Activities | Global Seed Savers

Mapping the Way Forward: Global Seed Savers’ Strategic Planning in Action

May 31, 2023 | Activities, Uncategorized

Our Global Seed Savers Philippines team recently held an inspiring strategic planning retreat facilitated by our new Philippines Executive Director Hal Atienza! The retreat was an opportunity for our team to chart a path forward and shape our strategic roadmap for the years ahead. The purpose of the activity was to review the strategic direction of GSSP and come up with the 5-year strategic plan using the logical framework.

One of the key outcomes of the retreat was the development of a visionary roadmap for Global Seed Savers. Guided by a commitment to seed sovereignty, biodiversity conservation, and sustainable agriculture, the GSSP Team collectively crafted a comprehensive vision for the future. They identified key priorities, such as expanding access to locally adapted seed varieties, strengthening community engagement and empowerment, and forging strategic partnerships to amplify their impact.

The team also tackled questions like:

1) Where are we now?

2) Where do we want to be?

3) How will we get there?

4) How do we know we made it?

It is important to determine how effective our strategies are in relation to our goals. Then the team was able to assess our effectiveness and efficiency in terms of our governance and management processes. Only then can we determine our impacts by looking at our relevance and sustainability.

Aspirations become more realistic if we are able to define a clearer strategic direction. Meaning, our yardstick of performance management stays in place.

Because of the 4-day strategic planning, the GSSP Team was able to:

1) Define a clearer vision-mission statement

2) Develop our goals with corresponding strategies

3) Formulate our Slogan (GSS mantra), “Save seeds. Grow food. Protect heritage.”

The retreat also provided a valuable platform to identify and address challenges faced by Global Seed Savers and the broader seed-saving community.

The team engaged in focused discussions to explore solutions for preserving traditional knowledge, mitigating the threats posed by climate change and industrial agriculture, and overcoming barriers to seed conservation and sharing. By collectively addressing these challenges, Global Seed Savers aims to foster resilience, adaptability, and sustainability in our global food systems.

The strategic planning retreat was not simply an intellectual exercise, but a call to action. This strategic planning retreat served as a powerful catalyst for change, harnessing the collective wisdom and passion of seed savers worldwide. Through collaboration, innovation, and a shared commitment to sustainability, Global Seed Savers is sowing the seeds of a resilient and prosperous future for our planet and its inhabitants.

How Building with Natural Elements Leads us to Balance

May 2, 2023 | Activities, Uncategorized

Our Communications and Marketing Manager Sarah, along with 12 other participants from Olongapo, Las Pinas, Cavite, and Makati, attended the first section of the Natural Building Workshop hosted by Subli Farm in Batangas.

Subli Farm, which is managed by the family of Asha Peri, is a permaculture farm which follows the seed-to-table model of growing food. The farm is also the venue of the Ecology of Food courses which aims to teach participants how they can get the most life force and nutrition from their food while they balance the need for great tasting meals.

Asha and her mom Ludy (now 72) went to the Earth University at Navdanya in India in 2018. There, they learned from Dr. Vandana Shiva about the impact of GMOs on Indian Farming and made many parallels to the struggles Filipino Farmers face. From that point on, Asha became a kitchen activist, organizing events like the Food, Farming, Freedom course, which offered a new view on sustainable food for Filipinos.

At Subli farm, the yoga room, lecture room and the dormitory buildings are all built with earth materials and resources. The Natural Building Workshop is a renovation of their kitchen area. Sarah and other participants built benches for the dap-ay, two shelves for the music area and seed storage, and a wall to protect the area from the elements!

This event is a two part workshop. The first one that was just concluded taught participants how to mix the materials for earth building, how to build structures, and how to mold clay tiles.

The second part of this workshop (May 13-14, 2023) will be concentrated on wattle and daub (using bamboo as rebars for wall structures), plastering, and finishing with clay.

These skills are essential to sustaining environmental balance; where nature uplifts our spirits and surrounds us with a healthy future. There is so much we can do with these skills like maybe building a seed library made of earth or building resilient homes for our community!

“Earth is forgiving. Natural building takes time, but the output will also stand the test of time. With natural building, there is no waste. When it is time to tear down the structure you have built, everything goes back to the earth, or you can reuse it again for another structure.” – Sarah Sabado

GSS Goes To The Philippine Permaculture Convergence!

Nov 27, 2022 | Activities

Last November 25 to 27, 2022, Efrenlito Cabbigat (Phil Program Manager), Harry (Cebu Seed Production Coordinator), Farmer Elizabeth Martin (Benguet Field Coordinator, BASS), and Farmer Adelwisa Remeticado Pacaña (Cebu Seed Savers) attended the 5th Philippine Permaculture Convergence in Oriental Mindoro which was hosted by the Philippine Permaculture Association.

They have learned a lot from the various lectures and interactions they had with other farmers and permaculturists. Perhaps one of the more memorable experiences during the event was when Manang Adelwisa and Manang Elizabeth presented the results of one of the group discussions they participated in. To see them speak out and share their thoughts about topics they are knowledgeable about is a great honor.

Indeed, this is our dream for every farmer: to re-discover their voice, to re-ignite their passion for shaping Philippine agriculture, and to become true forces for change.

Reflection on the Seed School Teachers’ Training in Cebu

Sep 25, 2022 | Activities, Seed School, Stories from the Field

I am Elizabeth Martin. I am a seed saver and organic practitioner based here in Tawang, La Trinidad, Benguet. I am also the Field Coordinator of Global Seed Savers Philippines (GSSP).

Last August 24-26, 2022, my companions from BASS and I went to Cebu to attend a seminar on Seed School Teacher’s Training (SSTT).

There were seven of us who attended the SSTT – three (3) were from the Benguet Association of Seed Savers (BASS) and four (4) from the Cebu Seed Savers (CSS). The SSTT was held at the office of the Communities for Alternative Food Ecosystem (CAFEi) in Guadalupe, Cebu.

This is the second SSTT conducted by GSSP. The first one was held in Batangas some time ago. The goal of the training was to prepare us to become future seed school trainers.

Prior to the SSTT, I attended the seed savers training as a participant. The topics during the seed school were focused on seed saving. It included a discussion on the history of seed saving, why we should save seeds, as well as the skills needed to preserve seeds. Meanwhile, the SSTT was focused on self-awareness and communication skills. The SSTT also included a short course on seed saving.

During SSTT, I learned to appreciate myself better. I have also learned how I can better appreciate seeds and other people in my daily life. The training made me realize that by being aware of myself, I can deal better with others because like a seed, each one of us is unique.

I have also realized that in this life, everything comes in phases. Learning should not only be confined inside the four walls of the school. Learning can also come through our daily experiences. I have learned that these lessons can be used to create a more peaceful and enjoyable tomorrow.

Benguet Association of Seed Savers (BASS) Goes On A Retreat

Sep 13, 2022 | Activities, BASS

I am Anita Paoad Sinakay, 41 years old, married, and a mother of one. I am presently residing with my family in Pinan Daclan, Tublay, where my farm is also located. I named my farm Nature Lovers Garden. It has an area of exactly one (1) hectare.

I am affiliated with several farmer’s organizations like the Tublay Organic Farming Practitioners Agriculture-Cooperative (TOFPA-COOP), the Association of Farmers on Organic for the Rural Development of Daclan (AFFORD), the Daclan Kafamilja Rural Improvement Club (DKRIC), and of course, the Benguet Association of Seed Savers (BASS).

Our BASS retreat was held last September 10-11, 2022 at Paradiso Beach Resort in Aringay, La Union. We were there Saturday night so we just enjoyed our dinner together as one family and sleep right away to gain more strength for the next day. Early the next morning, at precisely five ‘o clock we went to the beach and started enjoying the coldness of the breeze and the warmth of the water in the sea. From there we experienced playing with the waves and enjoyed bonding while swimming at the same time telling stories, sharing experiences, jokes, etc. Then it was time to eat because everybody was starving.

The thing that struck me most about the retreat is the group discussions wherein we talk about things to improve in the future that we should take seriously on seed saving. Being a member of the BASS, I realized that being committed to saving seeds must be sustained. I was really thinking about how to encourage younger farmers to go on farming and do seed saving for the future.

I am glad that I’m part of the group (BASS) because we are learning something even just by talking with each other, sharing experiences, observing others’ attitudes, understanding others’ personalities, being considerate, etc. I learned how to adjust myself to them, forgetting past bad memories, forgiving others’ shortcomings, and thinking that everybody commits mistakes because we are just humans who are imperfect.

Belonging to a group is more fun than being alone. I think our goal during the retreat was attained.

Departures, Reflections, and the Familiar Yet Unknown Ahead

Sep 9, 2022 | Activities, From the Executive Director

As many of you know, I leave very early tomorrow morning (Friday) at 1:30am PST for 6 weeks of work travel in the Philippines and India. I am en-route at the Seattle Airport right now, phew… here I go!! Preparing for this trip has been filled with many emotions as I have not been to the Philippines since December 2019. The world has changed so much in this seemingly short period of time and so much has expanded, deepened, and grown for the entire Global Seed Savers Community and me, during these challenging and beautiful years for our world.

For me, the foundation of our work at Global Seed Savers has always been about deep personal relationships. These relationships began to germinate and take root when I sat at this very Seattle airport, 16 years ago preparing to leave for another big unknown, my Peace Corps service in the Philippines. This experience living, learning, and working side by side the Cosalan Family at ENCA Farm, and immersing myself in the culture and realities of the Philippines for 2.5 years was incredibly transformative and will always be my origin story of our evolving work and my love of the Philippines.

These last two years have opened space for lots of reflection for me personally and for us as an evolving organization. This process has not always been easy, most good things are not, it has been so challenging to watch the suffering across the world, it has been difficult to feel isolated and physically cut off from each other, and it has also been two of the largest years of growth and deepening our commitment to our mission at Global Seed Savers in our history!

In the last two years we have: more than doubled our revenue year over year, enabling us to grow our team from 3 staff to a team of 7, and despite the many challenges our farmers and community partners continue to face, there is one thing that has remained consistent, our deep commitment to our simple but frankly very profound mission. Restoring communities’ abilities to grow their own food and preserve cultural traditions and values through saving their own seeds. Often in our sector, people want to talk about innovation and doing the “next big thing.” However, we are Global Seed Savers have always been deeply rooted in the firm belief that our work is about restoring a tradition and practice that has always worked. We are helping communities and even more so, they are helping us, remember our interconnectedness through the simple act of saving a seed and replanting them time and time again.

I can share our impact numbers and metrics and you can visit our website to see these and learn more, but more than that, our work is about slow, steady change for communities. It is about restoring relationships to the land, to the seed, to culture, to each other. It is about remembering our interconnectedness! And for me, this is what this trip is also going to be about. Reconnecting to a land, people and place that I love!

This will also be the first time we are all gathering in person as a team! While Zoom has certainty made our global work not require travel, you really cannot replace the in person and I am so looking forward to our four day staff retreat next month and time face to face with the dedicated and wonderful people that make GSS tick and operate on the ground! We are not just colleagues, but we really are a family that genuinely cares for each other.

This trip will also be about a big new adventure and opportunity for growth for Global Seed Savers. Thanks to our mentor and dear friend Bill McDorman, we have been accepted to attend the FAO 9th Governing Body Session on the Treaty for Plant Genetic Resources in New Delhi, India in mid-September. We are thrilled to have the opportunity to participate in this exciting FAO gathering and learn, contribute, and ensure that the voices of the true heroes in agriculture are represented, our dedicated partner farmers. At this critical moment in history there has never been a more important time to advocate for the restoration of local food and seed systems. We will also be spending three days at Navdanya, Vandana Shiva’s farm in outside of Dehradun.

My wonderful colleague and dear friend Karen often says, “When you hold a seed, you are holding the past, present and future.” This is a fitting statement for all I am feeling as I begin this journey. Just like the seeds our farmers grow, I am holding all of these things’ memories of my past trips and times in the Philippines, the current realities facing our world and our work, and also holding immense gratitude and hope for all that will unfold during these next 6 weeks.

Thank you for being part of our ever-growing community and Global Seed Savers and thank you for being a strong support to me!

Next update from the ground in Cebu!

Ingat/Amping!

Sherry