Seed is not just the source of life.  It is the very foundation of our being. For millions of years, seed has evolved freely, to give us the diversity and richness of life on the planet. For thousands of years farmers, especially women, have evolved and bred seed freely in partnership with each other and with nature to further increase the diversity of that which nature gave us and adopt it to the needs of different cultures. Biodiversity and cultural diversity have mutually shaped one another.

Today, the freedom of nature and culture to evolve is under violent and direct threat.

The threat to seed freedom impacts the very fabric of human
life and the life of the planet. Seed keepers, farmers and citizens around the world have joined together as a Global Citizens Movement for Seed Freedom to respond to this Seed Emergency and to streng then the movement for the freedom of humanity. The Global Movement for Seed Freedom is the start of a g lobal campaign to alert citizens and governments around the world on how precarious our seed supply has become and, as a consequence, how precarious our food security has become.

Seeds are the f irst link in the food chain and the repository of life’s future evolution. As such, it is our
inherent duty and responsibility to protect them and to pass them on to future generations. The growing of seed and the free exchange of seed among farmers has been the
basis to maintaining biodiversityand our food security.

Navdanya was started 25 years ago to protect our seed diversity and farmer’s rights to save, breed, and exchange seed freely, in the context of the emerg ing threats of the TRIPS Ag reement (Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights Ag reement) of the World Trade Organization (WTO) which opened the door to the introduction of GMOS, patents on seed and the collection of royalties.

A Monsanto representative later stated “In drafting these ag reements we were the patient, diagnostician, physician all in one”. Corporations defined a problem – and for them the problem was farmers saving seed. So they offered a solution, and the solution was the introduction of patents and intellectual property rights on seed, making it illegal for farmers to save their seed.