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ISSD Uganda

Integrated Seed Sector Development

Background

The use of good quality seed and planting materi-

als of high yielding varieties significantly increas-

es crop production. It is essential that it is availa-

ble on time and place at affordable prices. In

Uganda, there are two co-existing seed systems

through which seed and planting materials are

availed to farmers. The formal system is regulat-

ed by Government and contributes about 15% of

total seed supply. The remaining 85% of seed is

produced through the informal system that is un-

regulated and depends on farm-saved seed from

previous cropping.

The Seed and plant Act 2006 provides for five

classes of seed including pre-basic, basic, certi-

fied (I & II), and standard. The draft National

Seed Policy 2014 adds Quality Declared Seed

(QDS) as the sixth class of seed to be implement-

ed under the Act. QDS requires minimum field

inspection and certification standards for variety

purity and germination This meets the needs of

smallholder farmers and is a basis for future cer-

tified seed market development. QDS is designed

to complement the traditional seed and planting

material inspection and certification scheme.

To promote QDS, the Integrated Seed Sector De-

velopment (ISSD) programme Uganda has or-

ganised and empowered market-oriented farmers

into Local Seed Businesses (LSBs). Currently, 30

LSBs with approximately 900 farmers are operat-

ing in Northern, South Western and West Nile

regions. LSBs produce and market QDS of mainly

food and nutritional security crops within their

communities and in areas where certified seed

from seed companies is not used or sold. In sea-

son 2015A, LSBs sold over 1000 tons of various

seed (Table 1).

Pilot Quality Assurance for Quality Declared Seed

October 2015

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Supporting a vibrant, pluralistic and market-oriented seed sector

Table 1: Quantity of QDS sold by LSBs in 2015A

QDS produced by LSBs was tested at the nation-

al seed laboratory in Kawanda and the seed met

the minimum national standards of variety puri-

ty and germination (Table 2).

Table 2: Quality of QDS produced by LSBs

Each seed class has a unique color label for dif-

ferentiation, for example green for QDS and

blue for certified seed. However, many seed us-

ers and law enforcers that tackle counterfeit

seed are not familiar with the labels on pack-

aged seed.

Figure 1: A sample of the green QDS label

Therefore, it is necessary to operationalize the

quality assurance for QDS through a multi-

stakeholder pilot project.

This will enhance the growth of the seed trade,

while encouraging the use of quality certified

seed by the farming communities.

Components of the pilot project

Goal

The goal of the innovation project is to test the

effectiveness of quality assurance system for

QDS and its decentralized field inspection.

Objectives

The main objectives are to:

Ensure quality control in production and

marketing of QDS

Promote use of QDS by smallholder

farmers

Popularise use of seed labels among

various stakeholders.

The project is being implemented in 25 districts

of Western Uganda, Northern Uganda, and West

Nile involving 30 already established LSBs.

Special attention will be paid to identifying those

LSBs that can graduate to a higher level and

they will receive further coaching. The main

partners are:

Ministry of Agriculture Animal Industry and

Fisheries (MAAIF) to support and supervise

the centralized operations

ISSD Uganda to provide technical and

financial support

30 LSBs producing QDS

District Agricultural Officers of the 25

districts to conduct field inspections

Kawanda seed laboratory and a pilot seed

testing at Ngetta ZARDI to test for purity

and germination

Uganda Seed Trade Association (USTA) to

popularize QDS and certified seed labels

The scheme for operationalizing the field

inspection and seed testing is presented in

figure 2.

Seed QDS Purity range (%)

Minimum national purity standard (%)

QDS Germination range (%)

Minimum national germination standard (%)

Soybean 99 98 88 65

Groundnuts N/A NA 82 - 92 60

Pigeon peas 99.8 98 90 70

Sesame 98 - 99.8 98 75 - 92 60

Beans 99.1 - 100 98 85 - 95 60

Sorghum 99.6 - 99.8 98 63-73 70

Rice 99.4- 99.5 98 90-96 75

Seed Quantity sold (kg)

1 Beans 146,539

2 Cassava 760,620

3 Groundnuts 3,071

4 Finger millet 938

5 Potato 13,900

6 Rice 38,053

7 Sesame 21,155

8 Soy bean 5,056

9 Pasture 500

3

www.issduganda.org

Info@ISSDuganda.org

Twitter: ISSD_Uganda

Figure 2: Schematic representation of the filed inspections and seed testing

LSBs sow foundation seed from

research or authorized entity

LSBs submit planting returns to authorized DAO

DAO inspects LSB fields (1st Inspection)

DAO inspects LSB fields (2nd Inspection)

QDS harvested and processed

Seed sampler picks seed from LSBs

Seed tested at Kawanda or Ngetta laboratory

Kawanda or Ngetta laboratory issues certificate

LSBs submit request for seed labels to ISSD

ISSD submits request for seed labels to MAAIF

MAAIF (NSCS) issues seed labels

Seed packaged and labeled

QDS marketed

Week 0

Week 2

Week 4

Week 17

Week 17

Week 18

Week 19

Week 19

Week 6-8

Week 16

Week 21

Week 23

Week 24

LSBs pay inspection fees to DAOs

LSBs pay testing fees to ISSD

If seed meet minimum standards

If fields meet minimum standards

If fields meet minimum standards

LSBs pay fees for labels to ISSD

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Supporting a vibrant, pluralistic and market-oriented seed sector

Sustainability

For a QDS system to be effective, it must be fi-

nancially viable for all actors involved in QDS

production and it’s quality assurance. The level

of the mandatory services and requirements

should take into consideration this vital require-

ment. This can be achieved by optimizing the

rigors of inspections and seed testing to ensure

conformity to standards, while ensuring that the

LSBs can afford it and smallholder farmers can

buy the seed. Thus, the pilot compares the cost

effectiveness of the decentralized scheme and

the current centralized inspection by the National

Seed certification Service (NSCS).

The comparison will look at effectiveness of:

Inspection and certification by NSCS vs dele-

gated DAOs

Seed sampling

Seed testing at Kawanda vs delegated seed

laboratory at Ngetta ZARDI

It is estimated the traditional centralized system

costs UGX 42M for the 30 LSBs over one

season, whereas using the decentralized

approach of delegated inspection to the DAOs

costs will be approximately UGX 8.7M. This

represents a significant reduction in transaction

costs and hence a more cost effective

decentralized system of inspection.

What are the benefits of QDS?

Through the quality assurance system, skilled

and enterprising farmers involved in informal

seed systems have an opportunity to “graduate”

into the formal seed system by expanding their

production of QDS, establishing a brand name,

and marketing their seed. This will promote use

of Quality seed among farming communities and

raise household incomes. QDS will also increase

smallholder farmers’ demand for quality seed so

as to boost crop productivity and ensure food

security.

With funding from the Embassy of the Kingdom of the

Netherlands, the Integrated Seed Sector Development

(ISSD) programme is implemented by Wageningen

University and Research Centre, Center for Develop-

ment Innovation (CDI) in partnership with the

National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO).