Sowing Diversity=Harvesting Security (SD=HS) Program (I) – field work

The Sowing Diversity=Harvesting Security (SD=HS) program started in 2014 as a joint effort of the civil society organization Oxfam, acting as coordinator, and its partners, including NGOs, farmer organizations, public institutions and government agencies. The overall objective is to contribute to the realization of Farmers’ Rights and Sustainable Development Goal 2 by enhancing small-scale farmers’ and indigenous people’s capacities to access, develop and use PGRFA to improve food and nutrition security under conditions of climate change. Towards this end, SD=HS builds on expansion and institutionalization of the Farmer Field School (FFS) approach to strengthen the role and capacity of farmers in the management, research and conservation of PGRFA. Emphasis is also put on building partnerships with national breeding and research institutions, genebanks and extension services. Further activities include support to farmer-managed seed enterprises and enhancing nutritional knowledge and utilization of minor crops and under-utilized plant species. Between 2014 and 2018, SD=HS established over 1,050 self-sustaining FFS in five countries and reached approximately 150,000 households in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Lessons learned include the identification of five key conditions for scaling-up the FFS approach in any country. The second phase of the program started in 2019.