MSPM
Since 2018, MSPM has been working to place farmer seeds at the heart of a resilient, healthy, sustainable, and accessible agricultural and food system for all.
Our Identity
A COLLECTIVE COMMITTED TO
FOOD COMMONS
MSPM is a collective of farmers, gardeners, chefs, and citizens mobilized for the conservation and enhancement of cultivated biodiversity in our bio-region, the Alpes-Maritimes.
Since 2018, we have been working for the recognition, multiplication, and transmission of this heritage wealth, by supporting all those who wish to act for cultivated biodiversity.
Beyond preserving over 100 local varieties, MSPM creates a model for collective and sustainable seed management, based on cooperation, mutual aid, and knowledge sharing.
Our History
WHY MSPM EXISTS
75% of cultivated biodiversity has disappeared in a century (FAO). In the Alpes-Maritimes, dozens of local varieties — tomatoes, squash, onions, wheat — were gradually disappearing, replaced by standardized F1 hybrids, often unsuited to local conditions.
It is by fully grasping the urgency of this situation — both globally and in our region — and facing the growing dependence experienced by many market gardeners, farmers, and gardeners on agribusiness, that a collective dynamic was set in motion.
In 2018, at the crossroads of commitments from several organizations working for agroecology — Agribio06, SOL, ADEAR06, AMAP06, GRAB, 21 Paysans, … — a call for mobilization was launched to all those who wish to commit to the preservation and renewal of local agrobiodiversity.
Through meetings and exchanges, a conviction emerged: it is necessary and urgent to collectively and concretely take back control of our food and our seeds.
This is how the Maison des Semences Paysannes Maralpines was born!
2018
Constitution of the association. First inventories and collections of local varieties in the Maralpine valleys.
2021
Start of participatory selection in partnership with researcher Chloé Gaspari. Capsicum training.
2024
International Meetings “Sème ta résistance” (Sow Your Resistance): 400 practitioners from 60 countries, 5 continents. Co-organized with the Réseau Semences Paysannes, SOL, and Let's Liberate Diversity.
2019
Constitution of the “farmer group” for the non-commercial exchange of seeds among members. Tomato & zucchini training.
2022
Premises of the seed cooperative for the sale of seeds to professional market gardeners. Launch of the Menton pink onion festival.
2025
Adoption of the 2025-2028 Roadmap. Increase in farmer seed production. 2nd season of sales for the seed cooperative group.
2020
First workshops on seed techniques. Creation of the MSPM "seed bank". Onion training.
2023
Signing of the commodatum with the city of Valbonne for a farmer seed production plot. Carrot training.
2026
Election of a new collegiate board of 15 co-presidents. Organization of the 1st general assembly of CASAM (MSPM's Italian sister organization).
Recreating connections between farmers, between consumers and producers, between humans and plants, with farmer seeds and associated know-how as a guiding thread: THAT IS OUR MISSION
Our roadmap before our 10th anniversary...
"PRODUCE QUALITY FARMER SEEDS IN QUANTITY."
After six years of existence and the International Meetings, MSPM’s collegiate board collectively developed its roadmap for 2025-2028, centered on a major objective: scaling up to strengthen our impact and ensure its longevity in the dissemination of farmer seeds and the vegetables derived from them.
Our roadmap is based on 7 complementary axes, unanimously approved at the General Assembly on January 25, 2025, in Antibes.
01. Develop MSPM
To support its development, MSPM is undertaking a comprehensive structuring, both human, material, and organizational. This involves the gradual creation of a salaried team capable of ensuring coordination, administrative follow-up, and member support, as well as establishing a central physical location housing offices, storage, and logistics.
In parallel, the association is strengthening its collegiate governance by further structuring its bodies and management tools. This growth also requires building a solid economic model, capable of sustainably supporting its activities while respecting its values as a common good.
02. Transmit Seed Knowledge
MSPM aims to become a leading training center for farmer seeds, offering a structured cycle of training courses ranging from initiation to advanced levels. The objective is to enable everyone — gardeners, farmers, citizens — to train at their own pace, while ensuring the sustainable transmission of knowledge.
The development of digital tools will complement the training to make this knowledge accessible in the long term.
03. Produce and Distribute
MSPM aims to become a leading training center for farmer seeds, offering a structured cycle of training courses ranging from initiation to advanced levels. The objective is to enable everyone — gardeners, farmers, citizens — to train at their own pace, while ensuring the sustainable transmission of knowledge. The development of digital tools will complement the training to make this knowledge accessible in the long term.
04. Select Tomorrow's Seeds
Through participatory selection and experimentation, MSPM develops varieties adapted to local conditions and climate challenges. By involving more producers and exploring evolutionary populations (PEPS), it demonstrates that it is possible to create robust and resilient alternatives to F1 hybrids. This work is part of a logic of peasant innovation and seed autonomy.
05. Raise Awareness Through Events
Events organized by MSPM are key moments for raising awareness, transmitting knowledge, and circulating seeds. Assemblies, festivals, and meetings create connections and highlight the issues related to cultivated biodiversity.
In parallel, communication tools and promotional actions with distributors strengthen the presence of farmer seeds in the public sphere.
06. Enhance Through Taste
Food is a powerful lever for reconnecting citizens with seeds. MSPM wishes to strengthen this approach by developing partnerships with committed chefs, creating processing tools such as a cannery to enhance products and co-products, and organizing convivial events (meals, meetings) directly at producers’ sites. The objective is to keep farmer seeds alive on plates as much as in fields.
07. Work in Network
MSPM is part of a dynamic of cooperation at different scales to strengthen the impact of its actions. It develops links with neighboring initiatives in Liguria and Piedmont, actively participates in the Réseau Semences Paysannes (especially on advocacy, training, and research), participates in dynamics around PEPS, and strengthens its international collaborations, notably with the Cusco seed house. This networking allows for sharing knowledge, pooling experiences, and collectively defending farmer seeds.
Our Governance
A COLLEGIATE STRUCTURE TO GOVERN THE ASSOCIATION
MSPM operates under collegiate governance, based on cooperation and collective decision-making. Orientations are discussed and adopted by consensus, following a shared process, within the board of directors called the “collegiate board.”
This collegiate board is elected at the general assembly for a three-year term, as a list. It can include up to 15 members from the association’s different colleges, representing all stakeholders, from seed to plate. Particular attention is paid to the agricultural roots of the project: farmers constitute at least half of its members.
Farmer College
7 co-presidents are active farmers, involved in seed production, plant production, market gardening, or chestnut cultivation. They guarantee the association's farmer values, rooted in the agronomic and economic realities of the territory.
Distributor and Chef College
3 co-presidents represent stakeholders in food distribution, processing, and catering (organic stores, producer networks, etc.). They ensure the connection with the food realities of the territory and the valorization of products from farmer seeds.
Animation and Coordination College
2 co-presidents represent the people in charge of the association's coordination and animation. They ensure the overall coherence of the project, in line with members' needs and MSPM's organizational and economic realities.
Citizen College
3 co-presidents represent consumers, whether from rural or urban areas. They contribute their skills to keeping the commons alive and remind us that farmer seeds are everyone's business.
Get Involved
VOLUNTEERING AT THE HEART OF THE PROJECT
MSPM benefits from a constantly expanding network of volunteers. This network is not just logistical support: it reflects the collaborative and supportive spirit that has driven the association since its creation.
During the International Meetings in Antibes, 130 volunteers helped welcome 400 participants from 60 countries under the best conditions.
Before each event, project, or need, we make a call for solidarity. We mainly use a WhatsApp channel to mobilize the community: “l’oignon fait la force” (the onion makes strength). If you wish to join us, it’s here!
Sheltered under the roof of our “House,” the seeds of our terroir can envision a better future, maintained in the cycle of evolution by the hands of the Maralpines.
Our Network
PARTNERS & COLLABORATIONS
NATIONAL NETWORK
- Réseau Semences Paysannes (RSP)
- SOL Alternatives Agroécologiques
RESEARCH
- Organic Farming Research Group
- PEPS Groups
- Tiers Div'
TERRITORY
- 6 Municipalities of the Alpes-Maritimes
- 3 Territorial Food Projects
- Biocoop Maralpines
- Agribio06
INTERNATIONAL
- Cusco Seed House
- CASAM (Italian MSPM)
- Let's Liberate Diversity
Discover MSPM's associative life
Behind the big words about farmer seeds, there are actions, meetings, experiments, festivals, training, and varieties brought back into cultivation. Explore our activity reports, year after year, to discover MSPM through what it concretely does.