Marceline, a farmer from the Gwiza Cooperative in Rwamagana district, Rwanda, shows her beds of newly planted cabbage. Credit: ISF/Henry Joel

By Michael Keller
NEW YORK, Sep 30 2025 (IPS)

When you think of climate action, images of wind farms, solar panels, bicycles or electric vehicles may come to mind. Perhaps lush forests or green landscapes. What you may not think of is the humble seed.

Yet seeds are among our most powerful tools to cut emissions, adapt to rising temperatures, and reduce food waste and loss. They underpin reforestation efforts, and have the power to unlock climate-resilient, lower-emission, longer-lasting crops.

If the world is to meet its climate goals while feeding a growing population in a hotter, less predictable world, it must unleash the full potential of the seed industry. That means supporting innovation, investment, and strong collaboration between the public and private sectors.

The strong engagement at Climate Week NYC helped set the stage for the discussions we must now advance on the road to COP30 in November to fully harness the potential of seeds for a climate-resilient future.

Global temperatures continue to rise, driving more frequent extreme weather events and straining ecosystems. The fallout is global. Food security, health, migration and economic stability are all impacted, especially in the poorest nations, which have contributed the least to the problem.

Agriculture is often hit the hardest, as crops depend on stable weather, yet droughts, floods and heatwaves devastate harvests, while warmer and more humid temperatures fuel germs, spoilage and food loss. Already, one fifth of all food produced in the world is lost or wasted before people consume it.

Yet one of the most powerful tools to adapt, cut emissions, and reduce hunger remains underutilized: improved seeds. Compelling examples of the potential impact of seeds can be found scattered around the world, waiting to scale and take root.

For example, in Brazil, dedicated orchards of native trees, such as the Araucaria, are meticulously managed through a process of raising seedlings in nurseries and planting them in restoration sites. This crucial work is foundational for climate-resilient reforestation, ensuring that future forests are diverse, robust and stable in the face of changing environmental conditions.

Further afield, in Mexico, the agricultural landscape has been significantly transformed through the development and widespread adoption of climate-adapted hybrid maize varieties. This innovation has revolutionized the country’s maize production, contributing to food security and economic stability.

Simultaneously, in Rwanda, sustainable seed systems are being built from the ground up, with newly tested varieties demonstrating remarkable improvements, yielding up to nine times more than traditional seeds. These efforts highlight the power of localized, tailored seed solutions.

Looking into the future, scientific advancements are continuously pushing boundaries. Researchers are actively developing new varieties of staple crops, such as tomatoes, utilizing cutting-edge CRISPR technology. This innovative approach aims to increase the shelf life of produce and significantly limit food waste, addressing critical challenges within the global food supply chain.

To get the most out of seeds, they need to move from the margins to the mainstream of climate action to the front of people’s minds. This shift is crucial for unlocking their full potential in building a more sustainable and resilient future.

Firstly, mainstreaming seeds in climate finance would accelerate the development and delivery of climate-resilient low-emission varieties. This involves directing significant investment towards research, breeding, and distribution programs that focus on developing crops capable of thriving in changing climatic conditions while minimizing environmental impact. This can be a part of a long overdue reinvestment in agrifood systems, which currently receive just 4 per cent of climate finance.

Second, integrating seed innovation into national strategies and Nationally Determined Contributions, would ensure countries see seeds as the critical infrastructure they are. By acknowledging seeds as fundamental to food security and climate adaptation, governments can prioritize their development and deployment in national development plans, agricultural policies, and climate action frameworks.

More public-private partnerships would help to drive innovation at scale, with governments, researchers and the private sector driving towards solutions. These collaborations, like ISF’s with CGIAR, can pool resources, expertise, and technologies, fostering a dynamic ecosystem where cutting-edge research translates into practical, scalable solutions for farmers worldwide.

In 2025 — following the hottest year ever recorded — we can’t afford to overlook one of our most effective tools for climate action: seeds. These tiny powerhouses hold immense untapped potential to help us adapt to rising temperatures, cut emissions, improve carbon sequestration, and minimize waste across agricultural systems.

But to truly unlock that potential, they must be given the spotlight on global stages, where consequential decisions are being made and long-term priorities are set for the planet’s future.

As we enter the second half of this crucial decade for climate action, the message from the seed sector is clear and urgent: we are ready to continue contributing to the fullest of our potential.

It is imperative that policymakers and stakeholders plant the seed of a climate-resilient future now, before it is too late to reverse the devastating impacts of a warming world.

IPS UN Bureau

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Joy of Marketing - Ethiopia. Credit: International Seed Federation

By Michael Keller
VAUD, Switzerland, May 16 2023 (IPS)

At long last, momentum is growing for an overdue rethink of climate finance and development assistance to support countries on the frontlines of the climate crisis.

But while investment, aid and compensation are all much needed, another form of currency is equally valuable for climate-vulnerable countries that are also highly dependent on small-scale agriculture: quality seeds.

The latest generation of seeds offers varieties adapted to specific climatic circumstances to provide more reliable food production, as well as improved incomes and livelihoods for farmers, having boosted productivity by 20 per cent for nine key crops in the European Union over 15 years.

Yet improved varieties of many of the world’s staple cereals, vegetables and pulses are too often inaccessible for farmers in Africa, despite having some of the greatest exposure to climate extremes.

For instance, in East Africa, certified quality seed potatoes – which produce higher yields and greater resilience to climatic changes, pests, and diseases – account for just one per cent of all those planted by farmers.

By leveraging the advances and resources of the commercial seed sector – supported and scaled by public and NGO partners – the global community can ensure African farmers receive the tangible, long-term support they need to cope with the impacts of climate change.

Michael Keller

For example, non-profit Fair Planet coached more than 2,300 lead farmers in 65 Ethiopian villages and trained their regional extension agents in improved farming practices. With this training, farmers were able to quickly adopt and maximize their crop yields using locally tested and improved varieties of vegetables.

In total, some 75,000 smallholder farmers in the project’s regions subsequently tripled their vegetable production at a time when the Horn of Africa faced pressing food security challenges. As a result of an historic, ongoing drought, an estimated 22 million people are currently facing acute food insecurity across Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia.

According to an external evaluation, more than 95 per cent of households involved in Fair Planet’s work in Ethiopia – or roughly 485,000 people – benefitted from improved nutrition after the increased yields raised household incomes in just one production season by more than 25 per cent. This extra income provided farmers with a greater buffer against climate shocks, and more money to spend on health services and education for their families.

Opening up access to improved varieties of staple crops plays an important role in safeguarding food and nutrition security in the face of climate change, which could reduce levels of protein, iron and zinc in cereals by up to 10 per cent.

This is why the International Seed Federation (ISF), together with Fair Planet, is embarking on a five-year project to increase farmer choice of and access to quality seeds in Rwanda.

The aim is to benefit 84,000 Rwandan farmers by offering increased access to improved, high-quality vegetable, pulses, cereal, and potato varieties alongside downstream value chain projects training to support higher yields and incomes, and climate adaptation.

The final piece of the puzzle is to establish the policies and regulations needed to develop resilient and sustainable seed systems that benefit farmers. This requires policymakers to build an efficient and effective regulatory framework that provides reassurance to farmers that they are receiving the highest quality seed year after year, while also providing the long-term certainty likely to incentivize additional private sector investment.

Quality seeds are clearly the bedrock upon which productive and resilient farming systems are built, yet these technologies up to now remain out of reach for many of Africa’s farmers – one of the many significant challenges they face today.

By investing and collaborating to build resilient seed systems, the private sector can share more broadly the fruits of progress in global crop science through partnerships that ensure farmers receive seeds that are not only fit for purpose but fit for the future.

Improved seeds can then pay dividends by unlocking better productivity, incomes, and climate resilience for those on the frontlines who have for too long been underserved.

IPS UN Bureau

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