Mabuhay!

Background

The Philippines is one of the most climate-vulnerable nations in the world, containing over 7,000 islands of diverse eco-systems ranging from coastal landscapes to dense, tropical, forested mountainsides. Rural and peri-urban communities as well as small farm agriculture continue to see the largest impacts of the changing global climate. As weather patterns become more unpredictable, the right conditions for growing crops change dramatically. Farmers need to regain flexibility in their growing methods and plant a wider diversity of crops. Filipino farmers continue to lack access to high-quality technical training programs about local seed production and they are limited in accessing a wide diversity of locally produced, regionally adapted seeds.

Our Solutions Ensure Farmers Success

We offer strategies that allow farmers to build economic sustainability and end their dependence on unsustainable practices.

“ Through my involvement as a farmer with Global Seed Savers and BASS, I have learned the deep importance of seed saving to my organic farming practice. I am honored to be a part of this organization and share this knowledge with my children, this work has changed my life.” -Cesar Galvey, Organic Farmer and Vice-President of Global Seed Savers Philippines.

In the last three years we have accomplished the following:

• Trained over 550 farmers in seed saving and sustainable farming practices
• Conducted over 1000 hours of technical training programs for farmers
• Doubled the membership of the Benguet Association of Seed Savers (BASS), a local farmers association.
• Opened the first-of-its-kind Seed Library in Tublay, Benguet Province in the Northern Philippines, stocked with over 30 different varieties of locally produced open-pollinated seeds.
• Helped our farmers save over 10% of their annual family income through local seed access and production.
• Enabled farmers to re-invest this money into their children’s education, household improvements, and continued sustainable farm development

Long-Term Impact

Our model is working and gaining traction throughout the Philippines. With your support we will meet the growing demand to offer our signature technical training programs to new partner communities throughout the Philippines and support increased seed production and sales.

Funds raised during this campaign will support the following strategic initiatives in the coming year:

• Host three additional Seed Schools in new communities of the Philippines
• Open one new seed library in a new partner community of the Philippines,ensuring a community of at least 40,000 people have access to locally produced non- seeds
• Create a network of seed savers throughout the country
• Support seed sharing and seed reserves to ensure the long-term safety of seeds in the face of climate change.
• Scale the production, marketing, monitoring, and evaluating of BASS-member seed production and sales
• Utilize the funds from these sales to support hiring a new team member that will manage and monitor this program, further supporting the sales and marketing of even larger-scale and more diverse production of local seeds.

Working to build a robust and farmer-led agricultural economy is one of the most important ways we can ensure a sustainable future. Thank you for supporting our growing movement!