Watch this Solutions Journalism documentary about Palestine’s seed library

Palestinian agriculture

Palestinian Vivien Sansour divides her time between working in the West Bank and with farmers in Central America and California. Her Seed Kitchen is connecting people over food. The documentary The Seed Queen of Palestine by Mariam Shahin follows Vivian in establishing the Bir Arts and Seeds Centre in Beit Sahour, West Bank, in which a seed library is built to preserve indigenous crops. 

From a driving car, Vivian points to the fields next to the road:

“Farmers used to grow sesame, okra, tomatoes, zucchini, everything. Now everywhere it’s only tobacco.”

The illegal Israeli occupation has damaged the Palestinian agriculture sector. Farmers are deprived of access to fertile land, water sources and markets. With land grabs, seeds also get lost and even go extinct. Vivian started to collect seeds of crops she loved and posted them on Facebook. People became aware and recognized things their grandmothers used to grow or their mothers used to cook. “Everyone has a story”, she says.

Why is it a solutions journalism story?

First, we need to look at the problem. The occupation plays a big role in the film. Israeli agribusiness monopolies have overtaken the Palestinian territories. Seeds are only bought from Israel and the United States. At the same time, there is a monoculture of tobacco implemented in some areas. Monocrop causes the disappearance of connection with the land and eventually spirituality of that land. Vivian says:

“Instead of growing food, we are growing poison. We want to grow food again”.

Another lady in the documentary notes how cancer cases have gone up and why more people looking for food without chemicals. Halfway through the film when a group of people is cooking together, a farmer adds that people don’t know what vegetables taste like anymore. The heart of the problem is clear, but as you can see there are a few more nuances to the story when you listen to everyone carefully.

The four pillars

For a Solutions Journalism story, it is important to spend some time around the problem. Once you know well what the problem is, it is easier to describe the solution or the approach to the problem, the first pillar of the method.

1. The approach is Vivian’s seed library in which long-lost seeds are collected. But it’s not just the establishment of the library, it’s also the seed kitchen that further connects farmers and citizens over food. The fact that farmers start using the seeds is another effect of the response: the seeds are spreading and multiplying. 
2. The evidence that is shown in the film comes from many different scenes:
   • Palestinian farmers in the Jersusam hamlet of Battir never stopped using heirloom seeds and they are a source of preservation and knowledge; 
   • The seed library is successful because there is a demand; 
   • The type of dark wheat in the film has short blades but it’s generous in yield, it’s inexpensive to grow, it’s more productive than other wheat and farmers can make their flour.  
   • One farmer planted 3 dunums (3000 m2) and expects to produce 25 dunums next year (25000m2); 
   • The surplus in yield is distributed to the farmer’s community which then spreads it further; 
   • Vivian’s initiative weaves people into a community. 
3. The insights for others to learn from:
   • Storytelling is important, it makes the project successful. Stories of people’s ancestors and also stories about the spirituality of nature; 
   • Resistance can be found in creating something beautiful. As Vivian says: “We wanted to show beauty and a home in a place where confrontations are happening. I think it’s really important that we give the new generation something alive rather than all the concrete we’re leaving them with”; 
   • Wheat can be seen as a long-lost love;
   • Some of the quotes of Vivian give food for thought, like “Nature was given to us by God so we can all enjoy it” and “Everyone has the right to eat well and no one should go hungry”. 
4. The limitations are connected to the occupation:
   • People live in the duality of violence, death and life. 
   • The violence is in the soil they’re working in. The first few days volunteers need to focus on collecting the glas of tear gas canisters that were found in the spot.
   • Consumers don’t know the taste of good vegetables anymore. 
   • The position of farmers in society. Vivian: “Farmers are exploring new ways to grow the perfect vegetables and yet they’re underestimated in the world as people who don’t know much. But they’re not only feeding us they also teach us how to stay alive in the future. The struggle of farmers in Palestine is similar to the struggle of farmers anywhere”. 
   • Old traditional ways of growing food and cooking are too often seen as primitive and uncivilized. 

Is it a hero story? 

In Solutions Journalism we want to make sure not to create hero stories. A hero story is a story in which the protagonist is the hero and the approach to the problem is hard to replicate for others who aren’t in a similar position or have similar resources. In this case, Vivian is the initiator of the project but she also builds a community of people who can proceed with her work if she is not there. The project doesn’t solely depend on her. It’s not a hero story! 

It is a decolonial story

Vivian’s work can be described as decolonial. The context she works in is colonial, with Israel as an illegal occupying power implementing mono-crop, not only taking over the business of agriculture but also erasing access to the land, the spiritual connection with the land, and the seeds that are disappearing. Vivian tries to re-invent what has been lost.

Director Mariam Shahin shares her experience of filming the documentary on the website.

Do you like this Solutions Journalism story? Anything you want to add regarding the four pillars?

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