Without seed security, no food sovereignty

“Peanuts and millet must be together in the stomach and in the field,” says a farmer about the two main crops in hise community of N’diongolor, Senegal. In one sentence, he makes the link between nutrition and crop diversity. 

This words demonstrate a common theme throughout a seed security evaluation workshop organized by Inter Pares and SeedChange, a Canadian organization that promotes ecological food systems and seed preservation.

For farmers, seed security is the guarantee of producing or having access to quality seeds that are adapted to their environment and meet their needs.

Representatives from various counterpart organizations in West Africa had a discussion during the workshop. Together, they explored the role of seed security in agroecology. Women-led agroecology aims to improve access to this vital aspect of agriculture in addition to addressing access to land and to markets. 

The methodology learned during the workshop puts the knowledge of communities and the experience of women at the core of the process. Discussions around which seeds to sow, and who is assigned to clean them, help to make visible the work women do, as it often goes unnoticed. 

Participants left with tools to explore this topic in their own communities, taking with them the words of our host in the village of N’diongolor: “We have hope that the results of this workshop will help us to strengthen our resilience.”