Waking up: the experience of the Jogimara community seed bank

Halfway between Kathmandu and Pokhara, along the main road, in the village of Jogimara, a small, two-story building can be found. There is a hand-painted sign on the door, which reads: Jogimara community seed bank.

“For a long time we were asleep, but Local Initiatives for Biodiversity Research and Development (LI-BIRD) helped us to wake up and become active in the conservation of plant genetic resources,” said Hariram Khatiwada, the president of the community seed bank.

Bioversity International is working together with LI-BIRD and other Nepalese agencies to strengthen community seed banks across the country, improve the national community seed bank policy and share Nepalese experiences globally.

“In 2009, LI-BIRD staff offered training on several issues, such as farmers’ and breeders’ rights, intellectual property, conservation of agricultural biodiversity, and access and benefit sharing of genetic resources. This encouraged us to set up small community-based biodiversity groups in nine wards, where we made an inventory of all plant genetic resources that they have there. We have a rich diversity, but unfortunately, nowadays most farmers do not value local varieties so much. They all favour modern varieties and hybrids, which they consider ‘better.’ But we know the value of the local varieties. For example, finger millet has a high iron content which is good for pregnant women. Instead of buying expensive capsules, we prefer to use local crops.”

Maintaining crop and varietal diversity

The Jogimara community seed bank maintains varieties of the major crops of the area: you can find 11 irrigated and five upland rice varieties, and two varieties of maize. In addition, it houses a large collection of the so-called neglected and minor crops, including several types of minor millets, beans, gourds, plants that contain vegetable oil, cowpea, and pumpkin.  

“We dry the seed that we receive thoroughly. Initially, we only used clay pots, but now we prefer the plastic pots which are good to keep the seeds away from moisture. They are cheaper too,” explains the Jogimara seed bank curator.

“At the start of each growing season we organize a meeting with villagers to identify what kinds of seeds they would like to borrow. Our rule is: for each kilogram borrowed, one and a half kilograms has to be paid back,” reveals the seed bank curator.  “We also established a small biodiversity fund that supports conservation and use of local varieties conserved in the community seed bank. Anyone who borrows from the fund needs to grow at least one traditional crop variety. In 2011, the second year of our operations, we distributed about 250 kg of seeds. 155 farmers have benefitted to date. The number is growing, because farmers do not have to pay for the seeds in cash.

Although so far the community seed bank has managed its operations well, they face a number of challenges. LI-BIRD supported the setting up of the Jogimara seed bank with a one-time financial contribution. Additional funds and in-kind contributions were mobilized in each ward, which allowed the construction of the seed bank building. Since the beginning of 2012, the seed bank has been operating on its own with no external financial support, receiving only technical support from LI-BIRD and partners such as Bioversity International. The seed bank remains a voluntary organization and its staff receives no salary.

See more photos from the Jogimara community seed bank on Bioversity International's Flickr stream here.

Read more about LI-BIRD and Bioversity International partnership success stories here.

Story by Ronnie Vernooy (Bioversity International) and Pitambar Shrestha (LI-BIRD)