Implications of Seed Policies for On-Farm Agro-Biodiversity in Ethiopia and Uganda

Otieno, Gloria; Reynolds, Travis; Karasapan, Altinay; Noriega, Isabel López

doi:10.5539/sar.v6n4p12

Cited by 16 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 22 publications

(32 reference statements)

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“…Seed policies and seed laws are mainly concerned with regulating the formal seed sector, though there have been concerns raised around how such legislation may affect how farmers' seed systems function [31]. If seed legislation prohibits the sale of crop varieties that were not registered in the national or regional varietal list, or of seed that was not certified or quality assured, informal traders may be unable to operate legally [32]. Reviews of seed policy impacts on informal seed systems tend to focus on biodiversity-what can be circulated, rather than who can take part in the circulation [33]; but these reviews help clarify how legislative frameworks may affect informal traders, and where there may be scope to work with them more closely.…”

Section: Legal and Donor Insight Into Embracing Trader Rolesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Informal Seed Traders: The Backbone of Seed Business and African Smallholder Seed Supply

Sperling¹,

Gallagher

McGuire

et al. 2020

Sustainability

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To work well and be sustainable, seed systems have to offer a range of crops and varieties of good quality seed and these products have to reach farmers, no matter how remote or poor they may be. Formal seed sector interventions alone are not delivering the crop portfolio or achieving the social and geographic breadth needed, and the paper argues for focus on informal seed channels and particularly on traders who move ‘potential seed’ (informal or local seed) even to high stress areas. This paper provides the first in-depth analysis on potential seed trader types and actions, drawing on data collected on 287 traders working in 10 African countries. The research delves into four themes: the types and hierarchies of traders; the technical ways traders manage seed using 11 core practices; the price differential of +50% of potential (local) seed over grain, and the pivotal roles which traders play in remote and crisis contexts. Traders are the backbone of smallholder seed security and need to be engaged, not ignored, in development and relief efforts. An action framework for leveraging seed trader skills is presented, with the paper addressing possible legal and donor constraints for engaging such market actors more fully.

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Section: Legal and Donor Insight Into Embracing Trader Rolesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Informal Seed Traders: The Backbone of Seed Business and African Smallholder Seed Supply

Sperling¹,

Gallagher

McGuire

et al. 2020

Sustainability

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“…The legislations also conceptualize farmers' rights as an important protection for smallholder agricultural production and food security. Indeed, the government is committed to implement farmers' rights (Feyissa, 2006) and its policy of pluralistic seed system that aims to ensure complementarity of formal and farmers' seed systems (MoA and ATA, 2013; Otieno et al, 2017). This makes Ethiopia exceptional with regard to a global survey recently conducted by the ITPGRFA Secretariat that concluded that the conflict between national and international policies (e.g., MTAs, IPRs, and Farmers' Rights) is one of the major bottlenecks in the Treaty's MLS (Kell, Marino, & Maxted, 2017).…”

Section: Ethiopian Pgrfa and Its Governancementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Very few seed companies operate in seed distribution due to lack of a liberalized seed market policy in Ethiopia (Alemu, 2011b; MoA, 2019b; Scoones & Thompson, 2011). The government has chosen a policy that promotes pluralistic seed systems aiming at implementing farmers' rights and on‐farm management of crop diversity (Alemu, 2016; Otieno et al, 2017). Ethiopian negotiators have influenced early regional and international negotiations in favor of national control over own genetic resources, promoting farmers', and community rights (Chasek, McGraw, & Prather, 1996; de Fontaubert, Ivers, Megateli, & Prather, 1997; Fry, Ivers, Megateli, & Prather, 1998; Gebre Egziabher et al, 2011).…”

Section: Historical Political and Economic Factors Influencing Pgrfmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This is not the only international seed‐related policy in which Ethiopia is going against the grain. Indeed, compared with most other countries, Ethiopia has a less liberal seed market, less involvement of multinational seed companies (MoA, 2019b; Scoones & Thompson, 2011), less stringent IPR laws (Alemu, 2016), and seed policies that accommodate a “pluralistic” seed sector (Otieno, Reynolds, Karasapan, & López Noriega, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Against the grain? A historical institutional analysis of access governance of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture in Ethiopia

Mulesa

Westengen

2020

World Intellectual Property

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Farmers' and breeders' access to a genetic diversity is essential for food system sustainability. The implementation of international agreements regulating access to plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (PGRFA) varies substantially between countries. Here, we examine why some countries implement a restrictive access governance regime, taking Ethiopia as a case. Drawing on commons theory and historical institutional analysis, we analyze historical, political, and economic factors that have shaped Ethiopia's access regime. Based on interviews with key actors and stakeholders and document analysis, we identify three overarching ideational and material factors that can explain Ethiopia's current policy: (a) the influence of narratives about Ethiopia as a biodiversity treasure trove on the Ethiopian cultural identity; (b) the economic importance of agriculture based on PGRFA with origin in the country; and (c) the political influence of the genetic resource movement that promotes farmers' rights as a counter measure to stringent intellectual property rights (IPR), and on‐farm PGRFA management as complimentary to ex situ conservation and formal seed system development. The Ethiopian case illustrates that countries' governance of access to PGRFA must be understood in connection with, and not in isolation from, IPR regimes and the historical, political, and cultural role of PGRFA in the country in question.

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“…Majority of smallholder farmers in Uganda lack a sustainable and reliable seed supply system to ensure quality agricultural production and productivity (The African Seed Access Index (TASAI), 2015). 80 per cent of seed used by Ugandan farmers is obtained locally through own saved seed; exchange with neighbours; community seed banks; custodian farmers; and from the local markets (Otieno et al, 2016). Local seed systems therefore play an important role in providing diverse seed to farmers.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Realizing Farmers’ Rights through Community Seed Banks in Uganda: Experiences and Policy Issues

Otieno¹,

Kiwuka

Mulumba

2017

SAR

Self Cite

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The paper interrogates the role of community seed banks (CSBs) and related initiatives in the realization of farmers" rights in Uganda and the policy and legislative space for the functioning of CSBs. The study finds that although community seed banks are a relatively new phenomenon in Uganda, there have been community based seed banking initiatives that have been instrumental in the realization of farmers" rights to save and exchange seed and information; and especially providing a wide range of diversity of seed to farmers and improving access to good quality seed. Through partnerships with local Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), research and government institutions, CSBs have received technical and financial support for conservation and seed production activities, thus enabling them to participate in seed value-chains through production of quality declared seed (QDS) and participate in decision making. Although the policy and legal environment for the functioning of CSBs is not well defined, various pieces of draft legislation provide positively for ways through which CSBs can be recognized and supported for the benefit of farmers. The study recommends that CSBs activities should be rolled-out to other parts of the country through a government financing mechanism that is suggested in the draft national policy on plant genetic resources for food and agriculture. The development of a policy and legal environment that includes an act that has provisions for the recognition of CSBs and the protection of farmers" rights is important. Secondary information, interviews with key informants and Focus Group discussions (FGDs) are the primary sources of data used.

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Implications of Seed Policies for On-Farm Agro-Biodiversity in Ethiopia and Uganda

Cited by 16 publications

References 22 publications

Informal Seed Traders: The Backbone of Seed Business and African Smallholder Seed Supply

Informal Seed Traders: The Backbone of Seed Business and African Smallholder Seed Supply

Against the grain? A historical institutional analysis of access governance of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture in Ethiopia

Realizing Farmers’ Rights through Community Seed Banks in Uganda: Experiences and Policy Issues

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