Protecting Seeds, Preserving Futures: Insights from the Global Seed Rights Webinar
On 23 April 2025, IFOAM – Organics International co-hosted a high-impact webinar with the IFOAM Seed Platform, drawing over 230 participants from across the globe to explore how seed sovereignty and farmers’ rights can be defended and advanced.
In a time when restrictive policies and increasing corporate control threaten the ability of farmers to save, share, and develop seeds, this event served as a vital platform for dialogue, strategy-sharing, and collective action. Seeds are the foundation of our food systems—and protecting them means protecting biodiversity, community resilience, and future generations.
We remain committed to supporting efforts that span grassroots activism, innovative seed networks, and international advocacy—working toward a future where farmers, breeders, and communities can thrive.
Key Insights from the Webinar:
As a global network of individuals and organizations, the IFOAM Seed Platform promotes seed and plant breeding tailored for organic systems. Its mission includes:
- Promoting diverse and resilient genetic resources
- Protecting seed value chains from GMO contamination
- Strengthening the organic seed movement through global collaboration
The European Consortium for Organic Plant Breeding (ECO-PB) presented its vision document outlining a systems-based breeding approach rooted in:
- Social justice
- Food quality, security and safety
- Food and seed sovereignty
- Agro-biodiversity
- Ecosystem services, and
- Climate robustness
In the face of challenges such as biopiracy, push for GMO, illegal status of organic seeds and limited seed access for farmers, Seed Savers Kenya seeks to defend their rights through:
- Public litigation
- Grassroot advocacy movements
- Public engagement through the media
- Policy advocacy at international forums
- Documentation and protection of traditional knowledge in seed preservation
- Characterisation and protection of farmers’ varieties
- Capacity building on seed advocacy via seed school and seed bootcamp
The Organic Seed Alliance is a US-based organisation that promotes an abundant and diverse supply of organic seeds through:
- Research in seed production and participatory plant breeding
- Education in online formats, on-farm trainings, summits and conferences
- Advocacy for policies that support organic and farmer-centred sees systems, and
- Outreach through seed stories, networks, publications and other resources
To promote seed sovereignty, the organisation adopts strategies that strengthen organic seed sourcing policies, invest in farmer-led plant breeding, and build robust education, training and research infrastructure.
SeedLinkedin connects growers and breeders through a collaborative platform enabling crowdsourced seed intelligence. With over 600,000 varieties and 10,000 users, it's reshaping how seed development happens.
Across all presentations, a unifying message emerged: to truly secure the future of food, we must empower farmers and communities to protect and control their seeds. IFOAM – Organics International and the IFOAM Seed Platform will continue to advocate for seed sovereignty through capacity building, network strengthening, and global information-sharing.
The webinar recording is available on our YouTube channel (click here to view).
You may also download the Zoom webinar here (password: SeedsWebinar2025!), and the presentation materials can be downloaded here.