Value of Household and Community Seed Banks

"Value of Household and Community Seed Banks" is the fifth video release in a series of six videos from the African Center for Biodiversity (ACB). Availability of and access to diverse, quality seed is a key element in successful crop production. Local seed banks owned and run by farmers are an effective way to expand seed collections, and to maintain and distribute diverse seed varieties that are not offered in the commercial system. Seed banks may take the form of household networks, or group schemes. The public sector – including the National Gene Bank, the Agricultural Research Council and extension services – have an important role to play in bringing fresh genetic materials to farmers, and in reintroducing lost varieties and crops held at national level. In South Africa, different initiatives are under way to build farmer-based seed bank networks both in the public sector and by civil society.