“It is true quantities of seed produced could be a drop in the sea but remember we are almost starting from the scratch given the fact that in some countries particularly those in West Africa there were no seed companies until AGRA came on the scene.”
Dr George Bigirwa, is the Associate Program Director of AGRA’s Programme for Africa’s Seed System (PASS). He spoke to Anthony Muchoki about the power of better seed, and how investment in seed can contribute to realization of a green revolution in Africa. This was at the Africa Green Revolution Forum(AGRF) at the African Union Headquarters in Addis Ababa . Excerpts. .
Question: AGRF2014 was championing for a new vision and strategies for inclusive growth and sustainable agriculture. In as far as the question of access to quality seeds is concerned, how will this be possible?
Answer: In almost all African countries in the SSA the average percentage of farmers using improved seed is just over 30% while in others it is less than 30% and that is one reason why yields are perpetually and miserably low. Take for instance maize the average yield is 1.5 tons per hectare as opposed to the world average of 4 tons per hectare. It is for this reason that the PASS program decided to invest along the seed value chain starting with investment in human resource mainly to train breeders to develop new better adaptable varieties that meet farmers’ needs.
The second support is towards national research institutes to do research, the third is with seed companies to produce seed and the fourth one is in agro-dealer development to disseminated seed. In the context of seed investments, this is being done by supporting seed producers particularly seed companies to make seeds of improved varieties more available to farmers. This starts by linking them to public research institutions which are the owners of varieties since private seed companies particularly the local ones do not have varieties of their own.
Question: Then what?
Answer: Once this is done the private companies then multiply and disseminate seed of these varieties. The seed companies are provided with funds in form of grants to increase their production capacity, educate farmers and create awareness so that they appreciate the value of using improved seed. PASS is also building capacity of the seed companies through training at an institute AGRA established and is housed at the University of Nairobi. At this institute the companies are offered short term training courses in Seed production, processing, marketing, quality control and business management so that their capacity is enhanced. So far close to 1,000 company staff have been trained.
The training is conducted in partnership with renowned institutions like the State University of Iowa in USA, International research centers like CIMMYT, University of Nairobi staff, KEPHIS, and seed specialists from outside Africa. By bringing seed companies together they are able to network , exchange ideas and experience. Occasional study tours are also organized to learn from each other.
In terms of support close to 100 seed companies have been supported in Africa with grants but also others have received loans through a facility AGRA established specifically for seed companies at a one digit interest rate and there is no requirement for collateral. The loan facility is managed by specialized institutions namely Pearl Capital for countries in Eastern and Southern Africa while Injaro Investment takes care for countries in West Africa.
The two forms of support will continue so that more companies are established to produce large quantities of seed to serve more farmers in Africa.
Question: AGRA has invested heavily in the PASS programme. But still, it is like a drop in the ocean. Majority of farmers across Africa rely on farmer saved seeds that are many times not of the desired quality. What must be done? Are there home grown replications of projects for bigger impacts?
Answer: It is true quantities of seed produced could be a drop in the sea but remember we are almost starting from the scratch given the fact that in some countries particularly those in West Africa there were no seed companies until AGRA came on the scene. And given that seed business is a specialized undertaking, there is a lot seed companies have to learn and even put in place.
Question: What are the challenges and hopes in the drive?
Answer: For instance adequate human capacity is still lacking, infrastructure like seed processing facilities, irrigation systems, farms, warehouses, marketing systems and all these require time to fix or to put in place.
But I must say a lot of progress has been made since we started in 2007 where less than 3,000 metric tons of seed were produced by the companies we supported. This grew to 25,000 metric tons in 2010 then to 58,000 metric tons in 2012 while in 2013 the amount of seed produced totaled to 80,000 metric tons. As you can seed these are phenomenal increments. If we translate what 80,000 metric tons produced last was able to plant in terms of hectares it comes to 3,200,000 hectares giving a yield output of 9,600,000 tons of grain which in US Dollar terms fetched 2.1 billion.
Question: In Tanzania, the new crop varieties that have resulted from AGRA’s investments are owned by government institutions and how do farmers benefit?
Answer: True although we support government research institutions to develop new varieties and once the process is completed, the varieties belong to the government. The only way farmers benefit is when the varieties are made available to them and that is why we support seed companies to do that as earlier explained. As for crops like cassava and sweet potatoes which seed companies are never interested in because of they are not easy to handle given that they are vegetatively propagated, what we do is to use other methods of dissemination where research institutes identify individual farmers or groups of farmers whom they train to become commercial producers of planting materials and sell to fellow farmers. In the case of Tanzania, this model has worked well in Zanzibar where the cassava industry is back on the track. Another project is currently being run by scientists at Nalendele Agricultural Research Institute to cover Mtwara, Morogoro and Dodoma regions. Again I’m glad to mention that these cassava and sweet potatoes in Zanzibar, Mtwara, Morogoro and Dodoma were developed by Tanzanian breeders with support from AGRA.
Question: Lack of comprehensive seeds policy across Africa is a big challenge for improved productivity. What is Agra doing, and what must governments do?
Answer: Some policies are hindering progress for instance governments having monopoly to produce foundation seed and not allowing local companies to produce it. In some countries it is government which sets price for seed of public varieties produced by local private seed companies. Other polies are to do with restricting local private seed companies from selling seed direct to farmers or even moving seed across borders. AGRA was aware of these challenges and that is why it established a Policy Program which engages governments in dialogue with evidence based studies or examples. And we are seeing tremendous change. The Policy program has also participated in helping government draft seed bills and revise regulations in some countries.
Question: Among the nations supported by PASS programme, can you give us, a few success stories that other nations can learn from”
Answer: We see success stories in many countries now for instance in Nigeria the government used to have monopoly on foundation seed production but through engagements, this has now been liberalized. Wee seeing the same happening in Tanzania and Ethiopia. In Malawi, Uganda, Zambia and Kenya this has never been a problem and the collaboration and partnership between Public and Private sector is excellent. The variety release process used to be a nightmare in a number of countries with the process taking more than 5 years but this too has tremendously improved in nearly all countries where AGRA operates.
Question: What are the biggest challenges facing the African smallholder farmer today in as far as accessing seeds is concerned?
Answer: (i) Lack of knowledge and awareness about the varieties i.e. which variety to grow, attributes of the varieties have, which variety to grow when and where, how best to grow a given variety etc (ii) where to get seed (iii) lack of good market for their produce (iv) poor infrastructure
Question: last word?
Answer: I don’t want to create an impression that all achievement recorded are solely by AGRA, far from that. This has been in partnership with other partners and stakeholders like governments, international research centers, NGOs and various institutions.
It will be difficult to end hunger and poverty in Africa if we don’t invest in agriculture an industry almost employing 80% of our people. By investing in the right technologies and inputs like good seed, fertilizer accompanied by well- structured markets, organized farmer groups and right policies we shall be doing a good service to our farmers to help them increase productivity that will lead to food security and better incomes. And this is the commitment our governments should do now that agriculture is back on their agendas. We should stop singing about the huge resources Africa has, the enormous potential that exists in Africa when our people sleep on empty stomachs. Time is now to walk the talk. Time is now to seize this opportunity to turn the wheel of the Green Revolution in motion.