Reclaiming Agricultural Wisdom in East Africa
Overview
Seed saving is an ancient practice where farmers collect, clean, dry, and store seeds from their best crops for replanting in the next season. Across East Africa, this simple act is the foundation of food sovereignty, biodiversity, and cultural continuity. It ensures:
A diverse gene pool adapted to local climates
Resilience against climate shocks and market disruptions
Lower costs and reduced dependence on commercial seed markets
Preservation of cultural knowledge, rituals, and indigenous varieties
In Uganda and Kenya, this practice is now endangered — but also being powerfully revived.
Challenges to Seed Saving in Kenya and Uganda
1. Proliferation of GMO Seeds
While marketed as solutions to food insecurity, GMOs often come with restrictive patents. Farmers cannot legally save or replant these seeds. Each season, they must purchase new stock, increasing debt and dependence.
Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs): Ban seed saving for GMO crops.
Genetic Use Restriction Technologies (GURTs): “Terminator seeds” are engineered to be sterile after one cycle. Though not yet commercialized, their potential has raised global alarm about farmer autonomy.
2. Restrictive Seed Laws
Laws in both Uganda and Kenya criminalize sharing or exchanging non-certified seeds.
Farmers can face fines or prosecution for saving traditional varieties.
These policies often reflect international trade agreements and corporate lobbying — not the needs of rural communities.
3. Corporate Influence and “Seed Colonialism”
Multinational corporations push GMO adoption across Africa, threatening local seed systems. Critics call this “seed colonialism” — an economic system where external actors control farming inputs, disempowering traditional knowledge and creating dependency.
Uganda: Between Policy Paralysis and Grassroots Advocacy
Uganda remains at a legislative crossroads. Since 2012, the government has repeatedly introduced the National Biotechnology and Biosafety Bill, which would legalize GMO commercialization. Backed by global biotech interests, the bill has sparked intense public resistance.
Widespread distrust stems from fears of seed patenting, corporate dependency, and loss of traditional seed autonomy.
The Uganda Parliament has rejected or stalled the bill multiple times, pressured by alliances of farmers, churches, and civil society.
Organizations such as the Food Rights Alliance and the Uganda National Farmers Federation (UNFFE) have demanded inclusive public consultation, environmental assessments, and legal protections for smallholder seed systems.
These national efforts complement local seed banks and agroecology initiatives, reinforcing that legal advocacy and community practice must go hand in hand.
Read more: The East African – Uganda Blocks GMO Bill Again
Kenya: Courtroom Battles and National Pushback
In October 2022, the Kenyan Cabinet lifted the 10-year ban on GMOs — a move made without public consultation or parliamentary oversight. The decision sparked immediate legal and civic resistance.
In February 2023, the Kenyan High Court issued an injunction, suspending GMO maize imports and cultivation pending further judicial review — a landmark moment for seed sovereignty activists.
Leading the challenge were coalitions like the Kenya Biodiversity Coalition and Route to Food Initiative, who warned that unregulated GMO adoption threatens biodiversity, farmer autonomy, and food safety.
The debate revealed Kenya’s internal policy divides: while the Ministry of Agriculture promotes biotech solutions, farmers and food justice advocates emphasize locally adapted, community-controlled seeds.
Read more: Beyond Pesticides – Kenya Court Halts GMO Imports
🌍 Key Insights
National policies shape seed freedom: Laws passed in Kampala and Nairobi can either protect or dismantle traditional farming systems.
Courts and coalitions are vital: Legal action and civic pressure are proving effective in pushing back against corporate seed regimes.
Seeds are political: They are not just agricultural inputs — they are contested resources, embedded in power and culture.
“To protect the seed is to protect the future. And the courtroom is now one of the frontlines.”
🌾 Community Responses and Resilience
Despite the challenges imposed by restrictive laws, corporate pressure, and the erosion of traditional knowledge, communities across Kenya and Uganda are actively reclaiming their seed sovereignty. Their responses are not just reactions to crisis — they are transformative acts of ecological and cultural renewal.
🏡 Community Seed Banks
Community seed banks (CSBs) serve as decentralized storage centers where farmers save, access, and exchange locally adapted seeds. These banks reduce reliance on commercial hybrids and safeguard agricultural biodiversity.
Kiziba Community Seed Bank, located in Uganda’s Sheema District, conserves over 69 varieties of beans and supports more than 2,000 farmers, especially women. It is a critical hub for seed access and training during seasonal cycles (Alliance Bioversity International).
In Kenya, Nyando Community Seed Bank not only protects diverse crop varieties but also hosts annual seed and food fairs where traditional knowledge, cuisine, and seeds are celebrated and exchanged among neighboring villages (Bioversity.org).
🧑🏿🌾 Farmer-to-Farmer Networks
Local organizations are helping reestablish the social systems that traditionally supported seed sharing:
The Seed Savers Network Kenya has trained and empowered over 50,000 smallholder farmers in 18 counties, helping them recover traditional seed varieties, establish seed multiplication plots, and organize community fairs (Seed Savers Kenya).
Farmers are increasingly turning to horizontal learning, forming local networks that allow them to exchange not only seeds, but knowledge about drought resistance, planting calendars, and pest control without chemicals.
👩🏿 Women as Custodians of Seed and Knowledge
In East African agricultural traditions, women are the primary seed selectors, conservers, and story-holders. Yet their knowledge has been marginalized by colonial histories and modern agribusiness models. Community-led seed saving initiatives are restoring their central role:
Women in communities like Kiziba and Nyando are leading trainings on seed selection, storage, and storytelling.
Elders are increasingly being invited to mentor youth, ensuring intergenerational transmission of planting indicators — such as lunar cycles, star patterns, and insect migrations.
🌍 Rituals and Cultural Mapping
Some communities use eco-cultural mapping — a participatory process that connects seed diversity with stories, rituals, seasons, and sacred landscapes. These maps act as memory tools, re-rooting the seed in its rightful context — not just as a commodity, but as a part of cultural cosmology.
“When we revive our seeds, we are not just planting food. We are restoring our ancestors’ voice in the soil.”
🎬 Seeds of Sovereignty — A Film About Resistance, Memory, and the Future of Food
“This is not just a film about seeds. It is a film about power, about memory, and about reclaiming the right to life.”
Seeds of Sovereignty is more than a documentary — it is a testament to the courage of African farmers who are standing up to a system that seeks to erase their knowledge, biodiversity, and independence. Produced by The Gaia Foundation and African partners, the film explores how farmers across Ethiopia, Ghana, South Africa, and Kenya are reviving indigenous seed systems in defiance of industrial agriculture.
🎥 Watch the Film:
▶️ Full Documentary (38 minutes):
🔗 Watch on YouTube
🌾 What the Film Covers
The Rise of Corporate Agriculture: How GMO seeds and hybrid monocultures have flooded African markets, displacing native varieties and deepening farmer dependency.
Seed is Sacred: In many African cultures, seeds are not commodities — they are gifts from ancestors, stored and passed on through rituals, prayers, and stories.
Community Revival: From seed sharing ceremonies in Ghana to community seed banks in Kenya, the film shows farmers returning to ancestral knowledge and rebuilding networks of exchange.
Women at the Center: The documentary pays tribute to women — the traditional custodians of seed — whose role is now being reclaimed as central to food sovereignty and cultural survival.
💬 Voices from the Film
“They told us our seeds were old. But our seeds know us. They remember our land. They remember the rains.”
— Elder farmer, Ethiopia
“What we need is not charity seeds from corporations. What we need is the memory of our own food.”
— Woman seed keeper, Ghana
“When we share seed, we are not just sharing food. We are sharing power.”
— Community leader, Kenya
🔎 Why This Film Matters
Educational tool: Ideal for schools, community groups, and policy discussions. It can spark critical reflection on agriculture, ecology, and indigenous rights.
Call to action: The film encourages viewers to support local seed-saving initiatives and reject the false promise of corporate seed dependency.
Global relevance: While focused on Africa, the film’s message resonates worldwide — in every region where local food systems are under threat.
📚 Want to Go Deeper?
Explore seed-saving networks: Seed Savers Network Kenya | AFSA – Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa
Learn about the film’s impact: Gaia Foundation – Seeds of Freedom Trilogy
🌍 Final Reflection
This film is not just something to watch — it is something to live. Across East Africa, communities are writing a new story for the seed. A story not of dependency, but of resilience, memory, and freedom.
Watch it. Share it. Plant the future.
