Our Story
Beela means seeds in the language of the farafara people in the Upper East Region of Ghana. In June 2021, Abena Offeh-Gyimah along with Solomon Abeinge from an organization called TRAX Ghana in Bolgatanga gathered farmers in the Bolgatanga area to discuss the state of indigenous seeds and foods in the Upper East region. During this conversation, many farmers talked about the decline of several native foods, seed varieties as well as the loss of ancestral and local knowledge, and practices on seed saving, sharing, and keeping.
At that event, we decided how important it was for us to start saving our indigenous seeds, we started with a simple whatsapp group called Back to My Roots to keep each other posted on seeds sharing and local food knowledge. Some farmers like Mr. Fuseini gave Abena local sorghum, and pumpkin seeds, as well as local frafra potatoes to save while keeping his own varieties. Baba Kumase also gave Abena varieties of millet and sorghum seeds to share. In the meeting, we talked about the grave impact of the green revolution initiatives on the food systems in the Upper East region.
Through a previous field study with TRAX Ghana, we started to see the grave impact of the green revolution initiatives on the food systems in the Upper East region, and the shift on the foods that people consume. With the upcoming introduction of bt cowpea (genetically modified) to Ghana fields and market, we knew that we needed to preserve our native varieties, hence Beela was born as a small seed library in one of the offices at TRAX Ghana.
We know that seeds have always been in the hands of African farmers, and their communities. We grew up seeing seeds as very much a part of our culture, our tradition, our livelihood and as part of the history of our people. We have stories about the early and late millet, we know which sorghum varieties are better for fermented beverages, and we know how to store local potatoes after harvest over the course of the season. Losing our access and knowledge to local foods also means losing the practices and knowledge’s that come with it.
The value of indigenous seeds in the hands of our farmers in their communities is about their right to food and seed sovereignty, and the power to access and control our own food systems. So, why should this right be taken from our communities?
At Beela, the practice of collecting, exchanging, and sharing seeds has been crucial to biodiversity, stewardship, and to sustaining indigenous food systems. Our seeds are integral to the function, operations, and movement of our people. The planting, saving, keeping, and use of indigenous seeds carries genetic information, cultural knowledge, and plant diversity that speaks to the existence, the survival, and the history of a people. And we deserve to preserve this.
The local connections, networks, and support system to push the work of Beela forward started in 2017 when Abena was first interested in preserving ancestral foods. She connected with TRAX Ghana and they did a field study on the state of organic agriculture, and the implications of agrochemicals on local food systems. In 2020, Abena once again connected with TRAX Ghana on a study on the decline of ancestral foods in various communities. In 2021, Abena supported TRAX Ghana to send two people to gain field experience at NO Till Farming Centre in Kumasi.
These previous projects set the stage for starting and pushing forward the work of Beela, whose mission is, conserve agro-biodiversity, to preserve community seed systems, and to promote the exchange of native seeds, knowledge, and know-how among farmers and their communities.
