MANIFESTOS ON THE FUTURE OF FOOD AND SEED
EDITED BY VANDANA SHIVA
SOUTH END PRESS 2007
PART X
PART THREE
SEEDS FOR THE FUTURE: BREEDING TOMORROW’S SEEDS
Seeds embody the past and the future. The evolution of seeds in the future depends on our conserving the widest diversity of seeds and crop varieties to deal with the multiple challenges of food and nutritional security, food quality, climate change, and sustainability.
The following are ways in which the conservation, use, and further development of seeds can be tailored to meet the challenges ahead:
COMMUNITY-BASED SEED CONSERVATION & DEVELOPMENT
The preservation and maintenance of seeds and the knowledge about them should be based on and rooted in those who make use of them. Ex-situ and in-situ conservation of germ plasm should be conducted to support essential on-farm seed maintenance. Strategies and technologies for the further development of seeds should be based on the wealth of experience and ingenuity of farmers and food communities in general and include their participation and active input. This process should include making modern technologies of selection, identification, and breeding available to farming communities.
EMBEDDING IN AGRICULTURAL ECOSYSTEMS
As a matter of principle, seed varieties should be developed that allow farmers to conserve soil, water, and biodiversity and intelligently adapt to local and regional environment to the needs of the seed. We should develop the seeds of tomorrow with the goal of embedding agricultural production in agro-ecosystems to protect soil, water, and biodiversity and increase resilience to environmental change.
REDUCE GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS
To minimize the emission of the greenhouse gases that are leading to climate chaos, seeds should require no more external input of energy (through synthetic chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and fuel) than absolutely necessary. The goal should be agricultural practices that are greenhouse-gas-emission neutral and that rely on renewable energy and on soil-biological resources.
PHASE OUT & ELIMINATE TOXIC INPUTS
To reduce the toxic contamination of our food chain and environment, we should shift from breeding seeds that respond to chemical inputs to seeds that are better adapted to the requirements of agroecological practices.
DIVERSITY WITHIN VARIETIES
As a means to reduce the risk of susceptibility to pests and adverse environmental conditions, and to enhance the natural diversity, future seed development should be based on the broadest possible genetic diversity. To this end, an urgent review of present commercial requirements for the homogeneity of seed varieties is called for.
BREEDING FOR FOOD QUALITY
The holistic quality of food, including its taste and nutritional value, should be the dominant concern for further enhancing, preserving, and developing seeds of the future.
WOMEN ARE THE PROTAGONISTS OF BIODIVERSITY
Globally, women represent the majority of the agricultural workforce and are the present and traditional custodians of seed security, diversity, and quality. Women are also the prime repositories and disseminators of knowledge about the quality and methods of processing food. As such, their central role in safeguarding biodiversity and in conserving, exchanging, and reproducing seeds in post-industrial agriculture must be supported and enhanced.
PART FOUR
LIVING ALTERNATIVES – SEEDS OF HOPE
Seeds are an expression of hope. They bring to mind a cornucopia of harvest. Large numbers of individuals, initiatives, and traditional food communities the world over have long been engaged in safeguarding seed. Despite the present alarming scenario of monocultures and corporate seed monopolies, many encouraging initiatives have sprung up to counter the threat posed by industrial agriculture. The principles on which this manifesto is based have evolved from the initiatives and actions of diverse groups and movements across the world. The following are some examples.
v A mushrooming of seed banks to preserve ex-situ and cultivate in-situ seed and plant diversity is taking place within seed communities. Women have played a pivotal role in safeguarding the heritage of seed and are set to continue to do so in increasing numbers. Movements such as Seeds of Survival in Ethiopia and Navdanya in India have evolved new models of saving seeds and enhancing the food security and ecological security of farming communities.
v Seed-saving initiatives and seed-exchange platforms are taking on an increasingly important role. Large numbers of individuals are creating gardens with the express purpose of growing their own food. They have the potential to play an important role in seed saving and exchange. A number of communities committed to the protection of, and reversing the huge losses in, seed and breed varieties are rallying their forces. One such example is the Presidia biodiversity-protection project of the Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity. Versions of this project have sprung up in all regions of the world.
v Targeted plant-breeding projects that adapt seeds to the needs of organic and ecological agriculture are fast increasing.
v Alliances and networks of civil society around seed are being built on the regional, national, and international levels. Examples include networks like ETC and GRAIN and political-pressure initiatives like Save Our Seeds, as well as farmer rights groups.
v Movements such as No Patents on Life in Europe and movements to create patent-free zones (Living Democracy/Jaiv Panchayat) and non-cooperation with patents on seeds (Bija Satyagraha) in India, and the seed-sovereignty movement of Native American tribes in North America are evolving from the ground up to defend the freedom of seed.
v Working in parallel with civil society activities are initiatives to adopt laws that establish GMO-free zones on a large scale and protect diversity of seed. The region of Tuscany’s Law on Seed is a good example of how local and regional governments can take responsible and concerted action to protect seed diversity.
v The fast-growing direct relationship between producers and consumers, such as Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) networks, are another vibrant step in the movement toward conserving and maintaining seed and plant varieties.
v International agreements such as the Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture and its Article 9 on Farmers’ Rights and the Convention on Biological Diversity have the potential to counter the aggressive control and suicide-oriented policies of large multinational corporations. This potential needs to be strengthened.
v Demands to review Act 27.3(b) of the TRIPS agreement of the WTO and stop the patents on life, patents on seeds and biopiracy of farmers’ varieties and traditional knowledge continue to be made by third world governments.
The future evolution of humanity goes hand in hand with the future and free evolution of our seeds. What is embedded in and has been practiced by peasant cultures from time immemorial needs the utmost support from the public and private sector if our right to choose and to live healthy, safe, and culturally diverse lives is to prevail.
The future of seeds carries within it the future of humanity.
APPENDIX
INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION ON THE FUTURE OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURE
BELLY OF THE BEAST $5.99/LB
THE FUTURE OF FOOD IN THE US
A view from Behind the Counter by Jamey Lionette