Seeds Archives - Agricultural and Rural Convention

A Taste of Community Breeding in Italy

July 16, 2026 Adèle Pautrat

While developing seeds suited to the specific conditions of organic farming still faces significant challenges, multi-stakeholder breeding systems are proving effective in steering research towards greater diversity. Among them, the participatory approach branches out into numerous projects and living labs across Europe, aiming to create new varieties tailored to local needs. Reporting from an experimental field day in Italy, Seeds4All project coordinator Adèle Pautrat explores the concept of participatory plant breeding, while agronomist Michael Daddio shares his inspiring thoughts on breeding as a tool to empower communities. By Adèle Pautrat and Michael Daddio […]

What happens when our seeds go silent?

June 16, 2026 Natasha Foote

As EU lawmakers prepare to rewrite rules governing the production, exchange and sale of seeds, two opposing worlds collide. In one, seeds are intellectual property, carefully regulated and protected as engines of innovation. In the other, they are living commons, saved, exchanged and adapted by farmers across generations. To dig into the seedy underbelly of the agrifood world, ARC2020’s Natasha Foote travelled between two major seed gatherings held just days (but worlds) apart, each offering a radically different vision of the future. […]

How to Cultivate Knowledge for Seed Autonomy? Part 2 – From Niche Knowledge to Collective Capacity

April 24, 2026 Adèle Pautrat

The loss of knowledge around seed diversity has become so pervasive that its very absence seems to go unnoticed. Yet seed stewardship has always been inherent to working with agriculture and food; reintroducing this concept is crucial in building capacity for agroecological seed systems at regional levels. In this second of a two-part series, we examine the tools and approaches that could strengthen the transmission of alternative seed knowledge and know-how, as well as the pitfalls to avoid in order to ensure their social and economic relevance. By Adèle Pautrat. […]

Inside Brussels’ Eleventh-Hour Battle Over New GMOs

April 22, 2026 Natasha Foote

In a few short weeks, the European Parliament will have the power to open Europe’s farmgates and plates to new genetic technologies, without the guardrails of labelling, monitoring, or liability. But in Brussels, an eleventh-hour battle is brewing. So is this game, set and match? Or is there still something to play for? Natasha Foote brings you the latest from Brussels. […]

Coming Up: Decision Day for the Future of Seeds and New GMOs

April 17, 2026 Natasha Foote

April 21st will be the next (and perhaps final) milestone meeting for negotiators trying to seal a deal on the overhaul of the EU’s seed legislation. On the very same day, the Council is to vote on the EU’s proposal to loosen the rules around new genetic technologies. For the Seeds4All project, Natasha Foote explains what’s at stake in these two crucial files. […]

How to Cultivate Knowledge for Seed Autonomy? Part 1 – Who Teaches the Seeds?

March 27, 2026 Adèle Pautrat

Seeds are rarely seen for what they truly are: the building blocks of agricultural systems that determine how our food is produced. This is no accident. It is the result of industry taking control, progressively turning seeds into just another input in service of a growth model built on privatisation, standardisation, and homogenisation—with seeds at the hub. Reintroducing this concept is crucial in building capacity for agroecological seed systems at regional levels. But how to challenge the dominant approach to seed practices, and bring alternative knowledge to a wider audience? First of a two-part series by Adèle Pautrat. […]

The Future of Seeds: The Power Play Between Patents and New GMOs

December 3, 2025 Natasha Foote

EU lawmakers have been locked in intense negotiations for months on loosening rules on the use of new genetic technologies in plant breeding. But talks are stalling on one particularly sticky issue. So why have patents become so central in this story, and what would it mean for farmers and breeders if lawmakers get their way on permitting patents? Natasha Foote digs in. […]

Whats Seeds for Tomorrow? A Podcast Mini-Series by Seeds4All and Seed Carriers

November 20, 2025 Adèle Pautrat

The Seeds4All project has long been working to understand how the EU regulatory framework on seeds and cultivated biodiversity impacts the daily reality of agroecological seed and food operators. Europe is now at a decisive turning point. The rules that govern our seeds are being rewritten as we speak, with powerful forces seeking to tighten their grip on seed and food production. Efforts must be accelerated to amplify what the European agroecological seed movement is bringing to the future of our food, and how it should be urgently supported by both EU and local decision makers. With that purpose in mind, Seeds4All joined forces with SEED CARRIERS to produce the mini audio series WHAT SEEDS FOR TOMORROW? […]

GMO-Free Seed Production Under Threat! Consequences of NGT deregulation on the ground

November 19, 2025 ARC

Without GMO-free seeds, a GMO-free agricultural and food industry is not possible. Yet there has been little discussion of the potential impact on GMO-free seed production of the European Commission’s planned deregulation of new genomic techniques (NGTs). Op-ed by Eva Gelinsky and Lena Hüttmann of IG Saatgut. […]

Where The Untended Feeds Us – Cécile Gilquin’s “Tiers-Paysage”

October 24, 2025 Adèle Pautrat

“All the places neglected by human beings”: this is the site of the Third Landscape (Tiers-Paysage) as defined by Gilles Clément in his Manifesto of the Third Landscape. Cécile Gilquin was drawn to this concept that celebrates the neglected — those plants that we too often forget to appreciate — as “biological diversity that has not yet been classified as richness”, while also showing that it is possible to interact with nature without seeking to dominate it. She was inspired to launch in 2020 her own Third Landscape (or Tiers-Paysage in her native French). Portrait of a forager by Adèle Pautrat. […]

Re-Sowing the Seeds of Connection in Switzerland, Part II – Healthy Interdependencies, Led By Farmers

September 2, 2025 Adèle Pautrat

In a global context marked by rising trade tensions, identity-based isolationism, and climate pressures, the Seeds4All project wanted to understand how Switzerland, landlocked at the heart of the European Union, approaches the challenges of food sovereignty and navigates its many borders. During recent fields visits, we met a variety of initiatives seeking to reconnect producers, processors, and consumers—fostering a renewed sense of control over food systems. Part two of a series of reflections by Adèle Pautrat. […]

Crafting the Collective – Tijs Boelens’ Vision for a Farmer-Led Grain Revival

July 4, 2025 Adèle Pautrat

If we want local food systems to thrive, every link in the chain must be nurtured: seeds must be saved, farmers must earn a fair price, processors must adapt their methods—and consumers must be able to afford to buy the final product. Crafting a story and connecting people are centrally important to successfully cultivating biodiversity, as Belgian farmer Tijs Boelens has found out in his work to integrate heritage grains into the supply chain. Portrait by Adèle Pautrat. […]

Re-Sowing the Seeds of Connection in Switzerland, Part I – Nurturing What We Have

July 3, 2025 Adèle Pautrat

The Seeds4All project emerges from a Swiss immersion with a two-part reflection on how seeds can become anchoring points for rebuilding connections and fostering healthy interdependencies in the pursuit of collective empowerment. In part one, we discover efforts to revive local fava bean varieties—as levers for reweaving ties between mountains and plains, and reclaiming traditional peasant skills. […]

Op Ed | Big Ag Pushes Lawmakers to Roll Back Consumer Rights

May 7, 2025 Franziska Achterberg

In advance of the first trilogue meeting on “new genomic techniques” that took place this week, the industry launched a statement against GMO labelling. Only the Parliament, not the Council nor the Commission, want consumer labelling of new GM products. Op-ed by Franziska Achterberg, Head of Policy and Advocacy at Save Our Seeds. […]

Let’s Liberate Diversity Forum 2025 – Registration Now Open!

April 4, 2025 Adèle Pautrat

From September 4th to 6th, the European Coordination Let’s Liberate Diversity will host its 14th forum in Luxembourg. The Forum will focus on food sovereignty, seed autonomy, and agricultural resilience. Bringing together a dynamic network of farmers, seed savers, researchers, and activists, this international gathering will provide a platform for reflection on strategic opportunities and the exchange of ideas for collective action. […]