Always on
This project successfully funded on 20th April 2026, you can still support them with a donation.
Support for Bu-Ju and food sovereignty in Lebanon
Lebanon
Aim
Buzuruna-Juzuruna (Our Seeds Our Roots) is a farm at the centre of food sovereignty. They need our support to supply seed within Lebanon.
Switch on subtitles for the YouTube video, otherwise it's mostly in Arabic!
Who are Buzuruna-Juzuruna?
Buzuruna-Juzuruna (Our Seeds Our Roots) is a farm in the Beqaa Valley of Lebanon. They have been working for years to grow local varieties of wheat, pulses and vegetables to feed local people, and to supply high-quality, locally-adapted, non-hybrid, non-GM seed to farmers and gardeners all over Lebanon. They are deeply involved in food sovereignty in Lebanon and work with farmers to encourage a move away from chemicals and imported seed, towards more resilient methods, more focused on Lebanon feeding itself. As you can imagine, relying on imported seed that requires chemical inputs is a disastrous strategy when your country's currency collapses and you are being bombed.
Why Seed Matters
Hybrid and GM seeds need to be purchased every year and act like an addictive substance, whereas open-pollinated (OP) seed can be saved each year and adapts naturally to local environments. Farmers in Lebanon can no longer afford the chemicals or the fuel required by the GM and hybrid seed because the currency has lost 90% of its value in recent years. Bu-Ju give farmers locally-grown OP seed that can be saved and ask only for seed in return at harvest time. They sell small packet vegetable seeds to gardeners within Lebanon and run a local veg box scheme supplying parts of Beirut and the Beqaa to fund their food sovereignty work.
Since the latest bombings and invasion from the South, Bu-Ju have been supplying food to people forced to migrate North, as well as supplying seed at a crucial time for sowing. With a currency collapse, a war and climate change wreaking havoc on Lebanon, we ask you to support this amazing project that farmers all over the world could learn from. They understand that food sovereignty starts with seed sovereignty, have the network to get things done in Lebanon and have been planning for this eventuality.
UK connection
I am a vegetable farmer in the UK who has got to know some members of Bu-Ju through our shared work with seed. Bu-Ju and my farm both grow seed and supply local people with veg boxes. I want to support this lovely, caring and practical collective with their work that will keep people fed and make farms more resilient in Lebanon.
Money donated will be sent by me to Lebanon in USD (as the local currency is near-useless) avoiding Lebanese banks (because they hold the money and limit withdrawls) for Bu-Ju to take out from international payment services and use for their food and seed operations during and after this latest crisis. 'The project' referred to is Buzuruna-Juzuruna in Lebanon, and my role in creating this Crowdfunder is simply to raise money for them. I do not work for Bu-Ju and do not run the project. I plan to visit Bu-Ju in the next year to see what we in the UK can learn to make our agriculture more resilient for the future.
We don't need the corporations; governments cannot be relied upon in real crises like war and climate chaos; we need networks of people who care for each other and the land. Seed sovereignty is an excellent first step.
Seeds and stories are meant to be shared.
https://linktr.ee/buzurunajuzuruna
https://www.instagram.com/buzurunajuzuruna/
https://www.instagram.com/twoacre_farm/
Funding method
Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made