Dear Okidi, Dear Colleagues,
I have been following the discussions keenly and have liked the
brilliant Ideas and experiences being shared, thanks to Joseph for setting the
stage.
South Sudan is one of the countries in the horn of Africa where
there has been massive humanitarian and recovery work in food security
involving provision of seed aid. Concerns have been raised by some assisted
famers about varietal unsuitable (un-adapted and un-preferred), this is common
with seeds sourced from the formal seed systems from neighboring countries.
What has been said about varietal adoptability by the previous discussants are
true; I would therefore like to add some experience on varietal preference, an
aspect of varietal suitability which has often been neglected.
TMT 14 Cassava variety was provided as seed aid to farmers in
one of the rural areas in South Sudan where cassava is a stable food; the
variety was highly adapted to the area but less preferred. This was because TMT
14 cannot survive for long in the field unlike the local varieties that can
stay for as long as two years or more in the field without getting spoiled,
supporting the practice of harvesting only a small quantity at a time. The
beneficiaries, like majority of farmers in South Sudan were peasants who
practice subsistence farming with inefficient post harvest handling techniques
and had no access to markets where they could dispose off the excess produce.
The TMT 14 cassava variety was therefore unsuitability to Socio economic
setting in the project area. This is one of the scenarios related to seed
variety unsuitability in terms of preference which could be solved by
undertaking comprehensive Seed Security and Livelihood baseline survey and
provision of adequate extension services following introduction of new
varieties. The Farmer Field School approach is recommended.
There has always not been adequate assessment of Seed Security
of crises affected population where I have worked in South Sudan. Normally
during or after a crisis, an Inter-Agency Assessment involving all humanitarian
actors is conducted to determine the general situation of the crisis and
recommend humanitarian actions. Specific Seed Security Assessment is considered
inappropriate during emergency responses, beside capacity to conduct Seed
security assessment being inadequate. In case of South Sudan more capacity is
needed to lead the humanitarian community in seed security assessment for
appropriate programming of Seed Aid and Seed System Development in the country.
Whereas some humanitarian actors have tried to take into
consideration interests of the affected populations when planning seed related
interventions, consultations with the affected population has always been
inadequate. This is even worse during emergency interventions where
humanitarian agency keep stock of seeds for emergency responses.
In South Sudan, Accountability to the effected people in terms
of provision of Seed Aid has however improved over the years, today, FAO a lead
agency in FSL has adopted the seed fair modality where beneficiaries are
provided with Seed Voucher and Venders are mobilized to supply the different
seed. In this case the farmers have liberty to choice the seed type and variety
of their choice. This is still being practiced on small scale and when fully
adopted it will help improve accountability to the affected population.
Thank you
Best Regards
Lita
From: The Community of
Practice of Seed Security Assessments for the Horn of Africa
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Patricia
Philip
Sent: Friday, 01 August, 2014 11:21 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Unsuitable crop parieties being provided to affected
population in the form of seed aid in the horn of Africa region - POOR QUALITY
SEED
Hello
Joseph Okidi
greetings from
Juba , hoping that you are very fine.
I feel
interesting to be a part of discussion, and I agreed with some of the
colleagues and friends, and that is why some of humanitarian project like
agriculture dose not succeed. there are three major things to be involve
1. every
body/farmer need to learn a new variety most of humanitarian distribute
seeds / variety with out giving farmers knowledge about its timing weather it
is a quick variety of long term.
2. they don,t
care about the type of soil, weather , climate and rainfall.
3.they don,t
sit with the farmers to identify the best variety for the farmers compare to
the market , and they don,t assess weather, there is a seeds / crops
locally with in the area or not.
so my advise to
humanitarian actors is like this .
assessment is
the main important instrument to identify the real needs of the main affected
population to help you get a way forwards even in term of emergency.
any way thank
you very much
Patricia Philip
PSO
Trocaire .
south
Sudan
Juba
From:
"Okidi, Joseph (FAOKE)"
<[log in to unmask]>
To:
[log in to unmask]
Date:
01/08/2014 09:42
Subject:
Re: Unsuitable crop parieties being provided to affected
population in the form of seed aid in the horn of Africa region - POOR QUALITY
SEED
Sent
by: The Community of Practice of Seed Security Assessments
for the Horn of Africa <[log in to unmask]>
Dear
Michel,
I
totally Agree with you that many humanitarian actors think famer’s seed are of
poor quality. Much as I agree the we need to follow certain critical procedure
in checking quality (germination, purity, MC etc), many times the guys from the
seed companies tend to be smart enough in duping us on quality. I have
had some bad experience while working with FAO South Sudan. FAO Uses an
international quality control agent, but I realized that if you totally rely on
the paper work only you may easily be duped. Quality check done be done along
supply chains – Kneeing where this seed have been produced, checking with the
relevant government authority if the supplier actually has the capacity or
quantity you need, sampling and testing seed before loadin, and final checking
by the technical staff at field level. Most importantly, how do we punish those
supplying BAD SEED? Otherwise, as you have already mention, we shall do more
harm than good to the affected population.
Regards,
Joseph
From: Micheal Yemane [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Thursday, July 31, 2014 1:57 PM
To: The Community of Practice of Seed Security Assessments for the Horn of
Africa
Subject: RE: Unsuitable crop parieties being provided to affected
population in the form of seed aid in the horn of Africa region
Thanks
Joseph for raising an important issue.
You
are right most of the agencies think farmer's seeds are of poor quality, which
is not correct. One thing that we have to realize is the farmers are the best
experts for their farm. They have been living for generations on the land and
have wealth of accumulated knowledge. The great solution is not to start from
scratch but it is to consult the farmers/target people. I have seen a cotton
seed distributed, which can't germinate, wasting lots of money. I expect real
professional to follow certain critical procedures. We have to know the
variety, germination percentage, purity and its disease/drought tolerance.
Without this basics, doing seed distribution will do more harm than good.
In
most cases affected people are not consulted before implementation of the
program. It is understandable....time can be constraint in rapid onset
emergencies. We may rush to secure the budget/funding but during implementation
we have to sit with the farmers to know the specifics of the support. The
interest of farmers can be rice seed but attention has to be paid to the
variety equally. By giving rice seed, we cannot address their problem.
As
expert, there are certain areas that need improvement in farmer's routine
exercise. Recent innovations and research ideas has to be tested in the field
and disseminated in a proper way. By talking to the direct beneficiaries, we
can be more efficient!
Regards!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Micheal Yemane
Advisor, Food Security and Livelihoods
International Medical Corps, From Relief to
Self-Reliance
Cell Phone (in Eth): +251-913-283266
www.InternationalMedicalCorps.org
Skype: micheal.yemane1
From: The Community of
Practice of Seed Security Assessments for the Horn of Africa [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Okidi,
Joseph (FAOKE)
Sent: 31 July 2014 10:44
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject:
Unsuitable crop parieties being provided to affected population in the form of
seed aid in the horn of Africa region
Dear All,
A lot of humanitarian and
recovery work in food security in the Horn of Africa region involves provision
of seed aid with significant direct seed distribution of seed sourced from the
formal sector (seed companies). There have been concerns from some of the
assisted famers in the recent past that some of the varieties are unsuitable
(un-adapted and un-preferred). Many times famer’s seed are considered of poor
quality by humanitarian actors, and therefore, the need to provide them with
quality seeds of varieties which are improved – high yielding, disease
resistant, drought tolerant etc.
1. Do you
agree that at times unsuitable varieties are being provided in the form of seed
aid? What is your experience with this? And do you think this can be improved?
2. Do you
think seed security of the crisis/disaster affected population is well assessed
and analyzed before any intervention – If not how do you want this improved?
3. Are the
views of the affected populations normally well taken into consideration when
planning seed related interventions by humanitarian actors?
Note: This e-discussion will
run until 15th of August.
Regards,
Joseph Okidi
Seed System Specialist
FAO REOA
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