Daniel Wanjama leads a grassroots effort to protect Kenya’s indigenous seeds. Through the Seed Savers Network, he conserves agricultural biodiversity and supports small-scale farmers.
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00:00Indigenous seeds is the foundation of farming. More than 70 varieties now cannot
00:09be found. The lack of use is what is leading to extinction. I thought there
00:16must be a way we need to conserve traditional seeds from food production
00:21to environmental sustainability. If people want to address challenges in
00:25farming, they must start with seeds. My name is Wanjam Daniel. I am the
00:32coordinator of Seed Savers Network.
00:44Seed Savers Network is a grassroots organization in Kenya conserving agricultural
00:50biodiversity for food security. Seed Savers Network work through three main
00:57strategies. Policy advocacy, training program for farmers and conservation of
01:04agricultural biodiversity. The commercial seed industry is not able to make seed for
01:10everything. We will make seeds that will prioritize profit, which is very unfortunate
01:17and has led the country into the direction of having only maize as a food security crop.
01:26Just growing one type of crop when you need to feed a family of maybe eight people is
01:33not suitable to the context of small scale farmers. I thought farmers can use methods that are
01:41sustainable. This is why Seed Savers Network was registered. As the name implies, is a network of many
01:55players who are focused on conserving indigenous seeds. They are adapted to the climate. You don't need
02:03a lot of external input to support them to grow. Cost of farming is lower. The first
02:11thing we'll do is to have capacity building sessions where former leaders are trained.
02:17what?
02:38It's a market that should keep the tree and the market that should keep the tree and the market.
02:42In this case, the seeds have a great help with seed savers,
02:46which becomes a good price, even as a great market.
02:51Once they have been trained, they go back to the community to train the members of the community.
02:58People who used to spend money buying seeds now know how to make seeds.
03:03The main benefit for farmers who are in the network is accessing diverse seeds from one another.
03:11They don't need to buy them. They're able to obtain them from neighbours and friends.
03:20We establish community seed banks across the country.
03:25We do the mobilisation and collection of seeds.
03:28They are tested for moisture to make sure that they have dried to the correct level.
03:33Then they are tested for germinations, and after that, they are weighed.
03:39They are packed in smaller packs. You keep for a season or two, then they are planted again.
03:45The second level of storage is putting them under cool condition.
03:51That is, putting them around four degrees or lower.
03:55And those seeds are kept in the fridge for five years.
03:59We also have a third category of seeds that are kept under negative 19 degrees, and those ones will be kept for 100 years and more, so that people who will come after us, they can still find seeds.
04:13We have been able to conserve many digital varieties that were initially at risk of extinction.
04:23We have been able to establish more than 100 community seed banks now, and the network of more than 85,000 farmers.
04:30The seed saver's network impact can be visibly seen in the life of small-scale farmers.
04:41The farmers who are part of our network are also very proud people.
04:45They have become researchers.
04:46Some of them have bred their own varieties.
04:48They have been processed.
05:06They have been a three-week, so they can grow older people.
05:11They have been a three-week, and they have a five-week, and they have one-week.
05:14This is why we are doing this.
05:23This is why we are doing this.
05:26This is why we are doing this.
05:31We are doing this.
05:36They live in themselves.
05:38It is a very beautiful thing.
05:40I am very pleased that it has unfolded well.
05:43But we still have a long way to go.
05:46It is a lifetime journey that will continue.
05:49I want to believe that in the future, the seed saving practice,
05:53community seed bank, will be in every village in Kenya.