Assessment of Seed Maize Systems and Potential Demand for Climate-Smart Hybrid Maize Seed in Africa

Abstract

Africa lacks a steady supply of good quality seed due in part to lack of timely development and conveyance of seed technologies to farmers. This study evaluated the performance of national seed systems of five countries in eastern and southern Africa where a consortium of public-private organizations are implementing the Water Efficient Maize for Africa (WEMA) project. WEMA aimed at developing and deploying drought-tolerant and insect-pest-protected maize hybrids (climate-smart hybrids) to smallholder farmers royalty-free. The objectives of the study were to assess the main components of the seed maize systems, their institutional frameworks, and estimate the potential demand for WEMA climate-smart hybrid maize seed to guide in upscaling the seed technology to other African countries. Primary data was gathered from key experts in the seed maize value-chain of each country. Secondary data came from national statistics bureaux to estimate the potential demand for WEMA seed maize. Results showed that farmers in all five countries except South Africa overwhelming rely on the informal seed system. The formal seed system is over-regulated creating unnecessary delays in the release and commercialization of improved seed varieties. It also increases the cost of developing new seed technology. Except South Africa, the demand for seed maize in the other four WEMA countries will grow by 4.1% annually from 31,614 to 35,863 metric tons of certified seed over 2014-2020 period. The study advances several recommendations to improve the efficiency of the seed maize systems, which when implemented, will undoubtedly improve food security in Africa.

Trait preference trade-offs among maize farmers in western Kenya

“…The decline in production is attributed to several factors, including low and inconsistent use of the most improved varieties, poor agronomic practices, and inappropriate fertilizer application. In efforts to ensure national maize supplies meet rising demand, a steady pipeline of new varieties is needed ( Marechera et al, 2016 ). The aim is to maintain productivity through consistent genetic gains and to respond to emerging climatic and environmental stressors ( Cairns et al, 2013 ).…”

Enhancing the adoption of climate-smart technologies using public-private partnerships: lessons from the WEMA case in South Africa

“…While the development of drought-tolerant maize varieties continue to be the intention of breeding programmes and research institutes across the globe (Bänziger et al, 2006), the majority of farmers in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) still use traditional and unimproved low-yielding seed varieties (Langyintuo et al, 2010). For instance, although South Africa has the most-developed formal seed system in Africa, the system is not necessarily best suited to provide smallholder resource-poor farmers with appropriate and affordable seeds (Edge et al, 2018;Marechera et al, 2016); to address this, a tailor-made intervention is necessary. Availability of good quality seeds that are resistant to heat and drought is essential to increase crop production and productivity.…”

“…Availability of good quality seeds that are resistant to heat and drought is essential to increase crop production and productivity. Factors such as decreasing soil fertility, a shortage of arable land, and moisture stress are likely to worsen because of high temperatures and erratic rainfalls related to climate change (Asfaw et al, 2016;Marechera et al, 2016;Phiri and Saka, 2008;Tripp and Rohrbach, 2001).…”

Information Barriers to Adoption of Agricultural Technologies: Willingness to Pay for Certified Seed of an Open Pollinated Maize Variety in Northern Uganda

“…2 Systematic records on seed sector functioning are scarce and incomplete. It is estimated that 10% of maize seed is marketed through the formal system (Marechera et al, 2016) of which about half are hybrids and half are open-pollinated maize variety (OPVs) (Erenstein and Kassie, 2018). One strategy to curb the counterfeit and low quality seed on the market is to improve the paper version of the certified seed label 2 In this paper we choose not to distinguish between counterfeit and poor quality seed as these two concepts are not easily distinguishable in practice.…”

“…The seed industry in Uganda was liberalised in the 1990s and involves a relatively high number of seed companies (26) for a relatively small estimated market of 18,000 MT maize seed per year (Mastenbroek and Ntare, 2016), which is the predominant product of these companies. The institutional environment is weak and the level of counterfeit seed and poor quality seed on the market is estimated as high as 40% (Joughin, 2014; Marechera et al ., 2016; Bold et al ., 2017; Erenstein and Kassie, 2018). Systematic records on seed sector functioning are scarce and incomplete.…”