The diversity of seed-saving governance and sharing systems in contemporary Japan

Abstract

Crop diversity in Japan is on the ebb, eroded by factors such as the rise of industrialised agriculture, a shrinking and ageing population of farmers, and a dearth of knowledge transmission between generations. However, thousands of Japanese farmers follow a practice vital to fostering agrobiodiversity: seed saving. Using a qualitative case study approach, Ayako Kawai tracked diverse seed governance and sharing systems across four groups of producers: traditional, organic and 'lifestyle' farmers and local community members. She found differences in the ways seeds are valued-cultural, economic, rights-based, familial or personal-that influence approaches to saving and sharing seeds. Organic and traditional farmers and community growers, for instance, tightly regulate seed distribution, while part-time producers are far keener to actively share seeds. That could, notes Kawai, create a dilemma if broader access to genetic resources becomes a general priority. Yet she concludes that a plurality of practices, like crop diversity itself, builds in resilience by spreading risk and offering a range of responses to future uncertainties.