SEED PROGRAMS INC

Seed Programs International is working both internationally and domestically to improve food security and household income by improving access to seed, training, and agricultural resources. Our primary areas of focus are:

WOMEN IN AGRICULTURE: Women farmers produce more than 50% of the developing world’s food, yet own less than 2% of land and have limited access to quality seed, improved technologies, agricultural resources, and training. Studies show that for every dollar a woman makes, 90% goes back into the community, in comparison to only 30-40% for men. This means more money reinvested into health, education, and other household-level needs that improve livelihood indicators. By working with women’s groups, we aim to improve their access to agricultural resources to open their path to empowerment, income, and food security.

CRISIS RECOVERY: Crisis caused by conflict, climate change, and poverty is prevalent throughout the world. Global displacement is at an all-time high, with 100 million people displaced. Most disaster responses focus on short-term needs: shelter, food and medicine. While critical, this approach must be supplemented with medium-term recovery plans to rebuild lives. By working on vegetable-growing programs for crisis relief, we aim to bring stability to the lives of our program participants and enable sustainable and resilient livelihoods that are self-sufficient and not dependent on aid.

SCHOOL GARDENS: School gardens grow vegetables and future leaders to counter hunger and poverty in their communities. In many locations, a garden-supported school lunch is the only healthy meal of the day and motivates parents to keep their kids in school. Our school garden programs teach food literacy and healthy eating habits, enrich the learning environment, and provide nutritious lunches for students in the US and around the globe.

CHARITABLE GARDENS: In the US, 38 million people are food insecure. Charitable gardening programs promote agricultural literacy and distribute nutritious food to people struggling with hunger. By partnering with charitable gardening programs we aim to improve food security domestically.

AGRICULTURAL RESILIENCE: As climates continue to change, sustainable agricultural practices can be complicated to develop and maintain. Our programs aim to incorporate climate-smart agriculture strategies to counter environmental fluctuations. This can range from utilizing water infrastructure in drought prone areas to incorporating agroforestry or greenhouses in areas with heavy rainfall. Our programs also aim to reduce waste by accepting donations of seed that would otherwise be discarded and utilizing technologies to preserve food to prevent spoiling. Our programs work with what is available locally. If land is limited, then sac or urban gardening techniques can be incorporated. By considering environmental, economic, and societal factors, we aim to create sustainable and resilient agricultural practices.

SPI was founded in 1998 by John Batcha when he noticed that large quantities of high-quality vegetable seed were being discarded by seed companies each year, often due to overproduction or small decreases in germination rate. He also knew that communities and families around the world have difficulty accessing quality seed due to financial or geographic constraints. He created SPI to connect these communities with seed that would otherwise be wasted.

Throughout our 25 years of operation, we have continued to maintain a close relationship with the seed sector and receive donated seed to distribute to community partners struggling with food insecurity. We have also evolved our strategy to connect our program partners with seed sources in their country to promote local procurement of seed. We aim to foster this relationship to ensure sustainable practices that can operate without our support. This process also provides a feedback loop to strengthen the local seed market by improving the capacity of local farming communities while also encouraging developments in crop improvements within the local seed sector. Through this, we strengthen local seed supply chains.

Organizations interested in partnering with us can contact us via phone or email. They can also apply using an application form on our website. We accept partners as funds allow. Support can range from providing in-kind donations of seed to providing grants for seed, agricultural resources, water tanks, and comprehensive training. We partner with organizations that are local to the program. We work cohesively and collaboratively with our partners to utilize and build their local capacity to create sustainable change that is not dependent on continued outside aid. We design and execute our work with an exit strategy in mind. We have long standing flagship programs that replicate programmatic successes in surrounding communities.

Since our founding in 1998, we have worked with over 380 partners in 94 countries. We have distributed over 17 million packets of seed, capable of growing over 55,000 tons of food. In 2022, we worked in 17 countries with 45 partners, distributed over 518,000 packets of seed to grow 1,700 tons of food.