Seeds for Needs

Bioversity International's 'Seeds for Needs' initiative works with >20,000 smallholder farmers in 13 countries to research how agricultural biodiversity can minimize the risks associated with climate change. The concept is simple – if farmers have better information and access to a wide range of varieties, they are more able to choose what best suits their conditions and cope with unpredictable weather.

We focus on deploying existing diversity to farmers from wherever it is found, whether in genebanks, plant breeding programmes or in their own fields.  The farmers we work with are directly involved in evaluating and selecting varieties, providing valuable feedback on their preferred traits to scientists. By involving them as 'citizen scientists', we increase their first-hand knowledge of useful varieties and traits.

We then compare these experiences with our scientific data to identify important trends and map traits that then inform farmer decisions and breeding. In each country, we work closely with national researchers and extension systems, making sure we build capacity and push for policies that support the use of biodiversity by farmers. These partnerships have helped us involve farmers at a scale that would otherwise not be possible.

Results:

• In Ethiopia, >20% of the traditional Ethiopian varieties performed better than commercial varieties bred specifically for drought resistance, one variety yielded 61% better than the best commercial variety
• In India, partnerships and word-of-mouth increased participation from 30 to 15,000 farmers in just 3 years
• In Central America, our crowdsourcing approach is estimated to be up to 78% more cost-effective than conventional participatory varietal selection

Read the factsheet