This Seed Catalogue is the product of a three-and-a-half-year project of reviving farmers’ seed diversity and associated practices of indigenous knowledge. Its aim is to contribute to the wider process of ensuring food sovereignty and improved livelihoods in Africa through strengthening the ability of local communities to save and preserve biodiversity.

The project began in 2018 and was implemented in 4 African countries – Ethiopia, Benin, Ghana and Zimbabwe – in collaboration with partners of the African Biodiversity Network (ABN), with financial support from Bread for the World. Contributing partners were the Institute for Sustainable Development (ISD – Ethiopia), Center for Experimentation and Promotion of Agroecology, Endogenous Sciences and Techniques (CEVASTE – Benin), Regional Advisory Information & Network Systems (RAINS – Ghana) and EarthLore (Zimbabwe).

The development of the Seed Catalogue is one of the defined targets that has been achieved by the project. It began as part of the Training of Trainers session held in mid- January 2019 by the ABN Secretariat in Ethiopia, where partners were trained on how to register diverse seeds with their respective varieties and a range of benefits. The Seed Catalogue has thus evolved over the three and half years through an intense process of continuous follow up between the ABN secretariat, involved partners and their communities.