Seeds are the first link in the food system. Without seeds – and by this, we mean including asexual vegetative materials such as bulbs, cuttings, rhizomes, runners, etc. – we cannot grow crops that provide us sustenance. Our forms of sustenance are as varied as our cultures; some are largely vegan, others are more meat-based, some cultures rely more on root crops and plantains as staple, others on cereal grains and their many forms. Thus for many generations, numerous food cultures have sprung all over the world reflecting the diversity of seeds and cropping patterns unique to particular agro-climatic and agroecological zones.

Seed diversity is central to our survival. The seed diversity that existed, and that which continues to exist today, are products of constantly evolving efforts of farmers to conserve, improve, and utilise diverse range of seeds for equally diverse range of purposes. Throughout almost all the 10,000 year history of agriculture, the patient and careful work of millions of farmers produced an endless wealth of crop cultivars with their myriad colours, flavours, needs, uses, adaptive characteristics, sub-products, growth habits, etc. A very important part of this process has been the free exchange of seeds among farmers, which made the passing of knowledge, customs, traditions and culture possible from one farmer to another for countless generations.