WEDNESDAY, JAN 25, 2023: NOTE TO FILE
Module 3-5
Seed diversity and food sovereignty
The monoculture landscapes of industrial agriculture has resulted in a significant loss of seed varieties. Research done in 1983 by the Rural Advancement Foundation International, (RAFI), highlighted this loss of seed diversity by comparing listings of seed varieties sold by commercial seed companies in 1903 with those in the US National Seed Storage Laboratory in 1983. The survey of 66 crops, found that some 93% of the varieties had gone extinct. See Figure 2.4 for some of the seed loss comparisons.
The loss of seed varieties has been a direct result of large transnational corporations that have acquired many small seed companies and now control a majority percentage of seeds for the global food economy. Moreover, many of these seeds are now genetically modified (GMOs), which has further tampered with Nature’s realm and also made many farmers dependent on support from these transnational agro-corporations.
The control of seed varieties by private corporations is a global challenge which affects food sovereignty. Nevertheless, the adoption of sustainable agricultural systems promotes the establishment of biodiversity with enhanced seed varieties, thus resulting in greater food sovereignty resilience. This also creates a huge opportunity for heirloom seed companies to flourish and be the spark that regenerates agriculture.
In protest against the transnational corporations grip on seed sovereignty, a leading environmental activist, Vandana Shiva, co-founded the Navdanya NGO in India to create awareness about seeds, healthy food and sustainable forms of agriculture. Navdanya has since grown into a national movement in India and also a Global Seed Freedom Movement. In a recent article, Vandana Shiva stated that, “In an era of climate change, rejuvenating and regenerating the soil through ecological processes has become a survival imperative for the human species”, whilst in this short video (3 mins), she talks about the Seed Freedom Movement: [no science-based claims made, and I no beyond belief claims made. The intellectual rights of agribusiness is to discount.]
Module 3, lesson 6
