To: African governments, the African Union, and regional economic communities (SADC, ECOWAS, EAC).
Protect Our Indigenous Seeds: Stop the Erasure of Africa’s Seed Heritage!
1. Legally recognize and protect farmer-managed seed systems, including the right to save, use, exchange, and sell indigenous seeds.
2. Support community seed banks and seed fairs that promote traditional knowledge and biodiversity.
3. Stop criminalizing informal seed exchange networks, which are vital to rural food security.
4. Ensure farmers and Indigenous communities are meaningfully involved in seed policy decisions that affect their livelihoods and cultural practices.
Why is this important?
Across Africa, farmers have nurtured, exchanged, and protected diverse indigenous seeds for generations. These seeds — like cowpeas, sorghum, and bambara groundnuts — are not just food sources; they are the backbone of our cultures, our climate resilience, and our food sovereignty.
But our seed heritage is under threat. Modern agricultural policies, commercial seed laws, and corporate agribusiness interests are undermining farmer-managed seed systems. These changes prioritize uniform, commercial seed varieties that often require synthetic inputs and deny farmers the right to save and share seeds. As a result, our indigenous crops are being sidelined.
· Cowpeas, a protein-rich legume adapted to drought and poor soils, are being replaced by patented or genetically modified alternatives that weaken farmers’ ability to save seed and adapt to local conditions.
· Sorghum, a vital grain for millions across semi-arid regions, is being displaced by maize-focused agriculture and standardized seed policies, despite its superior climate resilience.
· Bambara groundnuts, often cultivated by women, are disappearing from our fields due to lack of policy recognition and commercial neglect, even though they grow well in poor soils and nourish communities.
These seeds are not just plants—they are part of our identity, our heritage, and our future. Losing them means losing the biodiversity and local knowledge we need to survive in a changing climate.
