We cannot do without indigenous seeds to feed the world amid the climate crisis

Abstract

In the face of an increasingly dire climate crisis, the agriculture sector in Africa and beyond needs indigenous seeds to achieve food security. A law that recognises indigenous seeds and legalises the production, commercialisation, promotion and exchange of the heritage of seeds is a key tool that is much needed to ensure food security and sustainability in the agriculture sector. Unstable rainfall seasons have contributed to increases in humidity and temperature which amplify the frequency with which crop diseases appear. Extreme weather events such as floods and droughts make land unsuitable for farming, destroy crops and significantly reduce crop yields, resulting in major economic and social losses such as in people’s access to food, particularly in Africa. Native seeds are climate-resilient and are the best fit for climate change impacts, unlike foreign hybrid seeds, which are less resistant to plant diseases and climate change, sterile and cannot be replanted. However, many countries and particularly in Africa lack tools to exploit the acknowledged role of native seeds in ensuring food security in climate change times. To bridge this gap, it is crucial for the African Union to move forwards with the implementation of its immediate Strategic Action Plan for Agriculture and Native Seeds (SPANS). This action plan includes breaking with the forced harmonisation of industrial seeds, a fake solution to ensure food security in a time of inevitable climate change. Instead, a free market for indigenous seeds to promote the potential of their genetic heritage and their integration in agriculture will be formed. The plan also covers taking full advantage of the practices and knowledge that farmers and researchers in sustainable agriculture have developed based on the genetic heritage of each country fostered by its climate. Thinking SPANS is an important step forward to absorb global shocks of food insecurity such as the Ukraine-Russian war, which is a great contributor to crop shortages worldwide, in addition to climate change and water scarcity.