How this Guatemalan seed bank is preserving heirloom crops and saving farmers money

Growing up in the mountains of western Guatemala, Feliciano Perez Tomas cultivated the same type of native maize his family had for generations.

The breed of corn was central to his Indigenous K’iche’ community’s diet, a grain and pulse-heavy intake that dates back to the time of the Maya Civilization.

But over the years, more frequent and intense rains—linked to climate change—came earlier in the year, disrupting the harvest.

“Before it rained in March and we would sow seeds when it happened, but these days the rains can begin in February, and there can be a lot of ice and colder conditions,” said Tomas, 42. “We would have to work so hard, but receive little.”

Indigenous communities around the world are losing the crops their forebears had bred over centuries to a changing climate, deforestation, and industrial farming.

Three-quarters of the world’s plant genetic diversity has been lost over the last century, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, with only 30 plants fueling 95% of the calories that all humans consume globally. Such a homogenized food system raises the risk of crop failures, pests and diseases, malnutrition, and the extinction of unique and ancient plant species.

Though it’s difficult to gauge exactly how much the biodiversity crisis is costing farmers, one 2023 survey suggests smallholder farmers are spending $368 billion of their own income every year on measures to adapt to climate change, which include pest control, soil improvements, and biodiversity conservation.

Increasingly, farmers like Tomas are turning to seed banks.

These modest, community-run storage hubs—typically located within walking distance of the fields—preserve Indigenous, climate-resilient seeds adept at dealing with harsh conditions, while also providing farmers like Tomas with a free, direct supply of seeds. In turn, proponents say seed banks can help to protect biodiversity. A 2022 survey by the company Terraformation found more than 400 seed banks operating in 96 countries worldwide.

“There are so many uses of the seed banks,” says Sergio Alonzo, senior technical manager of ASOCUCH, a Guatemalan nonprofit that works with 16,000 farmers in the Huehuetenango region where Tomas lives. “They protect biodiversity. They protect incomes. If there’s a disaster or emergency, they are there as a kind of insurance for farmers.”

ASOCUCH launched its seed bank program in 2007 and Tomas joined in 2010. It has provided him with long-term, protective storage for his native seeds, meaning he no longer has to pay for them at the market, and crucially, a kind of insurance for when extreme weather strikes. Research by ASOCUCH has also found that cultivating these native seeds in banks has tripled farmers’ yields. “They increase food availability for families and create income from the sale of surpluses,” said Alonzo.

Tomas’ local branch of the seed bank, run by a committee of local farmers of which he is a member, has seen his community through crop-destroying frosts, floods, heat waves, and a severe seed shortage in 2018. 

“Without the seed banks, it would have been disastrous,” Tomas said. “You save a lot of money not having to buy seeds, too.”

Each storage hub holds hundreds of containers of seeds, divided into sections for each farmer. Seeds shown to be resistant to harsh weather are prioritized. Some farmers visit the bank every month, while others just use it in case of emergencies. 

When Tomas first joined the bank, he was one of only six participating farmers in the community—now there are more than 40 of them.

“They saw the need,” he says. “Many farmers now see the importance of the banks.”

Agricultural experts say that supporting the use of traditional seeds, also known as heirloom varieties, could minimize the likelihood of food shortages, improve diets amid growing malnutrition, and bolster the resilience of rural farming communities.

“Farmers have long been conserving seeds—and the banks support them to do this,” said Ronnie Vernooy, a genetic resources specialist at the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, a nonprofit. “It’s so important because we are losing crop diversity everywhere. We have to take action to protect seeds.”

The emergence of modern seed banks follows in the path of the ancient Indigenous practice of seed-keeping, which is becoming increasingly important for areas relying on subsistence farming as they are disproportionately affected by climate change.

“Before the focus was on national seed banks,” says Vernooy. “They would put seeds in a freezer and store them for as long as possible. But that has its limits. And that’s very far away from the farmers.”

Instead, community seed banks provide a living use of seeds, at once supporting farmers and their families, helping to secure the future of native and climate-resilient seeds, as well as encouraging social cohesion, equality, and knowledge exchange among farmers.

“They become more than a physical area, they increase interchange, sharing of seeds,” said Vernooy.

A 2023 study co-authored by Vernooy focusing on community banks in Kenya and Uganda found that 2,630 smallholder farmers protected 72 “unique” crop and tree species, serving as a platform for community action and women’s empowerment. “Women have always played a key role in seed saving and management,” he says. 

Similar projects are sprouting up across Central America, home to large Indigenous populations who are knowledgeable about seed keeping, yet also on the frontlines of climate change. Many of these communities suffer high rates of malnutrition. 

In Nicaragua, a Swiss NGO is working with more than 7,000 farmers to identify native breeds of maize, grains, beans, and other legumes and develop new drought-resistant varieties. Mexico’s national FES Iztacala Seed Bank, a state-led initiative, works directly with community seed banks and international partners to conserve about 12% to 13% of the country’s 23,000 plant species. 

In the United States, volunteers gathered seeds to regrow native plants in areas of Southern California devastated by January’s wildfires. Seed Savers Exchange, based in Iowa, is one of the nation’s largest nongovernmental seed banks, holding some 20,000 species. 

But in order to live up to their potential, which could allow farmers to generate extra income through sales, advocates say the seed banks need more support from national governments. 

“Support is improving, but it remains lacking,” Vernooy said.

Alonzo of ASOCUCH agreed that institutional backing would make it easier for farmers to develop and independently maintain their own seed banks while recognizing their crucial role in protecting biodiversity.

“Even if the banks are working, climate change still presents challenges,” he says. “If we want to safeguard the needs, we need to recognize the value of these smallholder producers.”

—By Peter Yeung, Nexus Media News

This story was originally published by Nexus Media News, an editorially independent publication of MEDA (Mennonite Economic Development Associates).