GITHUNGURI, Kenya, Dec 24 (IPS) – For the past two years, Samuel Ndungu, a smallholder farmer, has been growing and supplying organic food to the local market in Githunguri, just outside Nairobi.
On his 1.5 hectare farm, Ndungu practices organic farming, which promotes soil fertility through composting and crop rotation and controls pests using natural or organic methods. He has refused to use synthetic pesticides, fertilizers or genetically modified organisms. He grows various vegetables, including spinach, carrots and onions.
His farming venture was threatened by a Kenyan law known as the Seeds and Plant Varieties Act, which made it illegal for farmers to share seeds. However, inside November a Kenyan High Court The case struck down parts of the law, declaring that saving, using and sharing native seeds is a constitutional right, not a crime – a huge victory for farmers’ sovereignty over corporate control. However, the government has filed a notification indicating its intention to do so appeal against the ruling.
For smallholder farmers like Ndungu, the law was punitive because some seeds are expensive to buy as individuals, so they would buy and share as a group. The farmers also dry some of the seeds, save them and store them in seed banks for future use.
Ndungu, an information technology specialist by profession, said the law was cruel and punitive.
“The Seed Act affects us small farmers. We were pushed out,” he says.
The seed banks help farmers preserve seeds of traditional and indigenous crops that are in danger of disappearing as some farmers migrate to high-yield varieties.
Fighting for seed sovereignty
Farmers in Kenya prefer to share local seeds because they are better adapted to local conditions, especially in arid and semi-arid areas. Some of these native crops and vegetables do not require chemicals and farmers still get good harvests when they use natural methods to control pests. Unlike imported hybrid seeds, which require pesticides and fertilizers.
A group of farmers with support from Seed Savers Network, a pioneering organization dedicated to conserving agricultural biodiversity and strengthening farming communities across Kenya, have challenged the restrictive law in the country’s highest court.
Tabitha Munyiri, advocacy and communications officer at Seed Savers Network, said there has been a shift from traditional farming to conventional farming in recent decades, which has resulted in biodiversity loss. “We have seen many seed varieties become extinct. Some are on the brink of extinction if we don’t do anything about it,” she said.
Munyiri said the controversial law targeted commercial businesses and ignored small farmers.
Farmer-managed seed systems have been in use in Kenya for years. There is relief now that the harsh penalties have been lifted – at least until the appeal reaches the courts.
About 80 percent of Kenya’s farmers were at risk of arrest and charges for violating this archaic law. Although there is a lack of enforcement and no farmers have been arrested and taken to court for violating this law, the law creates uncertainty among farmers.
The cabinet has also approved a revision of the Seed and Plant Variety Act.
Munyiri said they hope to integrate the two seed systems, working together in a complementary manner.
The farmers want seed banks to be fully recognized and allowed to share and exchange seeds.
Kenya is also a signatory to the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, which calls for the conservation and sustainable use of all plant genetic resources for food and agriculture and the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising from their use, in harmony with the Convention on Biological Diversity, for sustainable agriculture and food security.
Justus Lavi, the national chairman of the Kenya Small Scale Farmers Forum, said companies wanted to destroy farmers’ ability to access seeds. Their influence on government policy was clear.
“The seed companies came to convince our government. They have been effective. They demonize our indigenous seeds. They convince our farmers that our seeds, which are not certified, are not good,” he says. “Yet these are the seeds we have had in the country for centuries. They have been proven to be effective because they have been there for years. They want to deceive us.”
Organic farming
Ndungu, who employs six other people, supplies fresh produce to the local market in Kiambu County in central Kenya.
Instead of fertilizer, he mixes chicken feces, which are rich in nitrogen, cow manure, which is rich in phosphorus and potassium, and organic matter to create organic fertilizer that is used on the farm.
To control pests, Ndungu uses natural methods such as crop rotation and the use of pest-resistant plants.
Ndungu, who turned to farming after failing to find a job, said the vegetables produced through this farming method are safe to eat, unlike those produced by commercial farmers. Farmers believe that organic food contains more nutrients because it reduces exposure to pesticides and synthetic chemicals.
Some seeds of the native crops cannot be found on the market; therefore, farmers must regenerate them.
While smallholder farmers around the world cultivate a small portion of the land, they contribute between 30% and 40% of the food supply, according to a 2021 study. Smallholder farmers provide 60% of farm employment, with more than 70% of families earning their livelihood through agriculture. These farmers invest $368 billion of their capital in their farms every year.
Ndungu plans to expand his farming. “I want to capitalize and be able to produce not just more food, but safer food,” he said.
IPS UN office report
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