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!

In this article ESSRG, reports on the renewed interest – and importance – of short and local distribution channels, which are better able to meet the growing demand for alternative grains in Europe. A perfect introduction to the recently released film True Bread, produced by ESSRG, telling the story of small-scale farmers, millers, and bakers in Hungary gathering to restore coherent collaboration. Continue reading...

As part of a series of visits to Greek farmers and seed savers organised in partnership with SITO, the Seeds4All team had the great pleasure to spend a few days at the Monastery of St John's the Baptist, perched on the heights of Mount Kissavos. There, we met the 22 nuns who have been living for 24 years in a remarkable building they have restored with their own hands. Welcome to their gardens! 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.