Ecuador's Seed Guardians Replant Maize Their Grandparents Knew

Founded in 2002 in Tumbaco, the Red de Guardianes de Semillas links farming families who protect agrobiodiversity and regenerative ways of living across Ecuador. Its Ancestral Seeds Campaign hunts down endangered crops such as achira, miso, llerén, porotón, chonta and native potatoes and maize. The network supports community seed banks, trains peasant seed growers through its Peasant Seed Programme, and teaches permaculture and agroecology courses. Nearly 2,000 people from Indigenous and peasant communities have completed its basic and advanced permaculture courses, which spawned local groups such as the Amazonian Permaculture Network and the Intercultural Seed Network of Imbabura.