Community Seed Banks

In 2003, Local Initiatives for Biodiversity, Research and Development (LI-BIRD), in collaboration with the Nepal Agricultural Research Council (NARC) and Bioversity International, started to establish Community Seed Banks (CSB) with the aim to: (1) promote on-farm conservation and sustainable use of PGRFA; (2) provide easy access to quality seeds and planting materials of diverse crop species and varieties; and (3) promote Farmers' Rights and food sovereignty. Core components include a well-functioning farmers' group/organization; trained human resources/members; properly maintained databases and records; good physical infrastructure; a self-financing mechanism; as well as linkages and collaboration with local and provincial government, national genebank and stakeholders. As a result of the initiative, more than 1000 local varieties of nearly 65 crop species have been conserved on farm by various CSB producing nearly 200 tons of good quality seeds of popular improved varieties and making them available locally to over ten thousand households annually. Key lessons learned include that CSB are not only physical structures nor technical matters, but a group operation requiring empowerment of individual farmers and groups operating the CSB. In addition, self-financing mechanisms are required to ensure sustainability.