Ejere Farmer Crop Conservation Association (FCAS) and Community Seed Bank

The Community Seed Bank (CSB) in Ejere, Ethiopia, attracts many visitors each year, from Ethiopia as well as abroad, who wish to learn about their achievements and success. Through conservation and participatory improvement of local crop diversity and related activities, the CSB has significantly improved seed and food security, nutrition and livelihoods in the whole area. Initiated by USC Canada in collaboration with the then Plant Genetic Resources Centre, Ethiopia, in 1990, the work was later taken over by the NGO Ethio-organic Seed Action, with support from the Development Fund, Norway. The objective is to promote sustainable climate-change adaptation among farmer communities through enhanced capacity to sustainably manage, develop and utilize local agrobiodiversity as an adaptive mechanism to climate change. Core components include reintroduction of traditional crops, conservation, participatory varietal selection to adapt promising crops to changing environmental conditions and improve desired properties, quality seed production and distribution, seed fairs, training in advanced organic production methods and income generating activities. The success of the CSB has been achieved, inter alia, through awareness raising, competent supervision, solid research prior to project planning, financial support over a sufficient period of time and a democratic and transparent organization with good governance.