Southern African Seed Systems Development Initiative
ICRISAT and ISU
FANRPAN-HASSP Common Vision Workshop
20-21 May 2010Johannesburg, South Africa
Southern African Seed Systems Development Initiative
Coverage
Overall Objective of the Initiative To Improve food security
and increase profitability of southern African resource poor farmers
• Changing the institutional & policy environment
• Facilitating increased and efficient availability of new varieties
• Expanding seed marketing and trade
• More choices of improved seed to farmers
Objectives of this Presentation
• Present on the progress made since project inception
• Share project experiences
• Challenges faced and suggestions on how to overcome them
• Project started in 2004/05 -- now entering its sixth year
• USAID Agriculture program – Agriculture Enabling Environment
• Collaborative work between ICRISAT, ISU, SADC FANR & regional partners
• Focus is on supporting regional seed policies harmonization & capacity building
• Concentrates on technical issues that promote marketing and regional trade of seed: - Variety Release- Certification & Quality Assurance- Quarantine & Phytosanitary Measures
Background Information
Why Seed? Why Harmonize its Trade
Policies & Regulations?• Seed constitutes the main propagule for plant growth• Sets precedence for increased agricultural activity &
economic gains among farming communities• Different policies & regulations governing seed trade
in SADC Member States (Seed trade barriers & restrictive national seed regulations)
• Seed markets are isolated• Farmer’s choices are limited• Seed prices are not subject to competition• To lure domestic foreign investment in seed,
expanded markets are imperative • Seed security is key to being food secure
Progress to Date• Technical approval of seed harmonization agreements
(2005/06)- Variety Release System- Seed Certification & Quality Assurance- Quarantine & Phytosanitary Measures
• Approval of harmonization agreements by SADC council of Ministers and the Ministers of Agriculture- In 2007 permanent secretaries approved- Inter-Ministerial Council of Ministers approved in 2007- Ministers of Agriculture approved in 2009- Ministers from DRC, Lesotho, Namibia & Swaziland signed -- 2010- Other countries could not sign as it requires the substantive Minister & not their representatives- Now need to facilitate the remaining Ministers to sign
Progress to date Cont’d
• Advisory assistance to seed industry to support implementation of accreditation/certification agreement- Training was done for private seed sector participants- Follow ups were made by ISU to assist additional companies
• Setting up of seed import/export quality manuals & quarantine pest lists- 14 countries were trained in the development of import/export manuals- Regional quarantine pest list was also developed
Progress to date Cont’d
• Collaboration with ARIPO
Regional PVP position in the SADC Member States
• Facilitating the creation of a regional variety catalogue to support implementation of the variety release agreement- Countries put together information on 19 crop varieties (2009)- Supports the implementation of the SADC Variety Release System-- Variety released in two SADC countries qualifies for trade in the region- 10 countries in the region submitted their national variety lists & these were cross tabulated at the Lusaka workshop (see next slide)- Regional variety catalogue now awaits distribution
Progress to Date Cont’dCrop Varieties Released in the region Same Varieties Released in at least 2 countries
Bean 201 24
Cabbage 85 13
Cassava 37 0
Cotton 54 5
Cowpea 42 1
Finger Millet 6 2
Groundnut 65 41
Irish Potato 94 10
Maize 839 119
Onion 104 5
Pearl Millet 22 5
Rice 40 4
Sorghum 105 11
Soybean 96 8
Sunflower 119 10
Sweet Potato 48 2
Tobacco 87 5
Tomato 245 11
Wheat 154 12
Total 2443 288
Progress to Date Cont’d
• Increased awareness of the technical agreements in seed policies harmonization in SADC countries- Distribution of information material --800 copies of the technical agreement monographs were distributed
• Development of seed quality manuals- Several—eg MRI, Kamano, ZamSeed & Dengo commercial developed manuals with the assistance of ISU
• Strengthening regional awareness & forging a common regional understanding on plant protection in the region- Involved exchange of information & appraising on policy & institutional issues to do with pests & diseases
Progress to Date Cont’d• Instituting the regional & national PBR agreement
- Protocol for PBR was developed based on UPOV convention- Mozambique & Zambia now have PBR laws joining countries like Zimbabwe & Tanzania who already had them- PBR policy brief has been prepared & now awaits printing
• Training on modalities of establishing seed & PBR laws in countries where they do not exist--2009- Workshop was held and 8 countries attended- There is significant progress in the countries
• Unplanned benefits - Pooling together of seed practitioners - Sharing of knowledge, best practices & ideas
Progress to date Cont’dYear Training program Number of
participants
2009 SADC Regional Variety Catalogue 252009 Seed & Plant Variety Protection Legal Frameworks 172008 Standardization of Seed Inspectors in the Region 212008 Plant Breeder’s Rights & Variety Release 242008 Seed Import & Export 232008 SADC Plant Technical Committee 232007 Private Sector Seed Companies 202007 Plant Breeders Rights 132006 Plant Variety Release 212006 Phytosanitary for Seed 322005 Seed Certification & Accreditation 562005/06/07 Plant Variety Protection 86
Total 361
Challenges • Signing of MoU by SADC
Ministers of Agriculture- 4 Ministers signed: DRC, Lesotho,
Namibia & Swaziland- There is need to find ways for the
remaining countries to sign
• After harmonization, then what?- Implementation - Need to facilitate seed trade –
flow of quality and improved seed across national boundaries through a series of initiatives
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