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Whether it’s using indigenous seeds that are more resilient, combining coffee crops with banana plants or restoring pollinator populations, biodiversity is not an abstract concept tossed around by scientists and activists.
It is a whole range of concrete practices that farmers put into action in their daily work in a way which is crucial to food security and the environment.
Our agri-food systems rely on thousands of species of domesticated crops, livestock, fish and the varieties, breeds and strains that ensure their genetic diversity. In addition, at least 50 000 wild species are used globally for food, energy, medicine, materials and other purposes.
But biodiversity is declining worldwide, driven by changing land use, climate change, and over-exploitation, putting the future of food at risk.
In Luweero District, Uganda, coffee and banana farmer Jane Nakandi Sebyaala, also runs the Twezimbe Kassala Community Seed Bank. Its mission is to preserve indigenous seeds, a foundational element of keeping the range of biodiverse crops in fields.
According to Jane, indigenous seeds can be replanted up to ten times, unlike fortified seeds which need to be replaced annually, and can flourish without pesticides or large quantities of fertilizer.
Jane says it used to be hard to find indigenous seeds in the shops and markets. But after the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) organized a training for farmers on the benefits of these seeds, “we began to reach out to village elders to collect these indigenous seeds, and we started planting them.”
Over time, Jane and her fellow farmers were able to grow significant quantities of crops such as indigenous varieties of maize and beans. “The advantage of these indigenous seeds is their resilience. They are disease resilient and less susceptible to pests compared to commercial crops,” she says. (To be continued) FAO News
