The political ecology of seed security in the Northern Ghanaian Savannahs

Abstract

Seed security is being promoted as a means of achieving productivity, food security, and resilience among smallholders. This has resulted in notions that vulnerabilities among smallholders in Africa are the outcomes of inadequate adoption of improved seeds. What these perspectives have neglected is: How politics mediate access to seeds? and Whether and how politics influence farmers' perception of seed security? This study draws upon a case study of Northern Ghanaian Savannahs to examine politics and seed security among smallholders. The logistic analysis shows that the presence of recurring conflicts significantly determines how farmers perceived vulnerability to seed insecurity. Thus, farmers from relatively peaceful villages were 4.705 times more likely to rate themselves as not vulnerable to seed insecurity compared to their counterparts experiencing recurring conflicts. Analysis further shows that smallholder vulnerabilities to seed insecurity are constructed at the intersection of historical ethnic conflicts and neoliberal policies in ways that contest the dominant narratives. Key for achieving seed security is a better understanding of how local and macro politics influence perceptions and mediate access to healthy and desirable seeds.

Integrating gender into Kenya’s evolving seed policies and regulations for roots and tubers

“…The FAO has deemed food security as essential to achieving food security and building farmer resilience (Madin, 2020). To improve food security by increasing crop productivity, the seed system needs to boost access to quality seed, and thus seed security becomes important, i.e.…”

“…Gender influences the labour division in the household, such that women and men have different concerns or objectives within the household (Madin, 2020;Zossou et al, 2021). The gender roles and concerns also influence how farm or plot management are undertaken, including that women typically have access to smaller plots, less fertile soil, poorer access to irrigation, and lower access to commercial fertiliser (Ndiritu et al, 2014;Ouma et al, 2006).…”

“…When economic and agricultural programmes focus on women, they help address inequality, bring women into public spaces, and improve innovation (Bullock and Tegbaru, 2019). This means that seed policy makers and those who certify and inspect seed producers and their plots need to interface and consult with informal social networks, taking into account gender specific needs, to bring women into economic and agricultural programmes and facilitate information flows to women (Madin, 2020;Marimo et al, 2021); as will be shown in the case studies, women often only access information second-hand, then either they do not understand it or what is being said to them is a misrepresentation of the information. Policy makers also need to consider how different policies, programs and business models can support women's seed production, and as well as considering how users will access quality seed such that users are aware of "the benefits arising from their use, in a cost effective, inclusive, and equitable way" (Berber and Alessandra, 2020, p. 1).…”

“…Sector Development Strategy 2010-2020(2010 The Kenyan seed policies and strategies are complemented by brief analysis of key legislation and regulations formulated to enforce the implementation of both policies and such legislation: i.Seedand Plant Varieties Amendment Act (2012) ii. 2012 Revision of the Seeds and Plant Varieties (Seeds) Regulations, 1991 iii.…”