Xook k'iin Almanac
Planting Communities: Spring Seed Savers Exchange
Community seed swap, conversation with the founder of a network of more than 120 community seed banks in East Africa, film screening and potluck meal cooking.
7. March 2026
13.00-16.00
13.00-16.00
Save the Date
For free
Intergenerational
in English
On-farm seed saving and farmers’ seed exchanges have always been a central piece of our food systems. These practices safeguard agrobiodiversity, carry knowledge across generations, and help ensure that farming communities remain in control of what is grown and eaten.
In recognition of this long-standing work, and of farmers’ rights to seeds, we invite you to an afternoon and evening of learning, exchange, and collective reflection, beginning with an online conversation with Seed Savers Network Kenya, followed by a community seed swap, and concluding with a film screening.
We will begin at 1 pm with a conversation with Daniel Wanjama of the Seed Savers Network Kenya, who successfully challenged a punitive legal framework that restricted traditional seed saving, sharing, and exchange. The law—ultimately ruled unconstitutional by the High Court of Kenya—had threatened prison penalties for exchanging indigenous seeds, while favoring genetically modified seeds produced by multinational corporations. This landmark legal victory allows the network to continue their work with smallholder farmers to conserve, regenerate, and exchange indigenous seed varieties that are resilient to climate change and vital for sustainable food systems.
Following the conversation, the seed swap will begin at 2 pm. Please bring seeds of trusted vegetables and herbs to exchange with fellow growers. A shared meal will be cooked please bring ingredients that can go into a collective hot pot.
At 3:30 pm, we will screen Seeds of Europe, a documentary by Lennart Kleinschmidt and Lotta Schweikert. The film explores grassroots seed initiatives across Europe and shows how farmers, gardeners, and seed savers are reclaiming control over seeds in the face of industrial agriculture, restrictive regulations, and the loss of agrobiodiversity. It presents seed saving as a political, cultural, and ecological practice shaped by local struggles and acts of resistance.
Seeds of Europe
2023, Lennart Kleinschmidt & Lotta Schweikert, 30 min., Documentary, Various languages with English subtitles
As European seed laws are currently under revision, debates and campaigns continue across the region. By placing the European context alongside experiences from East Africa, we can see both shared challenges and important differences. While legal frameworks, climates, and histories vary, the core questions remain the same: Who controls seeds, whose knowledge counts, and how communities remain resilient. Learning across borders strengthens local action through shared experience and solidarity.
Seed Savers Network and its founder Daniel Wanjama established a network of community seed banks, trains seed ambassadors, and is advocating for policies that protect farmers' rights to save, exchange, and sell their seeds. Today, the network works with over 96,500 farmers across Africa, maintaining 121+ community seed banks that safeguard thousands of indigenous varieties. Combining traditional knowledge with modern sustainable practices, the Seed Savers successfully fight the loss of traditional seed varieties, which also means the loss of cultural heritage, traditional knowledge, and community resilience.
Seeds of Europe is a documentary film by Lennart Kleinschmidt and Lotta Schweikert that explores grassroots seed initiatives across Europe. The film follows farmers, gardeners, and seed savers who are working to preserve agrobiodiversity and reclaim control over seeds in the face of industrial agriculture, restrictive regulations, and corporate consolidation. Through visits to local projects and personal stories, Seeds of Europe shows how seed saving functions not only as an agricultural practice, but also as a cultural, political, and ecological act. It highlights everyday forms of resistance and care, and makes visible the networks and knowledge that sustain seed sovereignty across different European contexts.
