SFSGEC - Peasant agriculture, seeds, and biodiversity

Abstract

Farmers and food providers have created and maintained the knowledge and biodiversity that is the basis for the planet’s food supply for thousands of years. Yet seeds and biodiversity have been at the margins of the mainstream discourses on food security. New thinking and global events are rapidly changing as seeds, biodiversity, and peasant agriculture are now front and centre in the discourses promoting food sovereignty, food system resilience, and sustainability. This paper argues for a central place for this discourse, examines the state of peasant agriculture, and outlines the policies and measures needed to support it.