Working Groups

The Farmer-led Seed Systems & Indigenous/Traditional Crops working group covers two areas of work. First, it will focus on enhancing production and consumption of indigenous crops and breeds rooted in indigenous and local knowledge. Second, it will advance farmer-led seed systems. Our work will place livelihoods and socio-cultural contexts at the centre, while also addressing economics and agroecological markets. Priority research areas will include analysing markets, demand, and patterns of use; documenting existing work on farmers’ rights in practice (e.g. seed banks and networks, crop and variety revival and multiplication, etc.); and conducting actor mapping to understand the roles of NGOs, farmer groups, and researchers. The group will explore the environmental, social, health, and nutritional benefits, as well as the medicinal properties, of indigenous crops and breeds while undertaking policy scans and analysis to identify gaps and opportunities for integration into national strategies. In addition, it will address obstacles and opportunities for advancing farmers’ rights in policy and practice. Attention will be given to policy and production challenges and bottlenecks. We anticipate producing output(s) that will contribute meaningfully to resilient agroecological food systems, sustainable livelihoods, and the revitalisation of agrobiodiversity.