalities of the community seed banksdiffer from country to country. In Ethiopia and Bangladesh,members of community seed banks access seeds on loanbasis. The approach in this case is similar to micro creditwhere seeds replace money. In these cases, farmers are pleasedwith saving money on fertiliser that would be required ifthey were planting modern varieties. Moreover, they getaccess to the varieties they appreciate and have knowledge of.The community seed banks are mostly managed by electedcommittees.Images opposite side:1. Seed sacks and germplasm reserve in Ejere community seed bank inEthiopia. Photo: EOSA2. Traditional seed storage structure made of bamboo and mud, Nepal.Photo: LI-BIRD3. Rice display in Northern Thailand. Photo: CBDC-NanMost community seed banks reach out also to non-memberfarmers. For instance, farmers managing community seedbanks in Ethiopia, Nepal, India, Thailand and Zimbabwe areselling seeds to non-members. This implies that communityseed banks, in addition to conserving and enhancingtraditional varieties, can be transformed into viable and selfsustainedseed business entities.The case from Zambia shows that participating communitieswere also engaged in multiplying seeds based on parent linesof a very limited number of varieties given to them fromthe country’s breeding stations. They have also assisted withselling the multiplied seeds. The same documentation showsthat the Zambia Agricultural Research Institute has producedsome of the crop varieties for seed production by use of thecommunity seed banks. However, these variety developmentactivities did not fully involve farmers. Efforts were made tocollect local varieties for various crops under the communityseed banks programme in Zambia, but it did not manage todistribute seeds to members for reproduction. Furthermore,a seed company took advantage to peddle its varieties. Inthis case, the idea of community seed banks seems to bemisunderstood by implementers.Documented resultsFirst and foremost, community seed banks improve farmers’access to seeds. In most countries, the formal seed systemdoes not meet the needs of farmers either in terms ofquantity (e.g. in Bangladesh, it constitutes only about 20 %)or quality with its narrow focus on modern varieties – or ata cost affordable to poor farmers. Most of community seedbanks distribute to members and non-members alike. InIndia and Nepal, access to seeds for resource poor farmershas been given particular attention. In Honduras andBangladesh, community seed banks improved access toseeds after harvest loss. Due to the prioritising of modernvarieties by government programmes, farmers’ varieties arenot distributed in the formal seed system. Community seedbanks can therefore be a tool for farmers to access traditionalvarieties (e.g. in Nepal, Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, India andEthiopia), but also improved varieties. Thus, community seedbanks function as locally accessible ex situ conservation ofcrop genetic diversity.Traditional knowledge is documented and shared amongmembers of community seed banks. This is especially valuablein situations where the farmers’ varieties are disappearingbut the traditional knowledge can be used to promote itsrehabilitation. In Thailand, traditional knowledge is alsoreaching younger generations by being integrated in the highschool curriculum.Empowerment of farmers is an important outcome of theestablishment of community seed banks. This indicates thatfarmers have got the necessary skill and knowledge in seedselection, breeding, seed production and role of diversity ofcrops and their varieties in farming. Community seed bankspromoted bulk selling of produce and allowed for its membersto be trained in local seed production and management.They also improved farming systems (e.g. in Thailand, CostaRica and Nepal). Through methods like Participatory Plant

16Breeding (PPB), Participatory Varietal Selection (PVS), croprotation and crop diversification, community seed bankinghelped increase productivity and household food security, andimproved nutrition. This kind of farming also demonstratessustainable agricultural practises.In economic terms, banking contributed to increaseddisposable income from the sale of surplus seed and producefor farmers’ groups. In Ethiopia and India, for instance, suchincome has been used to meet various household needs,including acquisition of assets and agriculture inputs, andstarting up small business enterprises. More generally, theaffiliated farmers regard the seed multiplication throughcommunity seed banks as an opportunity to generate income(e.g. Zambia and Costa Rica). This is so because seed forthe next planting season can be stored in proper conditionsand still have good yields and germination. As an additionalbenefit, if a variety is not requested by the market its seed canbe saved for more advantageous market conditions. In fact,community seed bank projects are more likely to succeed ifseed marketing is included.Overall, the commitment of women in farmer groupsmanaging community seed banks outweighed that of men.Home garden fruits and vegetable varieties managed bywomen helped farmers understand the importance and valueof diverse seeds of vegetables required for different growingseasons (e.g. in India and Bangladesh). Female members ofcommunity seed banks are showing deep interest in savingand exchanging seeds for purposes like household nutritionand cultural uses of certain crops. Their knowledge of seedstorage, aptitude for nurturing with patience and ability tosave seeds for future seasons often make women better thanmen at managing seed banks. Female farmers practice severalpest control measures while saving seeds.Many farmers cultivate both modern and traditionalvarieties. They try commercial varieties without necessarilydiscarding their own. That’s when ideas of combining thebetter of the two worlds through participatory plant breedingcame up. If farmers grow ‘low-yielding’ farmers’ varieties,it is usually because those varieties are the best under localcircumstances or because of specific merits that are missingin the commercial ‘high-yielding’ varieties. If the communityseed bank networks involve themselves in participatory plantbreeding they would usually try to combine the high yieldpotential of commercial varieties with the attractive traits intheir own local varieties.Challenge number one, however, is at a higher level thanwhat can be solved at community level alone: Governments’agricultural policies prioritise high yields throughintensification (increased use of modern varieties andintensification of agricultural inputs). Both research andgovernment extension services are focused on improvedvarieties in combination with chemical fertilisers andpesticides. Training and orientation of development/extension agents is also geared towards the implementationof accelerated productivity and growth strategies, withlittle or no relevance to the conservation and utilisationof local genetic diversity due to lack of understandingand appreciation. There is also the danger of creating theimpression among farmers that their traditional varietiesare inferior and this may contribute to erosion of geneticresources and loss of related traditional knowledge.Farmers also want high yields, but high-yield technologypackages may be difficult to adopt for economic reasons, forlack of agro-ecological adaptation (they do not fit farmersmarginal land), or for having other negative impacts likeharming the environment. Care should therefore be taken notto miss the target group (seed insecure poor farmers) and thebanks’ “traditional” objectives of conservation.Today, countries lack legal frameworks and institutionalsupport to community seed banking. They also upholdrestrictive laws, such as seed certification based on the criteriain the formal seed system of distinct, uniform and stable. Asa result, farmers cannot market branded seeds coming out oftheir efforts. This situation threatens the sustainability of theseed banking concept itself. Under current legal and policyregimes, it is hard for farmers through community seedbanking to combine modern and traditional seeds as theyprefer.In cases where traditional varieties are not so attractive forlocal farming communities any longer, it is not the soleresponsibility of farmers managing community seed banks toconserve them. The next chapter looks at steps needed to betaken in order to up-scale community seed banks.ChallengesCommunity seed banks still face many challenges. Amongthem are: lack of markets for farmers’ varieties; inadequatecapacity and knowledge in marketing seeds; inadequatestorage facilities; lack of manpower during peak seasons;insufficient seed quality; late distribution of seeds and latepayments for the seeds loaned, as well as high dependenceon NGOs or a few dedicated farmers. The different farmingcommittees running the seed banks meet these challenges indifferent ways.Images opposite side:1. Rice seeds, Nepal. Photo: LI-BIRD2. Conservation of traditional varieties, Ethiopia. Photo: EOSA3. Rice and finger millet seeds, Nepal. Photo: LI-BIRD4. Inside the community seed bank in Kachorwa, Bara, Nepal. Photo:LI-BIRD

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18Chapter V: Up-scaling communityseed banks to implement Farmers’Rights and towards a sustainablefuture for agricultureTo fully reap the benefits of community seed banks inenhancing farmers’ access and control of seeds, as well as theircontribution to the conservation and sustainable use of cropgenetic diversity, we will end this report with a set of policyrecommendations.Governments should:ÁÁEstablish and/or support community seedbanks as part of their obligations to implementFarmers’ Rights and other provisions of thePlant Treaty, such as sustainable use andconservation of crop genetic diversity. Partiesshould support the up-scaling of communityseed banks in order to reach as many farmersas possible, especially in marginalised areas.12ÁÁIntegrate community seed banks in broaderprogrammes on agricultural biodiversity,where the local seed banks should serve as astoring place for results of participatory plantbreeding and participatory variety selection,and make such results accessible to farmers.Seed banks should also be venues for seedfairs for farmers to exchange and display theirseed diversity.ÁÁÁÁÁÁInclude community seed banks ingovernments’ agricultural developmentstrategies as a vehicle for adaptation toclimate variability. Agricultural extensionservices would provide the best institutionalinfrastructure to embark on a scaling up oflocal seed bank experiences to a nationallevel.Revise seed regulations and provisions onintellectual property rights to seeds to ensureFarmers’ Rights to save, use, exchange and sellfarm-saved seeds.Redirect public subsidies from promotingmodern varieties to fund the above mentionedactivities.1. Maize and bean seeds in Honduras. Photo: Development Fund2. Communuty seed bank in Rampur Dang, Nepal. Traditional seedstorage structure made of mud. Photo: LI-BIRD.

19Agricultural Research Institutions should:Commercial seed sector should:ÁÁÁÁÁÁEnsure that farmers are given an informedchoice between traditional and modernvarieties. Extension services and governmentagricultural policies should be reviewed asto ensure this balance. There is a need todemocratise agricultural extension systemsso that it provides all kinds of information (e.g.about the role of formal and informal seedsystems) in a transparent way without puttingfarmers’ varieties to a disadvantage.Extend their expertise and services for free toassist and support communities and NGOs insetting up and maintaining community seedbanks. Their assistance and support should bebased on the actual needs and capacitiesof the communities and local organisationsseeking their expertise.Facilitate the access of communities andNGOs setting up community seed banks toother in situ as well as ex situ sources of seeds,if necessary and when required. They shouldhelp provide linkages among communitiesengaged in community seed banking andrelevant institutions and organisations that maybe able to support such efforts. Communityseed banks are the bridge between in situ andex situ conservation. Through them, nationalgene banks should make their acquisitionsavailable to farmers.ÁÁÁÁContribute to the Benefit Sharing Fund of thePlant Treaty, which in its turn should makesure that sufficient funds for supportingcommunity seed banks are in place. The costof conserving crop genetic diversity shouldnot be borne by resource poor farmers in theGlobal South, but be shared by all who benefitfrom the commercialisation of this diversity.Multiply and produce farmers’ varieties forincreased availability of locally adaptedseeds.NGOs should:ÁÁÁÁAdopt a mechanism to share their skills andknowledge in establishing and maintainingcommunity seed banks to interestedcommunities, farmers’ organisations andother NGOs in and around the countrieswhere they are based. The main role of NGOsis to promote community seed banks untilgovernments have incorporated such banks intheir formal systems like agricultural extensionservices.Strengthen community based managementof agricultural biodiversity and avoid usingcommunity seed banks for promoting onlymodern varieties.“All States should: Support and scale-up local seed exchange systems such as community seed banks andseed fairs, community registers of peasant varieties, and use them as a tool to improve the situation of themost vulnerable groups,..”Mr Olivier De Schutter, UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, speakingat the 64th session of the UN General Assembly (October 2009)