SEEDS Malaysia was founded in 2017 by Intan Jailani and Abdul Razak Abdul Aziz with their children, Au-Diya and Al-Asas, and operates from a homestead in Klang that comprises a food forest, edible garden, greenhouse and composting centre.
Au-Diya, 33, tells FMT that thanks to their parents, she and her brother spent a lot of time with nature growing up.
“We’ve always lived sustainably, from refusing to use plastic, to retrofitting,” she says.
Their food forest – a large and diverse planting of trees that attempts to mimic the ecosystem – consists of more than 80 varieties of indigenous flora, and is the family’s pride and joy.
“We have bidara, labu kayu, coffee trees, various fruit trees and some extremely rare ones as well,” Au-Diya says.
The family also rears chickens, ducks, geese and rabbits, “mostly for the children who attend our sustainability programmes”, she explains.
These programmes and workshops range from composting, reusing and upcycling to starting a garden, and cater to children, community groups, organisations and corporations.
Au-Diya, a culinary arts graduate, cooks for the participants and also manages operations and public relations. Al-Asas, who is a swimming coach, helps with manpower.
“I plant what I want to cook, and I base my menu on what’s available in the garden,” Au-Diya says.
They also rent out a part of their home on Airbnb. Their father Razak is the main designer of the homestead, while mother Intan looks after the garden.
“My mum is very passionate about plants. We call her the plant goddess,” Au-Diya laughs.
In terms of conservation, SEEDS is participating in a “100 million tree-planting campaign”, part of the Forest Research Institute of Malaysia’s “Greening Malaysia” programme, and working on the propagation of merbau trees.
Au-Diya explains that every few years, certain tree species in the equatorial belt undergo a process called “masting”, during which a massive number of flowers, fruits and seeds are produced. Sadly, the seeds have a very low survival rate.
To address this, environmentalists collect these seeds to be used for reforestation, she says. Municipal councils can then use the seeds to plant indigenous trees in Malaysia instead of importing them.
Children and conservation
One of their favourite memories was when SEEDS held an event on food security several years ago that was attended by 200 kindergarten children.
“We showed them the chickens on our farm so the children could observe how they eat and go about their lives,” Au-Diya recalls. “When we asked where they thought chickens come from, they replied, ‘Giant and Tesco’!”
The children were also given coconut jellies before they got to observe one of the workers climb a coconut tree.
“We cracked open the coconuts and got the kids to touch, smell and taste them so they have a better appreciation of where their food comes from,” she says, adding that they also made bangles and hats from coconut leaves for the children to bring home.
“That year was hard for us financially, but this event really helped renew our spirits. We knew we had to keep doing this, to continue to create awareness.”
Due to the pandemic, the family currently conducts training sessions virtually. Although they continue to spread awareness online, Au-Diya admits it is different from having people on their farms, which would allow for a more experiential and hands-on approach.
Ultimately, she and her family are firm believers of “doing as little as we can, as much as we can”.
How to make a difference
According to Au-Diya, there are steps everyone can take to contribute towards the wellbeing of the planet.
1. Plant a garden
“It doesn’t matter if you have limited space. Even if your balcony can only accommodate a few pots, it still counts.”
2. Harvest rainwater
“Besides saving water, we can also prevent flooding if more buildings and houses had their own rainwater-harvesting systems.”
3. Practise composting
The family prefers the 18-day hot-composting method, a technique that creates compost using high temperatures in a much shorter time compared with regular composting.
“One can make a compost with food or garden waste.”
4. Recycle
Au-Diya believes recycling should be a last resort as one should first aim to reduce and reuse.
“Our house is like a showroom of things that have been upcycled and retrofitted,” she says, such as an old refrigerator that has been turned into a bookshelf.
5. Collaborate
Au-Diya stresses the importance of community engagement, acknowledging that SEEDS could not have come this far without collaborations with municipal councils and other green societies.
For more information on upcoming projects, training and events, follow SEEDS Malaysia on Facebook and Instagram.