Functionality of Community Seed Banks. Case Study: APA Azuay

Handbook of seed science and technology

Performative Microforests: Investigating the potential benefits of integrating spatial vegetation environments into buildings, in regards to the performance of buildings, their occupants + local ecosystems

Smallholder farmers around the world obtain their seed from various sources, which can vary over time. In some countries, smallholder farmers are gaining ground as local seed producers and sellers. This study focuses on the seed production and marketing operations, achievements, and challenges of a particular type of such producers—community seed banks—which are new players in the seed market. Pioneer case studies are presented from countries where grain legumes and dryland cereals are important crops: India, Nepal, Uganda, and Zimbabwe. A mixed methodology was used to collect data, including a literature review, focus group discussion, key informant interview, and participatory observation. The case studies demonstrate the viability of community seed banks as seed businesses but becoming successful is not easy and depends on managerial, technical, financial, social, and policy factors. The cases benefitted from strong initial support provided by a committed and experienced organization, as part of a trajectory of nurtured seed development and empowerment. Embedding local seed enterprises in seed sector networks is crucial to creating demand and gaining recognition and support. Government and development organizations could learn from the case study experiences and support programs to foster local seed businesses as key actors in integrated seed sector development.

The dominant historical pattern of the Australian flora over the last 65 million years is one of contraction of a widespread mesic flora that contained both rainforest and sclerophyll components, and expansion and diversification of dry climate and fire tolerant groups, especially sclerophyllous groups. Many species (perhaps the majority) are from lineages that have existed continuously in Australia since the final break-up of Gondwana. However, this autochthonous flora has been overlain by a complex pattern of migration into and out of Australia, including trans-oceanic dispersal among temperate southern hemisphere landmasses and immigration across land (or island hopping) from Asia. Some major historical biogeographic patterns within Australia seem fairly clear (such as the separation of mesic zones of southwestern and southeastern Australia). However, many other biogeographic patterns and processes within Australia are still very poorly understood.

Food insecurity is a wicked, complex, and critical problem. Although evidence supporting a wide range of assertions regarding the outcomes of social learning is still being investigated, its potential to improve food security challenges is growing. Nonetheless, more work is needed to understand when and how social learning-oriented approaches are effective in food security situations. We address this gap by investigating how elements of social learning and Freire’s key concepts are exemplified in existing real-world experiences of food security in rural communities. The case studies in Brazil, Community Seed Banks in Paraíba State, in the northeast and Biodiversity Kit in Guaraciaba, Santa Catarina State, in the south, are examples of small farmers facing and overcoming their limit-situation of food insecurity through celebrating, planting, and saving traditional seeds (landraces). A mixed-methods approach was applied based on semi-structured interviews and a literature review. The key findings show that local initiatives based on the interconnections of social learning and Freire´s concepts have improved food security in two cases. The practice of landrace rescue as a food security strategy is strengthened through a culture of closeness and solidarity, through values that are celebrated in the festivities, community meetings, and other exchanges of experiences. Applications of our conceptual framework in operational interventions show clear potential for generating the necessary changes for a more sustainable world, specifically in food security and sovereignty projects, as described in the cases studies.

Environmental weeds are plants that invade natural ecosystems and are considered to be a serious threat to nature conservation. Environmental weeds have been implicated in the extinction of several indigenous plant species, and they also threaten ecosystem stability and functional complexity. Historically, emphasis has been placed on chemical control, manual pulling of small plants, excluding tourists and feral pig control measures. Recently, biological control has been introduced to control weed infestations. These methods of control have been applied alternatively, with little consideration of the long- term effectiveness. As the threat from environmental weeds is becoming more fully recognised, an integrated, strategic, ecological and economical approach to weed management is needed. A deterministic dynamic programming model is developed for this purpose in this paper. A case study for the environmental weed scotch broom is presented, to assess the ways in which this approach can address the policy issues that face the community in the management of an environmental weed. The model takes account of the weed population dynamics and thirty-two combinations of control developed from the five basic control measures. The dynamic programming model is developed for three different cases, first with weed density as the state variable, second, with weed density and seed bank as state variables and third, with weed density and seed bank as state variables and with a budget constraint for the control variables. Results are

With the increased loss of plant biodiversity, the ex situ seed conservation has become of strategic importance. International treaties and conventions encourage more developed countries to cooperate in providing financial and other supports for the establishment and maintenance of ex situ conservation facilities in developing countries. In this regard, the Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (Nepal) and the Ev-K2-CNR (Italy) set up the Himalayan Seed Bank, with the goal of establishing ex situ seed conservation facility of rare, endemic and endangered plants in Nepal. Here, we discuss the importance of training on seed curation, management and research for the seed bank operators in developing countries. Particular attention is given to the procedures for providing power supply and for optimizing seed longevity in dry storage. Finally, the importance of duplicates in high-standard international seed banks is also discussed.

Community seed banks are farmer-managed organizations that conserve and sustainably manage local crop and tree diversity. They are found in many countries of the Global South and increasingly in the Global North. Altogether, they maintain hundreds of crop and tree species and thousands of mostly local varieties and distribute tons of quality seed per year. Through their activities, they share and safeguard the world’s agrobiodiversity, contribute to seed security, and allow farming households in local communities to produce and consume more affordable, secure, diverse, and nutritious foods. However, community seed banks are knowledge-, resource-, and time-intensive organizations that operate through their members’ voluntary contributions. The purpose of this article is to analyze the sustainability challenge of community seed banks and identify strategies that address it. Focus group discussions and key informant interviews were used, complemented by secondary data analysis of research reports and other deliverables, resulting in five case study countries in Africa and Asia. Five promising sustainability strategies can support viable community seed bank development: value addition; nature-positive agriculture; enabling environment and national genebank partnership; networking and digitalization; and modern, low-cost seed quality technologies. Sustainable community seed banks can make important contributions to national seed sector development but they need stronger policy and legal support to maintain their sustainability.

Although community-level seed-saving initiatives have existed in many countries around the world for about 30 years, they have rarely been the subject of systematic scientific enquiry. Based on a combination of a literature review and field research, we present a novel comprehensive conceptual framework that focuses on the multiple functions and services provided by community-based seed-saving efforts, in particular community seed banks. This framework is output oriented and complements an input oriented typology of community seed banks presented in 1997. The framework identifies three core functions: conserving genetic resources; enhancing access to and availability of diverse local crops; and ensuring seed and food sovereignty. The framework can be used for analysis of existing seed-saving initiatives and serve as a guide for the establishment of new community seed banks. In addition, it can inform the development or revision of national policies or strategies to support community seed banks. The framework’s utility is illustrated by three case studies of community seed banks in Bangladesh, Guatemala and Nepal.

There is a pressing need to conserve plant diversity to prevent extinctions and to enable sustainable use of plant material by current and future generations. Here, we review the contribution that living collections and seed banks based in botanic gardens around the world make to wild plant conservation and to tackling global challenges. We focus in particular on the work of Botanic Gardens Conservation International and the Millennium Seed Bank of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, with its associated global Partnership. The advantages and limitations of conservation of plant diversity as both living material and seed collections are reviewed, and the need for additional research and conservation measures, such as cryopreservation, to enable the long-term conservation of ‘exceptional species’ is discussed. We highlight the importance of networks and sharing access to data and plant material. The skill sets found within botanic gardens and seed banks complement each other and enable the development of integrated conservation (linking in situ and ex situ efforts). Using a number of case studies we demonstrate how botanic gardens and seed banks support integrated conservation and research for agriculture and food security, restoration and reforestation, as well as supporting local livelihoods.

This article enlightens the role of community seedbanks (CSBs) in Europe within the plant genetic resources for food and agriculture community and their role in the conservation and sustainable use of agrobiodiversity in complementarity with the ex situ management system. For more than 40 years, CSBs around the world have emerged as part of the so-called informal seed system to counteract the loss of locally adapted varieties through the development of collective seed systems. Most of the studies and articles refer to experiences from the Global South, whereas a comprehensive analysis of the impact and role of CSBs on seed systems in industrialized countries is still missing. This paper provides three case studies describing the community seed banking experience of different European organizations: Pro Specie Rara (Switzerland), Arche Noah (Austria) and Rete Semi Rurali (Italy). These organizations exemplify the diversity among European CSBs and their efforts to engage with genebanks and the formal seed system.

Seeds are the building blocks of food security, and their free exchange amongst the farming community has formed the bedrock for maintaining genetic diversity in addition to food security and sovereignty. The appropriation of production, exchange, and marketing of seeds by the corporate over the past decades has altered the agricultural scene in the Global South. Given the conflicting perspectives, mandates, and practices of multiple stakeholders, this article attempts to critically evaluate seed policies in India considering the cultural, economic, and social undertones that characterise them. From the perspective of the sociology of science, this article attempts to trace the shifts in the decline of the ‘rural’, erosion of national agriculture, policy gaps, and why values matter in India’s development narratives vis-à-vis science and technology solutions. Further, this article investigates, through a case study of Vrihi Community Seed Bank (CSB),1 located in the eastern state of Odisha, how CSBs are progressively being seen as a possible long-term solution to combat the diverse challenges posed by changing agro-climatic conditions, increasing corporatisation, and industrialisation of agricultural and allied practices of food production.

The contributions of urban forests and green spaces to sustainable development have been confirmed. Meanwhile, cities worldwide have shown that investments in urban forestry can greatly contribute to citizens’ quality of life. This study was conducted in urban forests in the Dadu Terrace of Taichung City, central Taiwan, which were frequently disturbed by fires and had grassland severely invaded by Panicum maximum after the forest degraded. We sampled 46 plots in Dadu Terrace to understand the relationship between the soil seed bank and vegetation as well as to evaluate the feasibility of applying soil seed bank transfers for ecological restoration in Dadu Terrace. The grassland was dominated by Panicum maximum. Forest vegetation was distinguished by cluster analysis into five types, i.e., Ficus microcarpa type, Acacia confusa type, Litsea glutinosa type, Cinnamomum camphora type, and Trema orientalis type. In the aboveground survey, we recorded 141 vascular plants, including 129 seed plants and 12 ferns. There were 40 identified species of naturalized plants. A total of 29,914 seedlings were recorded in the soil seed bank, with an average seed density of 9634 seeds/m2 and a total of 91 species. There were 40 species of naturalized plants, accounting for 90.9% of the total seed reserves. This showed that Dadu Terrace was severely affected by the invasion of naturalized species. The species number and seed reserves of woody plants of the Panicum maximum type were significantly lower than those of forest vegetation. The composition of the soil seed bank was dominated by naturalized plants, indicating that the high frequency of fire reduced the proportion of native species and woody plants in the soil seed bank. Acacia confusa type was the main forest type in Dadu Terrace. Although several woody species and seed reserves were in its soil seed bank, the naturalized proportions were even higher. Trema orientalis type was the secondary forest type in Dadu Terrace; it had the smallest forest area. However, it was the only vegetation type with a greater tree seed abundance than herbs and the lowest proportion of naturalized seed abundance. Trema orientalis type vegetation has a relatively high soil transfer value for ecological restoration but lacks diversity. Our results revealed that the characteristics of the soil seed bank of Dadu Terrace make it challenging to restore the grassland to the forest by natural succession. Therefore, we suggest that artificial restoration is necessary for Dadu Terrace.

The Indian subcontinent is one of the eight Primary Vavilonian Centers of crop origin and ranks second after the Chinese centre regarding crop origin. The region has 117 crop species, including rice, millet and legumes. India is also one of the 17 megadiverse countries of the world. Studies show that India has made an excellent contribution to Svalbard Global Seed Vault compared to any individual Gene Bank. Owing to its rich biodiversity, the country must enforce the best governance system for its Plant Genetic Resources (PGRs) for food and agriculture under the International Intellectual Property Regime. Though developed at a relatively slower pace than other IPRs, India's two key legislations - the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights Act, 2001 (PPV & FRA) and the Geographical Indications Act, 1999 (GIA), which offer legal protection to its PGRs. Complementing these legislations, the Biological Diversity Act (2002), amended in 2023), BDA ensures access to genetic resources and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits from their utilization. The Indian sui-generis legislation for plant variety protection has a unique component: Farmers' Rights. This article briefly reviews India's compliance with the international IPR regime, using PGRs as a case study.

Community seed banks: Instruments for food security or unsustainable endeavour? A case study of Mkombezi Community Seed Bank in Malawi