Why It’s Time to Bring Back Seed Guardians: The Race to Save Indigenous Seeds

The climate crisis is no distant threat — for the world’s 570 million or so smallholder farmers, it’s already making life more difficult. More frequent extreme weather events are scorching crops, disrupting food systems, and intensifying hunger for millions. Over a quarter of the world’s population already faces food insecurity, and with food demand only expected to increase with rising global populations, the challenge of feeding the world on a hotter planet is daunting. Continuing to rely on industrial agriculture — responsible for up to a third of global greenhouse gas emissions — is a surefire recipe for disaster.

But what if a solution to these enormous problems could be found in something as tiny as a seed? Indigenous seeds, valued for their variety and resilience, have the potential to shake up the way we do agriculture. At a time when climate shocks and rising costs are aggravating food insecurity across the world, the stakes are high — here’s why Indigenous seeds could hold the answer to strengthening our food systems from the ground up.