Projects we support include farmer-to-farmer knowledge exchanges, community seed banks, farmer-led research and plant breeding, and co-ops through which farmers can improve their incomes by bringing healthy food to local markets.
Ecologically sound farming techniques that preserve and enhance biodiversity are at the core of all of our work. Our guiding principles are food sovereignty and agroecology – two transformative concepts put forward by farmers’ movements to build a just and sustainable world.
Informed by an equity lens, we prioritize supporting farming communities that have been marginalized ecologically, socially, and economically.We support the defense of Indigenous and traditional seeds and knowledge by following the leadership of Indigenous and small-scale farmers.
Our work with partners aims to counter inequity and support transformative change toward justice, health, and sustainable food systems.
Our main domestic program is The Bauta Family Initiative on Canadian Seed Security. Through this program, we work in partnership with organic and agro-ecological seed producers and farmers across the country to advance agricultural biodiversity across Canada and build a movement for resilient seed systems.
As The Bauta Initiative celebrates its 10th anniversary in 2023, click here to read about a decade of successes and learnings.
Our most recent International project is Rural Women Cultivating Change (RWCC), a six year, $14.8 million program funded by Global Affairs Canada implemented in rural regions of East Africa. The project focuses on the intersection between women’s rights and climate adaptation in order to better support women’s empowerment through sustainable resource management, ecological agriculture production and equitable access to localized markets.
We work in Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Togo, Guinea-Bissau, Senegal and Burkina Faso on Participatory Seed Security and Action Plans to increase seed security for local communities.
The Seeds of Survival Scale-Up Program was a five year, $19.5 million climate resilience and food security program that ran from 2015 to 2020. You can explore here the publications, methods and results from our program.
Although the program itself is completed, we still currently work in various regions of the world (Honduras, Bolivia, Cuba, Mali, Mesoamerica and Timor Leste using the Seeds of Survival approach we’ve developed over the years. Learn more about Seeds of Survival methods here.
View our 2022 results for Honduras, Bolivia, and Timor-Leste.
We support Working Group members globally as a coordinating body.
