The Global Centre on Biodiversity for Climate (GCBC) reports on significant progress in its EMBRACE project, aimed at reviving forgotten food crops and securing a sustainable future. The project focuses on identifying and collecting seeds of minor indigenous crops and endangered tree species threatened with extinction, alongside mapping project working areas.
Seeds of Heritage and Community Collaboration
Working closely with local communities, the EMBRACE project rediscovers indigenous minor crops and endangered tree species. These plants, once vital to local food systems, now face obscurity due to commercial agriculture and changing land-use patterns. The project recognizes these species not just as food sources but as cultural treasures embodying nutrition, climate resilience, and biodiversity.
Field teams visited fifteen communities across Ghana's Ahafo, Ashanti, and Western North regions, collecting over 100 different species of minor crops, including vegetables, legumes, oilseeds, roots, tubers, and cereals. Each collection was enriched by traditional knowledge about cultivation, uses, seed systems, and observed changes in availability.
Commitment to Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI)
A key learning has been the crucial role of women as custodians of seed knowledge—responsible for selection, preservation, and intergenerational transfer of agricultural wisdom. Despite this, women are often excluded from decision-making. The EMBRACE project places GESI at its core, striving for equal access to resources, opportunities, and leadership for all farmers.
More Than Seeds: Co-Creation and Conservation
Project EMBRACE aims to go beyond mere seed preservation. Its goals include:
- Reviving traditions
- Reinforcing community resilience
- Reclaiming food sovereignty
- Reconnecting science with indigenous knowledge
By co-creating solutions with communities, the project reshapes the intersection of conservation and agriculture based on mutual respect and shared learning. Collected seeds will be stored in community seed banks and reintegrated into farms and agroforestry systems.
Looking Ahead: Resilience Rooted in Diversity
The EMBRACE project champions resilience through diversity as a path forward in a world facing climate uncertainty, food insecurity, and biodiversity loss. The article concludes with a call to celebrate food system diversity and honor the stewards of traditional knowledge.