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Establishing and linking Community Seed Banks with the national genebank for conservation and policy support

Since 2007, Bioversity International, as partner of various projects supported by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), has been working with the National Genebank and Plant Genetic Resources Center of Uganda (NARO-PGRC) to link ex situ conservation of PGRFA with in situ conservation through community seed banks. The objective was to enhance farmers’ access to diverse, high-quality seed from farmers’ seed systems, and to strengthen policy support for pluralistic approaches to seed system development. Core activities included capacity development for farmers on seed production and marketing, participatory variety selection as well as policy review and development. Five community seed banks have been established so far, serving around 3000 farmers. Recent policies, including Uganda’s draft PGRFA Policy of 2016 and the National Seed Policy of 2019 recognize the importance of a pluralistic seed system and the need to integrate formal and informal seed systems, also emphasizing the importance of community seed banks.

DOI	(not set)
Most relevant categories	Facilitation of farmers’ access to a diversity of PGRFA through community seed banks, seed networks and other measures improving farmers’ choices of a wider diversity of PGRFA.
Also relevant categories	Recognition of local and indigenous communities’, farmers’ contributions to conservation and sustainable use of PGRFA, such as awards and recognition of custodian/guardian farmers Participatory approaches to research on PGRFA, including characterization and evaluation, participatory plant breeding and variety selection Farmers’ participation in decision-making at local, national and sub-regional, regional and international levels Training, capacity development and public awareness creation Legal measures for the implementation of Farmers’ Rights, such as legislative measures related to PGRFA.
Institution/organization	Government organization; Research Centers and Academic Institution
Provision of Art. 9 addressed	Art. 9.1; Art. 9.2a; Art. 9.2c; Art. 9.3
Types	Technical
Countries	Uganda
Regions	Africa
Keywords	Capacity development; Community seed banks; Crop diversity; Farmers’ Rights; In situ conservation; Local varieties; PGRFA; Seed system; Traditional knowledge
Resource link	https://www.fao.org/3/ca7848en/ca7848en.pdf

DOI

(not set)

Most relevant categories

Facilitation of farmers’ access to a diversity of PGRFA through community seed banks, seed networks and other measures improving farmers’ choices of a wider diversity of PGRFA.

Also relevant categories

Recognition of local and indigenous communities’, farmers’ contributions to conservation and sustainable use of PGRFA, such as awards and recognition of custodian/guardian farmers
Participatory approaches to research on PGRFA, including characterization and evaluation, participatory plant breeding and variety selection
Farmers’ participation in decision-making at local, national and sub-regional, regional and international levels
Training, capacity development and public awareness creation
Legal measures for the implementation of Farmers’ Rights, such as legislative measures related to PGRFA.

Institution/organization

Government organization; Research Centers and Academic Institution

Provision of Art. 9 addressed

Art. 9.1; Art. 9.2a; Art. 9.2c; Art. 9.3

Types

Technical

Countries

Uganda

Regions

Africa

Keywords

Capacity development; Community seed banks; Crop diversity; Farmers’ Rights; In situ conservation; Local varieties; PGRFA; Seed system; Traditional knowledge

Resource link

https://www.fao.org/3/ca7848en/ca7848en.pdf