This book is an output of a regional experts’ consultation program on “Partnership to Strengthen Community Based Seed Systems in South Asia”, organized by the SAARC Agriculture Center (SAC), Dhaka; the Asian Farmers Association (AFA), the Philippines; and the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC), Pakistan during 7-9 November 2019, Islamabad, Pakistan. This book has ownership of the SAARC Member States’ National Focal Point Experts, authors, editors, and publishers.

This book focuses on the seed systems in general, the Community Based Seed System (CBSS) in particular, in relation to biodiversity conservation and food & nutrition security; improved seed systems; country-specific constraints, challenges, opportunities, prospects, and policies.

This book is consistent with the global goals (Sustainable Development Goals–SDGs), international declarations and commitments on Farmers’ Rights (ITPGRFA, UN Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas, UN Decade of Family Farming),
regional initiatives, and country perspectives.

This Volume suggests some major policy interventions include: i) Strengthen CBSS by formulating the government’s policies and regular
program framework; ii) Promote farmers’ right in seed production, saving, utilization, exchange, and sale; iii) Link CBSS with the multinational
and national seed companies; iv) Formalize the registration and release process of CBSS seeds; v) Promote in-situ practices and conservation of the biodiversity; vi) Leverage CBSS with Future Smart Food–promote nutrition-sensitive agriculture, and neglected underutilized nutrition-rich crops, and vii) Enhance the integrated efforts of the development partners and stakeholders in the seed value chain.

This book is useful for the smallholder farmers, community seed-producing groups, researchers, academicians, public and private seed companies, development professionals, policymakers, governments, international organizations, development partners, and civil societies to gain the synergetic efforts for strengthening CBSS in order to contribute for biodiversity conservation and food & nutrition security in South Asia.