Rasta Seed Saving is local seed preservaton and protection
Anteneh Fantaye from Ethiopia was a man on a desperate mission. Rastaseed first made contact with him through a Seed Saving NGO that is in Australia. Unfortunately true seed saving does not encourage the passage of vegetable seed internationally due to many quarantine risks and also due to the fact that our seeds are not localised to other climatic conditions. It is far better to locate locally adapted seed races of vegetables within regions, as well as specialised local knowledge that has been gathered over sometimes scores of generations. Unfortunately this knowledge is being lost due to many factors including war, extreme weather events and the genetically modified seed that is infiltrating every corner of the earth.
Loss of Seed Stocks leads to desperation and Food Shortages
Anteneh was very short of money and was losing hope with regard to the seed situation in his country. He was travelling one thousand miles to the University to study and work making huge sacrifices with very little resources. He requested seed from our rasta seed saving project and when I refused for the reasons above he was so disappointed and begged me to reconsider. I sent him some of my own seed collection and suggested he connect with an Australian contact of mine who was working in an Aids Clinic for Women in Shashemane Ethiopia.
Hugely successful seed saving project
They were successful in connecting and learnt a great deal from each other. These photographs show how they got to work and the joy on the children’s faces. Now he is the chairman of Woreda Development Association and has access to multiply, save and distribute the seeds to the farmers.The Zone administration gave him a hectare of farm land to multiply and save Australian seed varieties. Near the rivers.From small things big things grow and this project was very successful. The seeds germinated and flourished providing abundance for this village. Sending seed may seem like a good way to help people however it is a very delicate and sensitive issue and it takes knowledge and years of experience, as well as time in the country you are sending the seeds to. We don’t want anymore super weeds or diseases causing more damage to our already stressed environment and threatened food security.
An excerpt from a communication he sent to us.
“First of all I want to thank you for every thing you have done.
I am very much interested in the information you sent me including photos. Now I understood the objective of Rasta Families. Emperor Haile Selassie was a famous leader of Ethiopia. Here in Shashamene each year on July the Rasta families still celebrate his birthday.” Rastaseed is blessed.
