Seed sovereignty and agroecological scaling: two cases of seed recovery, conservation, and defense in Colombia

ABSTRACT

By evaluating two grassroots organizations that belong to the Red de Semillas Libres de Colombia (RSLC; Free Seed Network of Colombia), we show how the recovery, conservation, and defense of native and creole seeds have two types of effects on agroecological scaling. The first is a horizontal or scaling out effect, given that these activities involve the adoption of agroecological practices which allow for spreading knowledge, principles, and practices among seed custodians, their local communities and organizations, and the networks of these organizations. The second is a deepening effect, given that: 1) seed custodianship reaffirms and/or generates new peasant and indigenous identities and ways of life; 2) seed recovery, conservation, and defense conform a multi-dimensional process that is material, political, and symbolic, which provides cultural and territorial rootedness, and 3) strengthening of the social-organizational fabric through collective actions and strategies by seed custodians in their territories in defense of native and creole seeds. These processes propitiate fertile conditions for scaling peasant agroecology and contribute to the construction of seed sovereignty, which is an essential aspect of struggles to preserve and reproduce and native and creole seeds.

KEYWORDS:

• Native and creole seeds
• seed custodians
• seed systems
• depth scaling
• agroecology

Acknowledgments

We are grateful to the Red de Semillas Libres de Colombia, and in particular to the Red Agroecológica del Caribe and Custodios de Semillas de Riosucio – Custodias y custodios your passion and work on seeds is a great inspiration. Also, thanks to Alejandra Guzmán and Mateo Mier y Terán for valuable comments on an earlier draft and to CONACyT for the doctoral grant to Valeria García López.

Notes

1. We define territory as that space constructed of dynamic social processes which depend on the economic, political, and environmental context (Haesbaert 2011); these social processes involve multiple power relations in continual tension (Fernandes 2009).

2. We refer to native (to the Americas) and creole seeds (which, although not native to the Americas, have undergone adaptation). These terms are used by peasant, indigenous, and afro-descendent groups in Colombia to distinguish such seeds from commercial seeds. Other authors refer to them as local, traditional, and/or peasant seeds. In Latin America, approximately 70% to 80% of all crops are planted with native and creole seeds (ETC group 2017; Grupo Semillas and RSLC 2015).

3. All acronyms are based on their Spanish initials.

4. This network includes grassroots peasant, indigenous, and afro-descendent organizations, non-governmental organizations, student collectives, and other activists organized in a decentralized manner with the objective of promoting the right to produce, use, and distribute native and creole seeds (RSLC 2017).

5. We use the term “custodians” to include men and women committed to recovery, conservation, and defense of seeds.

6. Information was transcribed and analyzed using the programs ATLAS.ti 8 and CmapTools 6.01. Analysis resulted in 24 categories and 80 codes, providing the empirical basis for this article.

7. We understand despoilment as direct or covert appropriation of public or common property, backed by legal or illegal means (Gilly and Roux 2015).

8. See webpage “Seed laws around the world”: https://ejatlas.org/featured/seeds (accessed July 20, 2018).

9. Normalization consists of introducing norms and regulations that establish a value judgment regarding that which is normal, thereby excluding the “abnormal”. In this case, commercial seeds are established as the norm, as they comply with market standards.

10. The Zenú people have lived for over 4,000 years on Colombia´s Caribbean coast. They are renowned goldsmiths and artisans and practice agriculture and fishing. Approximately 2,000 years ago, they developed a sophisticated irrigation system using nearby rivers (Forero, Velez, and García 2008; Ministerio de Cultura 2010b).

11. In Colombia, resguardo is a legally recognized sociopolitical institution made up of one or more indigenous communities whose members have a collective land title. Its autonomous form of organization and regulatory system follow traditional customs, and resguardo members carry out community work. The resguardo cares for the territory, provides economic support to members, and protects members´ common interests (Ministerio del Interior 2013).

12. Although cassava is not planted by seed, those pieces of stem or tuber that are planted are locally referred to as “seed”.

13. The Emberá Chamí are an indigenous group whose language is Emberá, meaning “people of the mountain range”. They are principally farmers and artisans (Ministerio de Cultura 2010a).

14. The “life plan” is a participatory planning tool used to govern Colombia´s resguardos, guide their actions, and draw up project proposals (ONIC 2007).

15. This code is included to maintain participants´ confidentiality; IN = interview; M or W = man or woman; R, SA, and Sp = community of Riosucio, San Andrés de Sotavento, and specialist.

16. For example, since 1983, the NGO Swissaid has provided technical and economic support to Colombian grassroots organizations, assisting with project development related to seeds and agroecology.

17. Globally, over the past 10 years, citizens´ groups and other organizations have increasingly established GMO-free zones. Four thousand such zones have been recorded in Europe, and in Latin America three each in Costa Rica, Argentina, and Mexico, and five in Colombia (Grupo Semillas and RSLC 2015; Meyer 2007).

18. The Seeds of Identity campaign was launched by Swissaid to promote the defense of collective rights of indigenous, afro-descendent, and peasant communities over their territories and resources (Semillas de Identidad, Fundación Swissaid, Grupo Semillas and RECAR (Red Agroecológica del Caribe) 2007).