 Millions of rural poor households in Asia depend on rice-based farming for their sustenance and livelihood. Yet lack of access to good quality seeds and poor farming situations continuously plague rice farming communities in many parts of Asia. Of Nepal's more than 29 million people, more than 80 percent depend on rice to survive both as food and as a source of livelihood. But as in most countries in Asia, Nepal has limited sources of seeds for rice production. Of the total requirements for cereal crop seeds for the Nepalese, the formal sector contributes less than 10 percent. Faced with an unstable supply of seeds, farmers are usually left to rely on their harvest for their seed stock for the next cropping season. The seeds that come from their harvest, however, may be of low quality. Coupled with the lack of inputs and inappropriate crop management practices, farmers constantly face the looming threat of poor harvest and therefore food insecurity. In 2005, a project that aimed to improve food security and environmental sustainability in marginal uplands was implemented in Nepal under the leadership of Dr. Sushil Pandey. Among the project sites was Lamjong district, where the concept of a community-based seed system, more commonly known as community seed banks, was introduced. Community seed banks, or CSB, are a way for individuals and groups to process and store seeds and share this among each other. Seeds are primarily retained from each farmer member's own production with an individual selection process and handling skills involved. This system works, especially in rain-fed areas such as Lamjong, where farmers generally have limited access to off-farm seed sources or the formal seed sector. The idea of producing their own seeds and storing this for the next cropping season appealed to the farmers, leading to the formation of the Sundar Seed Cooperative Limited, the first seed producers group in Sundar Bazar, Lamjong, in 2007. Initiatives that have the prospect of improving the well-being of rice farmers, of course, shouldn't end with just the project. Not long after the completion of the project, managing rice landscapes in the marginal uplands, the consortium for unfavorable rice environments in 2009, and again with funding from the International Fund for Agricultural Development and together with partners in Nepal, picked up the initiative to develop it further. We wanted to develop and build on the lessons of past work, so that the hundreds of thousands of rice farmers that would benefit from having new seeds of improved, stress-tolerant rice varieties would be able to enjoy improved household food security and reduced risk. Under the guidance of CURE, or the Consortium for Unfavorable Rice Environments, seven more seed producers groups were formed in the districts of Lamjong, Tanahun and Gorka. The seed producers groups also serve as a regular means for CURE to introduce new, stress-tolerant varieties to the communities. Last year, we were able to release three new drought-tolerant varieties in Nepal. They are named Sukhatan I, II and III, and this is based on work we conducted in the last three years, financed by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the International Fund for Agricultural Development. The performance of these new, stress-tolerant varieties is tested through the conduct of participatory varietal selection and on-farm testing. The participatory varietal selection, or PBS, is an important component of the community seed bank model derived from the CURE experience. This is where the farmers can take active role in validating and assessing the performance of the varieties at their own field condition. The farmers can provide us information on the most preferred varieties, including the traits that are important to them. In 2010, all of the seven seed producers groups, as well as the two cooperatives, produced a total of 169 tons of seeds, or 14 tons of upland rice, valued at $7,800, and 155 tons of lowland rice, valued at $96,000. About a third of this was collected and stored by the seed cooperatives, while the rest was kept by farmer leaders and seed producers in the different villages. Our program is becoming very familiar nowadays, and farmers are also benefited from our program. They are producing the seeds, seeds of upland rice and paddies, and distributed to the farmers. This program is becoming very familiar day by day, and farmers are very much interested in the production of the seed. The program also encouraged the active participation of women, who have traditionally played important roles in seed keeping, seed health management, and varietal selection among others. The women also learned to grow other crops, keep bees, and raise goats to augment their household income. With a community-based seed production program, gone are the days when farmers had to struggle for sources of good quality seeds. Gone are the days when they worried about securing food for their table and money for their household expenses. Seed health management and on-farm testing of new varieties has significantly helped farmers in Nepal to break free from the chains of poverty and hunger that have long held them hostage. With words spreading about the success of the seed producer's groups, Cure is hopeful that it will not be long before the ripple effect reaches other farming communities and for stress-tolerant varieties to be linked to food on the table.