Bridging Cultures Through Seeds – Czech Seed Library Inspiration Spreads to Georgia

The demand for local reproducible seeds is growing in Georgia as the offer is not reliable because the farmers’ seed system in the country is not developed. Although there are informal networks and exchanges, there is no organized system fulfilling the needs of local communities. There are no places where local people can get seeds of local they need for their subsistence. The local market is filled with imported commercial seeds, which are expensive and require much more resources to be grown as they are not adapted to local soil and climate conditions. 

The project aims to create a network of seed libraries in Georgia which can be a starting point to address the issue of access to seeds at the local level. Here local people can get the basic set of a variety of seeds which they can reproduce to have their own seeds in the next season. Together with several other seed savers Semínkovna plans to launch 3 to 5 seed libraries in different regions. Local partner Elkana will be responsible for transferring knowledge to the seed librarians who distributes seeds to a number of local food growers. 

 The project adapts the experience and the methodology of Seminkovna from the Czech Republic to Georgia’s conditions to establish a network of local seed librarians.