10,000 years of work by small farming families

Agricultural seeds bring independence

Year after year, more and more local varieties of agricultural seeds are disappearing – including in Colombia. To reverse these losses, so-called seed guardians are working hard to produce high-quality seeds adapted to local conditions. They have developed a “participatory guarantee system” for this. You can find out how it works in this short film.

Facts

Country, region:
Colombia: Caribe, Cafetera, Centro, Sur Occidente and Sur
Duration:
three years, expected to last until the end of 2024
Beneficiaries:
560 seed guardians and their families (around 2'140 people)
Total project budget:
CHF 707,130

Aims

Since the “Semillas de Identidad” campaign started in 2010, 15 seed networks have been established. Since then, the seed guardians in the networks have succeeded in providing over 10 tons of seed to village seed banks. In recent years, they have developed a participatory guarantee system (PGS), a methodology for ensuring the quality, promotion and distribution of agricultural seeds.

This project is co-financed by the SDC program contribution.

 

Webinar on the topic (German)