Reclaiming the Power of Seeds

As noted by Food and Agriculture Organisation(FAO), Since the 1900s, some 75 percent of plant genetic diversity has been lost as farmers worldwide have left their multiple local varieties and landraces for genetically uniform, high-yielding varieties. Additionally, 30 percent of livestock breeds are at risk of extinction with six breeds being lost each month.FAO goes further to say that today 75 percent of the world’s food is generated from only 12 plants and five animal species.

Despite having huge tracts of land under arable farming, food security is worsening in the Global South. These include global warming which has interfered with good production due to prolonged drought and changing weather patterns, land grabbing leading to deprivation of land by multinational corporations making farmers lose their land to huge multinationals or small holder farmers forced to sell of their land. The already precarious situation is further worsened by negative impacts of structural adjustment programs on the food sector in the Global South.

Seed is a source of life and without seed there is no life. In the African context, various rituals accompany seeds at preparation, planting and harvesting. Among the Lozi of Western Zambia for example, before planting, a village headman would sweep and prepare a spot for erecting an altar. The altar was made of stick and clay and had held a dish which every household was expected to put some seeds they would plant in the dish. Additionally, utensils such as hoes and axes would also be placed in altar mainly for blessings and a prayer done by the village headman while facing the rising sun.[1]This is symbolic in that the sun is a source of life for the seeds. Sunlight is an important source of energy during photosynthesis. Among the Kamba[2],  of Kenya, sacrifices were made during planting, before crops ripen and during harvesting of the first fruits. When rains failed or were delayed, sacrifices would be made to make rains for fall.[3]

Seed saving and exchange is a culture that has been practiced across many communities in Africa since time immemorial. Seed is treated as a communal commodity. Seeds are used during marriage, when children are born, when burying the dead among other festivities. It is a source of continuity. As emphasied by Dr. Vandana Shiva, seeds are the first link in the food chain and the repository of life’s future evolution. As such, it is our inherent duty and responsibility to protect them and to pass them on to future generations. The growing of seed and the free exchange of seed among farmers has been the basis to maintaining biodiversity and our food security.[4] As observed by the  Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA)[5] and GRAIN, farmers’ seeds feed Africa, these seeds are diverse, nutritious and produced in an agroecological manner which not only safe but also healthy. At the same time, farmers are being pushed to abandon their seed systems. For example in Tanzania the seed supply is derived from both formal and informal systems; 90% originates from farmer-managed seed systems, while 10% stems from the formal seed sector[6] .

Another example is the adoption of  a regional harmonised Plant Variety Protection , adopted by African governments members of the African Regional Intellectual Property Organisation(ARIPO).The main objective of the harmonisation was  increase the development of new plant varieties  mainly from the private sector, facilitate the movement and availability of improved seed as a commodity[7].Sadly such actions  do not recognise indigenous seed or farmer managed seeds which are the main source of seeds across East Africa and Africa at large.

Intellectual property is being used targeting seeds and these in the long run promote the industrial seed system.This in essence increases the market share of multinational corporations working in the seed and agro-chemical manufacture industry. Legislations are used to attack farmers’ seeds. Examples across Africa include Seed and Crops Act, Genetic Materials and Benefits Sharing Act. These legislations have punitive clauses and are restrictive towards farmers breeding, sharing , saving seeds and having control over their genetic materials.

Smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa are pushing back the onslaught by multinational corporations in the seed industry. Their arguments are that seed saving is part of African culture, it is part of African identity. The farmers also emphasise that seed saving is about saving cultures and information on seeds has been transmitted generation to generation over the years. To smallholder farmers, seeds are the foundation of community’s food systems. Practices such as seed banks are being initiated in communities for the purpose of increasing seed varieties. According to these farmers, farmers’ seeds as opposed to those bought from agro vets are reliable, resilient and do not mutate. More platforms need to be created to amplify the resilience farmers’ seeds all Sub Saharan Africa. Farmers field schools need to be set up in every village in Africa. Information is power and it is when farmers have information that they can resist misinformation on seeds touted as high yielding by agro vets.

It is thus very important to continue awareness on saving indigenous seeds, saving seeds will save the world’s biodiversity now and for future generations.

[1]https://books.google.co.ke/books?id=B667ATiedQkC&pg=PT48&lpg=PT48&dq=seed+rituals+the+lozi&source=bl&ots=K2hJk5F7Y-&sig=ACfU3U1SUZZgg5va

[2] Kamba is a Bantu community found in Eastern part of Kenya

[3] http://www.bluegecko.org/kenya/tribes/kamba/beliefs.htm

[4] https://navdanyainternational.org/key-issues/seed-freedom/

[5] Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa , GRAIN , The Real Seed Producers , Kampala, October 2018

[6]https://www.acbio.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Tanzania-Seed-Law-2016.pdf

[7] ibid