Farmers learn to make the most of seed |
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| The Good seed Initiative (GSI): sharing the learning from CPP programmes into pro-poor seed systems in East Africa | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Good crops start with good seed. A new manual and set of posters are now available to help farmers make the most of seed. Most farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa don't buy seed: they save their own or trade with other farmers. But, this arrangement often doesn't work - drought, pests, diseases, civil wars or other troubles mean they just don't have enough good quality seed. Over 1000 smallholder vegetable farmers in Kiambu District, Kenya, learned the best ways of choosing, drying and storing seed by discovering for themselves. Now, government staff in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania use these methods to help extension workers and other farmers make sure they have reliable supplies of healthy seed for vegetables, sorghum, yam, cassava, groundnuts, sweet potato, maize, and beans. Project Ref: CPP69:
Research Programmes: DFID Crop Protection Programme, Swiss Development Cooperation (SDC) Relevant Research Projects: R8480, DR 03022 SDC Good Seed Initiative Institutional partners: Project Leader: Dr Noah Phiri Ms
Gladys Maina, Dr Fina Opio, Director of Research Dr Ambonesigwe Mbwaga,
The Good Seed Initiative - sharing the learning from the Crop Protection Programme (CPP) into pro-poor seed systems in East Africa project was carried out from March 2005 to January 2006. Farmer-saved and farmer-traded seed continues to be the dominant sourceof seed for 80-90% of farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa (Tripp, 2001; Morogoro Workshop, 2003). The supply of farmer-saved and farmer-traded seed is, however, prone to disruption due to natural and civil upheavals, drought, pests and diseases. Numerous CPP/CPHP projects have directly addressed aspects of seed quality and health, and some have worked with farmer participatory selection of resistant varieties. R8480, therefore, reviewed the relevant seed related CPP/CPHP project outputs and came up with the following outputs:
Consultative review of CPP and other seed-related projects was conducted to gather evidence of importance, and scope for improvements, to farmer-saved and farmer-traded seed. A detailed review of the projects was published in a review document entitled "Opportunities for Improving the Quality, Health and Dissemination of Farmer-Saved and Farmer-Traded Seed in East Africa", and 500 copies were disseminated. Key findings of the review were: o There has been seed-related technological development,but there has been limited uptakeof the same. o There is need to link together organisations or playerswith interest in seed systems in the region in order to avoid duplication/re-inventing the wheel. o There is need to harmonise seed related policies within the region/continent.
Posters were produced and disseminated, namely: o Seed Health (English and Kiswahili)
The project also served as a dissemination pathway for outputs of R8312. Two posters were re-printed and disseminated, namely: o How to produce Sukuma Wiki Seed.
The outputs focused on the following commodities: Vegetables, root and tuber crops, sorghum, yam, cassava, groundnuts, sweet potato, maize, and beans. The outputs could apply to all commodities which use seed (true or vegetative) for their propagation.
From the key findings in the review of the seed-related projects, it is apparent that the approach used in this project to promote seed issues and systems could be more widely used to add value to this and other project outputs. These approaches are: o Follow participatory approaches in disseminating outputs so that farmers are more likely to adopt and adapt the outputs. o It is important to link organisations/institutions/players with interest in seed-related issues, for example linking breeders, policy makers/seed regulators, seed producers, seed health experts, seed traders and farmers. o It is also important to have harmonised seed-related policies within the region/continent so that seed-related technologies developed and approved in one country can be disseminated to other countries in the region with similar environmental and crop production systems. The Good Seed Initiative could therefore provide the barns for a seed-related cluster. The following outputs could be included in the cluster:
How the outputs were validated: The project R8480 was for less that one year. However, the outputs were validated through farmer participatory exercises. For example, the "Discovery Learning Manual" and the posters were validated by working with over 1000 smallholder vegetable farmers in Lari Division of Kiambu District in Central Kenya. The farmers were put in groups and taken through the learning exercises using locally available materials such as dry maize grains, empty containers, charcoal pieces, flip charts and markers. The exercises were led by the research team from CABI Africa, and facilitated by the Farmer Participatory and Training Specialist in consultation with extensionists from the Ministry of Agriculture. The extension personnel of Lari Division mobilised the farmers during the exercises. A team from Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service brought in the regulatory aspects of seed production such as isolation distances and seed quality, which were already included in the learning exercises and the posters. After farmers were taken through the Discovery Learning Manual and the posters, they were asked to give their opinion on how easy it was to use the exercises, particularly those from the Discovery Learning Manual. Where the Outputs were Validated: The outputs were validated in Kinale, Lari Division of Kiambu District in Central Kenya. The validation took place in January 2006 among female and male kale farmers in the Peri-Urban production systems, within the smallholder rainfed highland farming system with some irrigation. Who are the Users? The outputs are being used for training of extension personnel and farmers by government institutions (Ministry of Agriculture, Kenya), seed regulatory bodies such as Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service in Kenya and the Tanzania Official Seed Certification Institute (TOSCI) in Tanzania. The outputs are also used for training by agriculture research institutes, Kenya Agriculture Research Institute (KARI), Namulonge Agriculture and Animal Production Research Institute (NAARI) and the Coffee Research Institute (CORI), National Agriculture Research Organisation (NARO), and Uyole Agriculture Research Institute (ARI) in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania, respectively. In addition, the outputs are being used for training of extensionists and farmers by Seed companies and associations (Lagrotech Seed Company, Kenya; Simlaw Seeds, Kenya; Regina Seeds, Kenya and Seed Trade Association of Kenya), by the University (University of Nairobi), Non governmental and international organisations (the International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) - Uganda and Malawi Offices; IPGRI-SSA, Kenya, Café Africa, Uganda; and Nucafe, Uganda) and by coffee institutes for training their extensionists and farmers for example, the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) in Uganda. In addition, the outputs are being used for sensitising the public by parliamentarians (Members of Parliament including the Minister of Agriculture in Uganda). Where the outputs have been used: The outputs are being used in the following places:
Scale of Current Use: No studies were carried out to determine the scale of the current use. Policy and Institutional Structures, and Key Components for Success: The structures that have assisted with the promotion of the outputs are:
Lessons Learned and Uptake Pathways Promotion of Outputs: The outputs from the project are currently being promoted, well beyond the project life, through a sister project, the SDC funded "Good Seed Initiative" in the following places and countries
Potential Barriers Preventing Adoption of Outputs: Language is the major barrier for the outputs. In particular the manual which is in English may not be understood by non-English speaking beneficiaries. Some countries use Kiswahili, an East African language, and may find it difficult to understand the information, especially the front line extension personnel. The posters are however, in both English and Kiswahili. It is envisaged that the outputs will also be used in all countries in East and Central Africa, and this includes the French speaking countries (Rwanda, Burundi, and Democratic Republic of Congo). In addition, Ethiopia uses Amharic language. The unavailability of the manual in Kiswahili, Amharic and French versions may therefore prevent or slow down the adoption of the outputs. In addition there are limited operational funds for the SDC-funded Good Seed Initiative Project which is promoting the outputs. This implies that the extent to which the outputs can be disseminated and promoted is limited by the level of funding in the respective countries. How to Overcome Barriers to Adoption of Outputs: There is a need, firstly, to translate the outputs into Kiswahili, French and Amharic to enable knowledge for improving quality of seeds, particularly seeds produced by farmers, to be utilised more widely. It is also important to make the outputs more readily available by utilising a wider range of dissemination channels, funds permitting, such as posting the outputs on seed related websites, putting the outputs on CD ROMs and distributing the CDs, distributing the outputs through seed related networks in the region e.g. Association for Strengthening Agriculture Research in East and Central Africa (ASARECA), and the whole of Africa. These will require funds for reproduction and delivery of the outputs. Furthermore, there is need to carry out awareness raising and training of, particularly the frontline extension personnel so that they are able to disseminate the information through existing or new Farmer Field Schools (FFSs) networks. To be included in the training sessions are other service providers such as agriculture advisory bodies, non-governmental organisations, and community-based organisations (CBOs). The changes outlined above will require increased funding in order to facilitate the dissemination and adoption of the outputs. Lessons Learned: o There is need to disseminate outputs using both hard copies and in electronic versions e.g. the internet and CD ROMs. o Training of beneficiaries of outputs is crucial to the adoption and utilisation of the project outputs. For example, it is important to include in any project farmer participatory methods as a way of facilitating adoption of outputs. Farmer Field Schools is one of the main farmer participatory methods which facilitate the evaluation of outputs by farmers through experimentation. Once a farmer is convinced that a particular output works better than traditional practices, he or she adopts the output without anybody telling him or her to do so. An added advantage of Farmer Participatory Methods is that the outputs can be adapted to the needs of the farmers through feedback mechanisms. o The problem being addressed by a project must be known, and outputs must be providing solutions to the problem. This requires carrying out baseline surveys to ascertain the current status of the problem, which forms a basis for subsequent impact assessments. Direct and Indirect Environmental Benefits: The direct and indirect benefits related to the use of the outputs are: o Management of diseases and insect pests outlined in the outputs (posters, learning exercises manual) are based on non-chemical methods of managing the diseases and insect pests. For example the use of resistant varieties, selection of healthy seed in the field, proper storage facilities and conditions. All these if used will result in less dependence on pesticides which are detrimental to the environment. Therefore utilising the outputs will result in protecting the environment. o In addition, utilisation of the outputs will help poor farmers produce adequate food and earn extra income, both of which will result in reduction in alternative cash earning activities which are detrimental to the environment. For example, in Africa it is common among the rural poor, who have no income and lack adequate food, to cut trees in the natural forests for selling as firewood or charcoal. This results in deforestation. Adverse Environmental Impacts: No adverse environmental impacts are envisaged in relation to adoption of the outputs. Coping with the Effects of Climate Change, or Risk from Natural Disasters: Climate change among others results in drought and an increase in diseases and insect pests. By utilising the outputs, the farmers can be able to access crop varieties which are resistant to drought, that's making the poor people cope with drought. In addition, the outputs from this project can help poor people control plant diseases and insect pests better by using environmental friendly disease and insect pest management options. Relevant Research Projects,
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