The International Seed Federation Celebrates 100 Years

Our story began in 1924 when seed traders from all over the world recognized the need for a more structured international seed trade. This vision laid the foundation for ISF, which has since grown into a global organization representing well over 7,500 companies across the seed breeding, production, and trading value chain. Our membership also includes nearly 70 national seed associations, ensuring a truly international voice for the private seed sector.

Over the last ten decades, ISF – through its predecessors, Fédération Internationale du Commerce des Semences (FIS) and the International Association of Plant Breeders for the Protection of Plant Varieties (ASSINSEL) – has played an undeniably significant role in shaping the seed industry landscape. We advocated for fair and open trade policies that facilitated the movement of high-quality seeds across borders. We championed the development of international seed regulations promoting seed quality, safety, and plant variety protection. These efforts have contributed to increasing farmers’ access to improved varieties and seed choice, leading to increased agricultural productivity and improved food and nutrition security.

While we rejoice in these achievements, the world we live in now faces daunting challenges. Climate change, resource scarcity, and geopolitical conflicts threaten our ability to produce enough healthy, nutritious food for a growing global population in a rapidly changing political and economic landscape. In this context, we are convinced that the seed sector has a critical role to play.

Working Towards a Sustainable, Food-Secure Future

One of the most pressing challenges is fostering continuous plant breeding innovation. Farmers everywhere require improved varieties that are resilient to climate extremes and to pests and diseases, and that optimally use increasingly scarce resources like land, water, and fertilizer, while responding to changing food habits. Plant breeding innovation is continuously evolving, and our continued capacity to use the latest breeding methods is key to enabling farmers to respond to the above-mentioned challenges.

However, ensuring access to these innovations remains crucial. Smallholder farmers, particularly in developing countries, often lack access to improved seeds due to affordability or regulatory constraints. In this sphere, ISF is actively working with public research institutions like the One CGIAR, NGOs and local communities through our Seed Resilience Project, and the Seeds4Food Coalition to bridge this gap and empower farmers with increased seed choice and adoption of good agricultural practices.

Our partnership with One CGIAR, the world’s largest agricultural research partnership, which was formalized through a memorandum of understanding in late 2023, aims to increase farmers’ access to quality seed and innovation. Specifically, the partnership seeks to enhance agricultural productivity by fostering joint efforts to help solve complex issues in the seed sector and overall agri-food systems and by taking the lead in informing policy discourse, discussions, and advocacy efforts with data-driven, evidence-based insights and recommendations. These include:

➀ Developing a common understanding of the seed regulatory and policy frameworks,

➁ Exploring opportunities to create and maintain a common platform,

➂ Facilitating partnerships on improving seed delivery to smallholder farmers, and

➃ Designing innovative models for capacity building of local and regional seed producers and farmers, including women and disadvantaged groups in commonly identified regions.

In complementarity, the Seed Resilience Project, currently being implemented in Rwanda in partnership with Fair Planet and in close coordination with the National Seed Association of Rwanda (NSAR), the African Seed Trade Association (AFSTA), national authorities, and other actors in the seed value chain aims to facilitate access to high-quality seeds and training on Good Agricultural Practices (GAP), based on the understanding that access to improved varieties will allow farmers to produce and sell significantly higher yields with better produce quality.

The project will address three food and nutrition pillars: fresh vegetables for vitamins and fibres, pulses for proteins and soil fertility improvement, and cereals and potatoes for carbohydrates.

Lastly, the Seeds4Food Coalition, which we initiated together with the Netherlands, Plantum, and the Seeds to Food Dialogues, organized by UN Food Systems Summit Food Champion Andrew Mushita of the Community Technology Development Trust in Zimbabwe, is a ‘coalition of the willing’ that responds to the need for complementary and inclusive approaches to enable seed security for small-holder farmers. It aims to foster local to global advocacy and mobilize joint actions to support the complementarities of seed systems and strengthen their inherent interconnection with food. Recent discussions with Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Mozambique, and Malawi are on track to build a broader coalition.

Together, these three initiatives deliver on our mission to create the best environment for the global movement of seed and promote plant breeding and innovation in seed, all towards achieving a world where the best quality seed is accessible to all, supporting sustainable agriculture and food security.

Engaging for the Next Century

ISF is committed to supporting these and other efforts that contribute to the sustainable transformation of the world’s food systems. We actively engage in international discussions on food security and sustainable development and advocate for policies that incentivize innovation in plant breeding and create enabling business environments in even the most challenging of contexts. We also work with our members to develop responsible seed production and distribution models that minimize environmental impact.

Indeed, as we take the time this year in Rotterdam at the ISF World Seed Congress 2024 to celebrate our association’s 100 years, we look to the future with optimism. We are confident that by fostering innovation, promoting responsible trade, and collaborating with all stakeholders, the seed sector can be a powerful catalyst for a more sustainable and food-secure world now and in the future.

The next century promises exciting possibilities. The latest breeding methods offer new opportunities, and digital technologies like artificial intelligence and machine learning will help transform agricultural practices to become more efficient, more accurate, and more sustainable. ISF remains steadfast in its commitment to supporting its members in harnessing these advancements for the collective good.

We recognize the responsibility we hold. Each seed sown represents hope for a brighter future. As we enter our second century, ISF remains dedicated to nurturing that promise, ensuring that all farmers have access to the seeds they need to feed a growing world, sustainably.

Seed is life.