Resilient harvesting: black rural women’s management of community seed banks in the Eastern Cape province

Abstract

Community seed banks’ recognition as critical tools for achieving food security, climate resilience, and rural economic development continues to grow. This is despite their leadership and management practices not being well-known in the Eastern Cape’s context. This research study examines how Black rural women manage and sustain community seed banks, utilising the Indigenous Leadership theoretical framework. It explores how Black rural women employ indigenous knowledge systems to manage change in their community seed banks. The study design is an exploratory qualitative study. The research data were gathered through 15 semi-structured interviews with Black rural women managers of community seed banks in municipalities across the Eastern Cape province. A thematic analysis was employed to elucidate Indigenous Leadership principles, including collective leadership, intergenerational knowledge transmission, shared responsibility, and stewardship, that foster indigenous change processes. The study aims to deepen the knowledge on management and change leadership models beyond the Western perspective. The findings indicate that Black rural women employ adaptive indigenous leadership grounded in indigenous values and principles in managing their community seed banks. Black rural women’s indigenous leadership practices are demonstrated to provide adaptive governance systems that strengthen the community seed banks’ operations and foster community resilience and sustainability. The research offers insights for policy developers, academic sectors and rural development practitioners on integrated management practices with the indigenous leadership management model for sustainable rural development, through the context of Black rural women-managed community seed banks.