KIKUYU, Kenya (AP) -- Tucked away in a lush, forested area of central Kenya's Kikuyu town, the National Seed Bank stands as a crucial safeguard for the future of the country's agriculture. Inside two chilly rooms of a government building, more than 50,000 seed varieties are cataloged and stored.

The bank was established in 1988 after the realization that some traditional varieties of seeds were being lost, an occurrence that is becoming more common with climate change. It aims to conserve seeds for research and reintroduction to farms.

"We realize that some of the traditional varieties that we had abandoned then are actually more resilient to climate change, so when you introduce them especially in marginal areas, those varieties outperform the improved varieties," said the director of the Genetic Resources Research Institute that operates the bank, Desterio Nyamongo, referring to hybrid seeds that must be bought every planting season.

He said the some of bank's seeds also were found to be more resistant to diseases and pests and were high-yielding.

This gives hope to a country that relies heavily on rain-fed agriculture instead of irrigation, leaving it more vulnerable to climate shocks like drought. The sector contributes a third of Kenya's GDP.

Kenya is not alone facing food security pressures. According to a U.N Food and Agriculture and Organization report in 2023, over a billion people across the African continent are unable to afford healthy diets, and the number of hungry people is increasing.

But in Kenya, another complication has emerged. Farmers in recent months suffered losses in the millions of shillings (tens of thousands of dollars) after planting counterfeit seeds bought from private sellers.

Kenyan officials have acknowledged that the seed sector is critical.

During the country's first international seed quality conference in August, the agriculture ministry's permanent secretary, Paul Rono, said Africa has limited capacity to produce high-quality certified seeds that are subjected to quality standards.

The head of the Eastern Africa Farmers Federation, Stephen Muchiri, said the vigor of crops in Kenya has become low, and he believes that the main reason is a flawed seed breeding and propagation program.

But some farmers say efforts to improve the seed system in Kenya have been limited by a 2012 law banning seed sharing, which is what millions of farmers did every planting season to cut their production cost.

The government has said the law is meant to prevent the circulation of uncertified seeds and protects farmers, but it faces a court challenge from more than a dozen farmers across Kenya who say it's expensive having to buy new seeds every planting season. The next hearing in the case is in March.

Francis Ngiri is one of the farmers who filed the case. He runs an indigenous seed bank for the local community on his five-acre farm in the semi-arid Gilgil area located 120 kilometers (74 miles) from the capital, Nairobi.

His work has become a learning ground for farmers who have experienced disappointing yields from hybrid seeds.

"We have seen that indigenous seeds are more resilient and perform better in our area even when there is reduced rainfall," he told The Associated Press.

He passionately shares his knowledge on conserving the seeds using traditional methods such as covering them with wood ash -- believed to repel weevils -- or keeping them in earthen pots. He emphasized the use of locally available materials at no cost.

Farmer Maximilla Onyura, who farms sorghum in the western county of Busia, said indigenous crops offer a food security solution. She isn't part of the legal challenge but collaborates with Ngiri through a Kenyan organization called the Seed Savers Network.

However, "instead of our government encouraging those offering solutions through indigenous crops, they are now cracking down on those sharing seeds at community level," she said.

Seed sharing in Kenya can bring two years in prison, a fine of up to 1 million Kenyan shillings ($7,700), or both. No farmer has been charged.

The National Seed Bank occasionally distributes some of its collection to farmers at no cost in the hope that the varieties that had long adopted to local conditions will be more resilient.

The director, Nyamongo, said farmers who cannot afford farm inputs like fertilizers required for hybrid seeds are better off planting the traditional varieties.

"It would be wrong for farmers, especially farmers in marginal areas, to start thinking that using the indigenous seed is backwardness," he said. "Far from it, because some of the indigenous varieties have adopted over time to the local conditions and therefore, they are more resilient."

Nyamongo did not comment on the farmers' court challenge to the seed-sharing ban.

The president of the Dutch-based climate change adaptation nonprofit Global Center on Adaptation, Patrick V. Verkooijen, said governments can invest in community-based seed programs to preserve a diversity of indigenous varieties.

"Indigenous crop varieties offer many benefits, particularly their genetic diversity, which helps farmers adapt to climate change, combat pests and diseases and manage poor soil fertility. However, they also come with challenges, such as potentially lower yields or susceptibility to new pests and diseases," he said.

Kenyan proponents of indigenous seeds like Ngiri said lower yields and susceptibility to new pests and diseases only happen when a seed variety is taken from its native location.

"The reason why they are indigenous is because they have adapted to the climatic conditions and the diseases found in the area they originally came from," Ngiri said.

___

The Associated Press receives financial support for global health and development coverage in Africa from the Gates Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.