To date, following more than sixty years of restrictive legislation on the marketing of seeds at EU level, a very limited number of plant varieties and breeding materials are being placed on the market, threatening food sovereignty and security.

The erosion of cultivated biodiversity is linked to the accelerated development of an industrial food and farming system favouring intensive monoculture, patents on the living world, the concentration of means of production, the internationalisation of exchanges and loss of local specificities…

Faced with growing climatic pressures, this system must be questioned for its glaring lack of equity and capacity to adapt.

Two issues that seed diversity and autonmy can help solve!

In July 2023, the European Commission tabled two proposals for legislation that will be decisive for the future of our agri-food systems (on Plant Reproductive Material, on Plants produced by certain new genomic techniques). In this context, we are engaged in policy analysis and advocacy work, sharing voices and demands from the field in collaboration with key partners.

All the legislative information you need to understand the EU negotiations and debates on the marketing of seeds.

Our field reports from across Europe, using the seed angle to tackle issues relating to the agricultural transition.

A library of artistic resources to awaken your senses and knowledge of seeds, plants, agriculture and many more!

Saving seeds and preserving genetic resources goes hand in hand with the crucial question of legacy. But legacy does not stop at seeds, and in this article we move away from cultivated biodiversity as such to address the broader, but intrinsically linked, issue of passing on knowledge onto new generations. Meet the perfect person to explore this central aspect of agricultural development! Continue reading...

We are inheritors of a genetic commons that we have to protect. While working on the ground we need to be vigilant about what is happening at legal level – and work together. In March 24, we brought a European perspective to Cloughjordan, Co. Tipperary, co-hosting a first workshop on seed policy, and a second more hands-on workshop that looked at how to adapt and save seeds for the future. Continue reading...

Seeds4All is a project run by the Agricultural and Rural Convention for 2020 (ARC2020). As a hub for policy analysis and ground research, ARC2020 documents the socioecological transition of agriculture, building bridges between the local and the European.

Seeds4All is a member of the Global Bean Network gathering a hundred of partners from all over the world. Together they implement a range of activities to increase the cultivation and consumption of legumes around the world, highlighting their benefits for agricultural transition.