What began with a small table and a WhatsApp group of women exchanging seeds has grown into a UAE-wide volunteer initiative that has reached thousands of gardening enthusiasts, helping preserve traditional farming knowledge and encouraging families to grow their own food.
For Emirati woman Mona Ali Al Suwaidi, founder of the UAE Seeds Bank, the initiative is about more than distributing seeds. It is about reviving a tradition once practised in Emirati households, where women collected seeds from their harvests, preserved them for the next planting season and passed their agricultural knowledge from one generation to another.
Launched in 2021 through Al Jinan Gardens, a women’s gardening group on WhatsApp, the non-profit initiative has now entered its sixth season in 2026, having reached more than 1,000 beneficiaries in its fifth season alone.
Stay up to date with the latest news. Follow KT on WhatsApp Channels.
Al Suwaidi said she never imagined that an idea shared among a small group of women would develop into an organised community initiative reaching people across the country.
“I never expected the initiative to reach where it is today,” she said.
Initially, members of the WhatsApp group exchanged surplus seeds from their home gardens and farms and shared advice on growing different varieties.
As more women joined, the group began receiving larger quantities of seeds, prompting Al Suwaidi to organise their collection, preservation and distribution.
Today, the initiative collects local, inherited and previously cultivated seed varieties from gardeners and farmers at the end of each agricultural season.
The initiative inspects, sorts, dries, packages, and stores the donated seeds under suitable conditions before distributing them free of charge ahead of the next planting season.
Although more than 1,000 people benefited during the fifth season, Al Suwaidi said the total number of beneficiaries across all six seasons is believed to be in the thousands, with no formal system currently in place to document every recipient.
The initiative has also extended beyond the UAE, with contributions and seed exchanges involving people from other countries.
When beneficiaries become contributors
One of the most rewarding aspects of the initiative, Al Suwaidi said, is seeing people who initially received seeds return the following season with seeds from their own harvests.
Some beneficiaries send photographs of the plants they grew, while others donate surplus seeds to be distributed to new participants.
For Al Suwaidi, these moments demonstrate how a simple act of sharing can create a continuing cycle of community participation.
She explained that the initiative does not aim to give people seeds and end its involvement there. Instead, it encourages recipients to plant them, preserve part of their harvest for the following season and share any surplus with others.
Through agricultural gatherings, farmers’ markets, workshops, and community events, the seeds continue to circulate, along with the knowledge of how to grow them.
Each variety carries information about its origins, planting requirements and preservation methods, allowing participants to learn from one another’s experiences.
The seed collection area where seeds are gathered before distribution and labelled
Reviving the role of Emirati women in agriculture
For Al Suwaidi, the initiative also continues the role Emirati women traditionally played in agriculture and household food production.
She recalled how women in earlier generations understood planting seasons, grew crops for their families, and preserved seeds for future use.
Households and generations passed agricultural knowledge down, often through practical experience rather than formal education.
“What we are doing today is an extension of that earlier role, but in a way that suits our current circumstances and needs,” she said.
She believes that preserving traditional seed varieties is inseparable from preserving the knowledge surrounding them.
“We are not only preserving the seed. We are preserving the knowledge connected to it,” she said.
As an Emirati woman leading a voluntary agricultural initiative, Al Suwaidi said she takes pride in showing how women can use their skills and interests to support sustainability and food security.
She added that many sustainability practices start at home, from how families grow and consume food to how they reduce waste and teach children about agriculture.
Rather than discarding seeds after eating fruit or vegetables, she hopes more people will recognise their potential and attempt to cultivate them.
Educational workshops conducted by the women volunteers for children as part of the UAE Seeds Bank initiative
It is also an opportunity to encourage younger generations to view agriculture not simply as a practice from the past but as something connected to their present lives and future.
From gardening to small businesses
Beyond preserving traditional agricultural practices, the initiative has also helped some women become more self-sufficient and explore small business opportunities.
Al Suwaidi said several members of the gardening group have developed their agricultural skills to the point where they can produce some of their own food at home.
Others have turned their interest into small online businesses, selling products grown from seeds while continuing to contribute surplus seeds to the initiative.
She said these developments show how women’s personal interests can grow into activities that benefit their families and wider communities.
For Al Suwaidi, such examples also highlight the role community initiatives can play in supporting food security and encouraging productive home-based activities.
The work behind a packet of seeds
Despite its growth, sustaining the initiative has been challenging, particularly because it relies entirely on volunteers and available resources.
Al Suwaidi, who also works full-time, said balancing her professional responsibilities with managing the seed bank takes considerable time and commitment.
Other women involved in the initiative are homemakers with family responsibilities, making coordination particularly important during busy collection and distribution periods.
She explained that the biggest challenge was not necessarily being a woman leading the project, but ensuring that a growing volunteer initiative could continue operating without dedicated financial support.
Every packet of seeds distributed involves several stages, from receiving donations and checking their quality to recording information, sorting, drying, packaging and arranging distribution.
“People see a simple packet of seeds, but behind that packet are time, effort and many stages of work,” she said.
As the number of beneficiaries grows, so does the responsibility carried by the women managing the initiative.
However, Al Suwaidi believes its development shows that community projects don't need substantial financial resources to make an impact.
She said commitment, consistency and the trust of community members have been central to its continued growth.
Hopes for a permanent seed bank
Now entering its sixth season, the UAE Seeds Bank aims to expand beyond its current seasonal collection and distribution.
Al Suwaidi hopes the initiative will eventually have a permanent location where seeds can be stored, preserved, and distributed year-round rather than only during the agricultural season.
She also wants to establish a more comprehensive system for documenting seed varieties, their origins and the experiences of people who have successfully cultivated them.
The initiative already organises educational workshops, participates in agricultural events and works with schools to introduce children to seed preservation and home gardening.
However, Al Suwaidi hopes to expand these activities, creating more opportunities for children, mothers, farmers, and gardening enthusiasts to participate.
Her long-term ambition is to develop the initiative into a community-based system that preserves both local and non-local seeds alongside the knowledge associated with them.
The UAE Seeds Bank is also collaborating with the Ministry of Community Empowerment during its sixth season while seeking to expand partnerships with agricultural and community organisations.
A culture that continues beyond the initiative
Despite the initiative’s expansion, Al Suwaidi said her greatest ambition is not to reach a particular number of beneficiaries.
Instead, she hopes preserving, replanting and sharing seeds will eventually become a natural habit within households across the UAE.
She imagines a future where families routinely save seeds from their harvests, grow them during the following season and share the surplus with relatives, neighbours and other community members.
If this becomes a widespread practice, she believes the initiative will have achieved its ultimate purpose.
“At that point, the initiative will no longer depend on one person or one group. It will become a culture within the community,” she said.
For Al Suwaidi, the goal is not simply to build a seed bank that continues distributing seeds indefinitely but to encourage a community capable of preserving and sharing its own agricultural resources.
What began as a small exchange between women on WhatsApp could ultimately help revive a practice that was once part of everyday life in Emirati households, ensuring that seeds, knowledge and the tradition of giving continue to pass from one generation to the next.