Prāṇāyu is creating in India a seed bank whose varieties have been selected for their very high nutritional density, as well as for their high therapeutic potential.
The selected Prāṇāyu seeds are intended for distribution to the most vulnerable communities suffering from malnutrition, including ādivāsī populations and small farmers.
To go further, the seed bank Prāṇāyu organizes workshops and conferences around the themes of biodiversity, agro ecology and nutrition.
The benefits of the Prāṇāyu seed bank radiate at different scales for families, communities and individuals:
- By giving them access to a quality diet, which makes it possible to fill their quantitative (under-nutrition) and qualitative (micro nutrition deficit) nutritional deficiencies and which strengthens their immune power;
- By bringing together, for vulnerable populations, conditions favourable to food security, in terms of access, availability, quality and stability, taking into account climate changes and possible environmental disasters;
- Protecting the food and medicinal biodiversity, preserving valuable rare and endangered plant species for their nutritional and therapeutic qualities;
- By developing the social and solidarity link between people and cultures;
- By giving back to the adivāsī and to the rural populations livelihood, while preserving their traditional way of life;
- By strengthening the dignity of vulnerable populations by encouraging them to be involved in the production of their food and the management of their resources;
- Limiting the rural exodus and the concentration of vulnerable populations in slums;
- By modelling an action of perfect sustainable development on economic, ecological and social plans;
- By preserving ancestral heritage of knowledge and know-how that is essential for the future of humanity;
- By generating agro ecological and medical scientific knowledge.