Training and awareness creation work shop for Community Seed Banks

Since 1994, the Ethiopian Biodiversity Institute established over 30 community seed banks (CSBs) and organized Crop Conservator Associations (CCA) in various regional states of Ethiopia. In 2021, a new project has begun with the objectives of establishing a national CSBs platform that will support existing CSBs and networks of nearly 30 CSBs in different agro-ecological zones of Ethiopia, in addition to scaling out their activities and achievements, and contribute to strengthening the informal seed system. The key components of the project will be: (1) to support farmers sustainably use and conserve PGRFA; (2) network households in different agro-ecological zones networked and training on quality seed production from planting to storage; and exchange on technical CSB management and sustainable business model experience among different agro-ecological zones; (3) re-introduce, conserve and disseminate locally adapted varieties with farmers’ participation; (4) enhance seed systems to promote the use of adapted varieties through CSBs and Field Gene Banks (FGBs); (5) diversify local agricultural systems for enhanced resilience through the cultivation of cereals, pulses and others, and (6) characterize, phenotype, evaluate, document and pre-breed crop species of PGRFA for traits of importance to adaptation and resilience.