Who can share seeds? As climate change and counterfeits hurt Kenyan farmers, it's a growing question

abcnews.go.com:

Climate change and recent troubles with counterfeit seeds have challenged Kenya's agriculture efforts to improve food security

KIKUYU, Kenya — Tucked away in a lush, forested area of central Kenya's Kikuyu town, the National Seed Bank stands as a crucial safeguard for the future of the country's agriculture. Inside two chilly rooms of a government building, more than 50,000 seed varieties are cataloged and stored.

The bank was established in 1988 after the realization that some traditional varieties of seeds were being lost, an occurrence that is becoming more common with climate change. It aims to conserve seeds for research and reintroduction to farms.

“We realize that some of the traditional varieties that we had abandoned then are actually more resilient to climate change, so when you introduce them especially in marginal areas, those varieties outperform the improved varieties,” said the director of the Genetic Resources Research Institute that operates the bank, Desterio Nyamongo, referring to hybrid seeds that must be bought every planting season.

He said the some of bank’s seeds also were found to be more resistant to diseases and pests and were high-yielding.

This gives hope to a country that relies heavily on rain-fed agriculture instead of irrigation, leaving it more vulnerable to climate shocks like drought. The sector contributes a third of Kenya's GDP.

Kenya is not alone facing food security pressures. According to a U.N Food and Agriculture and Organization report in 2023, over a billion people across the African continent are unable to afford healthy diets, and the number of hungry people is increasing.

But in Kenya, another complication has emerged. Farmers in recent months suffered losses in the