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DocumentSeed system security assessment report for Darfur region
Sudan, June 2011
2012Also available in:
No results found.Seed security interventions in Sudan have focused on improving availability and access through seed aid and seed multiplication. Over the years, determination of the need for seed aid and rehabilitation has largely been based, implicitly or explicitly, on the following studies: post-harvest assessments conducted by the State Ministries of Agriculture in close collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO); the Crop and Food Supply Assessment Missions; and ot her needs assessments, which have limited scope in examining seed security or the dynamics of the seed system. The comprehensive Seed System Security Assessment (SSSA) was undertaken to review the functioning of the existing seed systems (both formal and informal) in the country, with particular focus on the Darfur region. The assessment looked at whether seeds of adequate and preferred quality are available and whether farmers are able to access them. The approach is also expected to promote st rategic thinking about the relief, rehabilitation and development vision needed for future interventions. The comprehensive SSSA adopted a two-way approach: a commissioning of background synthesis, and primary data collection from the various stakeholders at field level. Background synthesis included: a) the formal plant breeding structures and processes; b) the formal seed production structures and processes; and c) current decentralized seed multiplication and distribution initiatives in Darf ur. The fieldwork covered 12 localities and 19 administrative units within Darfur. The method encompassed individual interviews with 725 farming households and 99 grain/seed traders; 12 community interviews and focus group discussions with women’s groups; key informant interviews with nine agro-input dealers and two agroprocessors. This is one of the most, if not the only, comprehensive agricultural and seed security assessments carried out in Sudan, with focus on Darfur region. -
Book (stand-alone)Promoting the Growth and Development of Smallholder Seed Enterprises for Food Security Crops
Case studies from Brazil, Côte d’Ivoire and India
2010Also available in:
No results found.Farmers everywhere depend on access to good quality seed, which is fundamental to their crop production systems. Most governments have made significant investments in strengthening national agricultural production capacities, yet farmers in developing countries still face difficulties in accessing the quality seed of the varieties that they require. Guaranteeing farmers’ access to quality seed can only be achieved through a viable seed supply system that can multiply and distribute see ds which have been produced or preserved. This is better achieved by the private sector, but medium- to large-scale international seed companies concentrate on high-value crops and avoid dealing in the self-pollinating, open-pollinating and vegetatively-propagated varieties on which most smallholder farmers depend for their food security as the biology of these crops makes it easy for farmers to keep their seeds for several seasons. However, smallholders are often seen as the driving force of economic growth, poverty reduction and food security. This is also true for smallholder seed enterprises which, in the absence of large companies, provide a valid alternative for the production and distribution of food security crops. This paper reviews case studies on smallholder seed enterprises in Brazil, Côte d’Ivoire and India, as well as relevant world literature in order to identify key issues that facilitate or constrain the development of the seed sector. The final section provides some guidelines on policy design and implementation to promote the development of sustainable seed enterprises at different stages in the evolution of national seed sectors. It provides examples of good practices and hence seeks to assist governments in identifying ways in which they can support the development of smallholder seed enterprises that will provide the most appropriate varieties to smallholder farmers in their efforts to boost food production. -
Book (stand-alone)Seed Security Assessment – Lesotho 2016 2016
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No results found.This Seed Security Assessment report is the result of a joint effort between the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, the Bureau of Statistics and FAO to evaluate the state of seed insecurity at household level and to quantify and qualify the effects of the El Niño drought in Lesotho. As a result, the government and other intervening agencies now have a more accurate information basis, and can design more appropriate seed security interventions to support the promotion of agricultural grow th and development to benefit the population.
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