Our Strategy

Seed Savers Network Kenya is committed to empowering smallholder farmers by preserving agricultural biodiversity and advancing food security through farmer-led initiatives.

Agrobiodiversity Conservation

Community Seed Banks

Seed Savers Network has established 105 community seed banks across Kenya, safeguarding thousands of indigenous and climate-resilient seed varieties. These banks serve as local seed reserves, ensuring that smallholder farmers can access, store, and exchange diverse seeds.

Our approach strengthens seed sovereignty by reducing reliance on commercial seed markets, which often favor hybrid and genetically modified varieties. Through community seed banks, farmers can access, store, and multiply seeds, preserving agricultural diversity while enhancing their resilience to climate change.

Each seed bank operates as a learning hub, offering training on seed saving techniques, storage practices, and the importance of indigenous crop varieties. These banks have facilitated farmer-led seed exchanges, increased food sovereignty, and contributed to the conservation of endangered traditional seeds.

Impact: Farmers using seed banks report increased yields, improved food security, and reduced dependence on costly external seed sources.

Over time, many indigenous seed varieties have been lost due to changing agricultural policies, market pressures, and climate challenges. To counter this, Seed Savers Network works with farmers to regenerate and multiply traditional seeds, ensuring their continued availability.

Through our efforts, we have:

  • Conserved over 3,000 traditional seed accessions, with 1,000 also stored at the National Gene Bank and the Svalbard Global Seed Vault.
  • Supported field regeneration programs where farmers grow, harvest, and redistribute endangered seed varieties.
  • Documented and characterized 64 farmer varieties, making them accessible for future generations.

By restoring these seeds, we enhance biodiversity, promote food security, and empower farming communities to maintain control over their agricultural heritage.

Unlike seed banks that focus on dry storage, field gene banks maintain live collections of crops that require continuous cultivation, such as root tubers and vegetatively propagated plants (cassava, sweet potatoes, bananas).

Our demonstration plots serve as:

  • Hands-on learning spaces, where farmers receive training in agroecological practices.
  • Research centers, comparing the performance of indigenous crops versus commercial varieties.
  • Conservation sites, where farmers document and evaluate traditional seed varieties.

In 2024, we successfully established 11 community demonstration plots and one main field gene bank at our Seed Savers Learning Center. These plots are essential for preserving true-to-type indigenous crop varieties and enhancing knowledge-sharing among farmers.

Farmers have always been the custodians of seeds, exchanging them through informal networks long before the emergence of commercial seed companies. Seed Savers Network strengthens these traditional exchange systems by:

  • Organizing local and national seed fairs, where farmers share and trade indigenous seeds. Supporting farmer cooperatives and community seed banks to facilitate seasonal seed distribution.
  • Promoting digital solutions such as the Online Seed Exchange Platform, connecting farmers across Kenya.

Our annual national seed fairs have brought together over 3,000 farmers from multiple counties, leading to wider seed access, knowledge exchange, and stronger community resilience.

Why it matters: Seed exchanges preserve genetic diversity, strengthen food sovereignty, and reduce reliance on expensive commercial seeds.

Capacity Building

Agroecology Training

To build resilient and sustainable food systems, Seed Savers Network equips farmers with agroecological skills that enhance productivity while preserving biodiversity.

Our training programs focus on:

  • Soil fertility management – Composting, mulching, and organic fertilizers to improve soil health.
  • Natural pest & disease control – Using bio-pesticides and companion planting to reduce chemical dependency.
  • Drought-resilient farming – Promoting traditional crop varieties that thrive in arid conditions. In 2024 alone, we trained hundreds of farmers in agroecology across different counties, enabling them to grow more food using sustainable methods.

We use a farmer-to-farmer extension model, where trained Seed Ambassadors lead knowledge-sharing efforts within their communities. These ambassadors:

  • Train fellow farmers on seed saving, storage, and multiplication techniques.
  • Advocate for farmer-managed seed systems in local and national policy spaces.
  • Facilitate community seed fairs and seed banks, ensuring widespread access to indigenous seeds.

Currently, we have over 4,820 trained Seed Ambassadors, each playing a key role in expanding agroecology and biodiversity conservation.

Impact: This model has helped establish strong local networks where farmers learn from each other and preserve traditional farming practices.

Beyond seed saving, we support farmers in turning their produce into profitable enterprises by:

  • Training them in processing and packaging of traditional foods like sorghum flour and dried indigenous vegetables.
  • Linking them to organic markets, cooperatives, and social enterprises. Facilitating equipment access for seed processing and food preservation.

In 2024, over 10 tonnes of traditional vegetables, tubers, cereals, and fruits were supplied to local and national markets through Seed Savers-supported networks.

Why it matters: By enhancing market access, we increase farmers’ incomes while promoting biodiversity and healthy food systems.

Our Learning Centers in Gilgil, Baringo and Kakamega

Seed Savers Network’s Learning Center in Gilgil is a dynamic space where farmers, students, and researchers come together to engage in practical, hands-on learning that strengthens seed sovereignty, sustainable agriculture, and agroecological enterprises. The center serves as a hub for knowledge exchange, innovation, and community empowerment, ensuring that traditional agricultural practices are preserved while integrating modern, sustainable farming techniques.

1. Seed Saving & Conservation

The Learning Center provides comprehensive training on seed conservation, empowering farmers to preserve, multiply, and share diverse indigenous seed varieties. Our approach includes:

  • Seed Selection & Storage: Farmers learn how to identify, clean, dry, and store seeds properly to maintain viability for future planting.
  • Community Seed Banking: We train farmers on how to establish and manage seed banks, ensuring year-round seed availability.
  • Seed Characterization & Documentation: Participants gain skills in documenting traditional seed varieties, an important step in recognizing and protecting farmer-managed seed systems.
  • Seed Exchange Programs: Farmers are connected with seed fairs and farmer-to-farmer exchange networks, ensuring wider access to climate-resilient seeds.

Impact: Through our training, farmers gain independence from commercial seed markets, preserve traditional crops, and strengthen their food security.

2. Agroecological Farming

Agroecology is at the heart of sustainable food production. At the Learning Center, farmers receive hands-on training in:

  • Climate-smart farming techniques: Focused on drought-resilient crops, intercropping, and soil health management to enhance productivity in the face of climate change.
  • Organic soil fertility management: Farmers are trained on composting, crop rotation, mulching, and use of bio-fertilizers to restore soil nutrients naturally.
  • Natural pest & disease control: We promote the use of botanical pesticides, companion planting, and biological pest control to minimize chemical use while protecting crops.
  • Water conservation practices: Training covers rainwater harvesting, drip irrigation, and water-efficient farming techniques to support year-round food production.

Impact: Farmers adopting agroecological methods reduce input costs, improve soil fertility, and enhance biodiversity while achieving higher yields.

3. Market-Driven Agro-Enterprises

Beyond training in conservation and agroecology, the Learning Center equips farmers with entrepreneurial skills to enhance their economic opportunities through sustainable agriculture. Our programs include:

  • Value Addition Training: Farmers learn food processing, preservation, and packaging techniques to create market-ready products such as traditional flours, dried vegetables, and herbal teas.
  • Business & Financial Literacy: Training covers record-keeping, cooperative management, pricing strategies, and marketing skills to help farmers scale their businesses.
  • Market Linkages: We connect farmers to organic food markets, increasing demand for indigenous crops.
  • Access to Agro-processing Infrastructure: Farmers are introduced to processing facilities where they can mill, dry, and package their products for commercial distribution.

Impact: These initiatives enable farmers to increase their incomes, sustain agroecological businesses, and reduce post-harvest losses while promoting traditional food systems.

Our Learning Center in Gilgil is a hub for farmers, students, and researchers to gain hands-on experience in:

  • Seed saving & conservation
  • Agroecological farming
  • Market-driven agro-enterprises

The center hosts local and international learning visits, including delegations from Ethiopia, Malawi, Zambia, and Canada. Farmers who train here become resource persons in their communities, further amplifying knowledge and impact.

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Advocacy

Policy & Legal Reforms

We actively engage policymakers to ensure that laws protect farmer-managed seed systems. Some of our recent victories include:

  • The recognition of vegetatively propagated farmers’ varieties in Kenya’s seed laws.
  • Leading legal efforts to challenge restrictive seed policies that criminalize traditional seed saving.
  • Advocacy against the lifting of the GMO ban, supporting food sovereignty and biodiversity conservation.

Impact: Our advocacy has created policy shifts that favor farmer seed sovereignty at both national and international levels.

We empower farmers to engage with decision-makers through:

  • Public participation forums where they influence agricultural policies.
  • Media engagements, including farmer-led radio programs, TV interviews, and social media campaigns.
  • Grassroots mobilization, where farmers directly advocate for seed sovereignty and agroecology.

Farmers have successfully lobbied for seed bank infrastructure, influenced local government programs, and pushed for stronger legal protection of traditional seeds.

Seed fairs are a key platform for preserving indigenous seeds, promoting farmer-managed seed systems, and raising awareness on food sovereignty. 83 seed fairs mashinani were conducted across the country in 2024. These events bring together farmers, researchers, policymakers, and the public to:

  • Exchange Indigenous Seeds – Farmers trade and access diverse, locally adapted seeds, strengthening biodiversity and food security.
  • Advocate for Farmer Seed Rights – Direct engagement with policymakers influences national seed policies to recognize and support farmer-managed seed systems.
  • Promote Traditional Food Systems – By showcasing drought-tolerant and nutrient-rich crops, seed fairs encourage the revival of indigenous foods.
  • Enhance Climate Resilience – Farmers gain access to climate-adapted seeds, reducing reliance on commercial seed markets.

Our Impact

  • Award-Winning Recognition – SSN was named Best Exhibitor and 2nd Best Farmers’ Organization at the 2024 National Indigenous Seeds, Culture, and Food Harvest Fair.
  • Farmer-Led Advocacy – Through seed fairs, farmers amplify their voices, influencing policies and pushing for legal recognition of traditional seed systems.
  • Innovative Public Engagement – Farmers use radio, social media, and music to spread awareness on seed sovereignty.

Farmers Reached in 2024: 3285.

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