Banking for the future: - Third World Network

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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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Banking for the future: - Third World Network

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