Accelerating sustainable and diverse food systems in Europe: Boosting the organic seed sector

Accelerating sustainable and diverse food systems in Europe: Boosting the organic seed sector

Every meal begins with a single seed. Yet, behind the growing demand for organic food across Europe lies a quiet vulnerability: a substantial portion of crops grown on organic farms did not start from organic seeds, nor were they bred for organic farming conditions. As Europe faces the impending deregulation of New Genomic Techniques (NGTs), securing a robust, contamination-free, and genetically diverse organic seed supply is no longer a niche agricultural issue – it is a strategic imperative for food sovereignty. To bridge this gap and accelerate the transition toward climate-resilient agriculture, the European Union (EU), Switzerland and the UK funded LiveSeeding (2022–2026), a €6.6 million Horizon Europe Innovation Action. Bringing together 37 partner organisations across 16 European countries, LiveSeeding provides practical, science-based solutions and social innovations to deliver high-quality organic seeds and diverse plant cultivars from the field directly to the European market.