The harvest is in the seed

Author: Admin

AfricaSeedsArticles by: Admin
16 Dec 2021
©NULS & ILRI
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Week 37 – Research Paper: Governing Seeds in East Africa in the Face of Climate Change: Assessing Political and Social Outcomes

Author: Ola Tveitereid Westengen, Ruth Haug, Paul Guthiga and Eric Macharia; Norwegian University of Life Sciences & International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), 2019
Topics: seed policies; climate change

Climate change is already negatively affecting sub-Saharan Africa agriculture. One of the most effective ways to adapt on farm is to switch crop varieties. This technological change depends onREAD MORE

10 Dec 2021
©Agrilinks & USAID
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Week 36 – High-Quality Seed Production by Smallholder Farmer Groups: A Global Case Study

Author: Bhramar Dey, Catholic Relief Services & Bert Visser, Oxfam’s SD=HS., 2020
Topics: quality seeds; case study; farmers’ seed systems; conservation

Farmers have always played a key role in seed production, varietal maintenance and serving local and regional communities with agroecologically adapted varieties that are demanded by smallholder farmers. Increasingly, smallholder farmers have organized themselves in various ways to produce seed for local markets. However, the operational efficiencies,READ MORE

29 Jun 2021
©Agrilinks
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Week 35 – Webinar: The Informal Seed Sector: A Behind the Seeds Look

Author: Agrilinks, 2015
Topics: Informal seed sector, access to seeds, quality seeds

Many smallholder farmers rely on local seed varieties to produce staple food crops. Distributed through informal systems, farmers select varieties based on a number of factors including environmental considerations, socioeconomic factors, access and taste preferences. These systems may contribute to the food security of a region, but farmers may also encounter barriers to accessing good quality seed including quality controls and storage issues.

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20 Jun 2021
©Agrilinks
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Week 34 – Study paper: Regulatory Flexibilities Bridge Gaps Between Seed Systems

Author: Feed the Future Global Supporting Seed Systems for Development (S34D), 2020
Topics: Marketing, Access, research

Feed the Future Global Supporting Seed Systems for Development (S34D) activity, funded through Bureau for Resilience and Food Security, and the Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA),

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15 Jun 2021
©Elsevier
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Week 33 – Research paper: Rapid breeding and varietal replacement are critical to adaptation of cropping systems in the developing world to climate change

Author: Gary N.Atlin, Jill E.Cairns, Biswanath Das, 2017
Topics: Marketing, breeding, research

Plant breeding is a key mechanism for adaptation of cropping systems to climate change. Much discussion of breeding for climate change focuses on genes with large effects on heat and drought tolerance, but phenology and stress tolerance are highly polygenic.

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08 Jun 2021
©AGRA, Syngenta, CGIAR
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Week 32 – Policy Paper: Accelerating the delivery of quality seed from breeding investments made by the Crops to End Hunger Initiative through economically sustainable seed systems

Author: AGRA, Syngenta and CGIAR, 2021
Topics: Marketing, breeding, commercial seed varieties

Commercial seed delivery for smallholder farmers in many parts of sub-Saharan Africa has been limited to few crops and varietal turnover has been slow. Publicly funded breeding needs to engage with seed systems in order to deliver greater genetic gain in farmers’ fields via varietal replacement.

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04 Jun 2021
©MDPI
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Week 31 – Informal Seed Traders: The Backbone of Seed Business and African Smallholder Seed Supply

Author: Louise Sperling, Patrick Gallagher, Shawn McGuire, Julie March and Noel Templer, 2020
Topics: informal seed system, traders, smallholder farmers

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.

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20 May 2021
©SNP
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Week 30 – Meeting Report: Multi-actor consultation workshop on the recognition of traditional / farmers’ seeds and farmers’ rights in seed legislation in Mali

Author: Semences, Normes et Paysans (SNP), 2017
Topics: Dialogue, informal seed system, traditional varieties, farmers’ rights, International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Agriculture and Food (ITPGRFA)

From 11 to 13 September, 2017, a multi-stakeholder consultation was held on traditional and farmer seeds at the Practical Forest Training Center of Tabakoro. Under the chairmanship of the Ministry of Agriculture of Mali, the workshop recorded the participation of representatives of the Ministry of higher education and scientific research (MESRS); the Ministry of environment, sanitation and sustainable development (MEADD), as well as the Ministry livestock and fisheries. In addition to participants from Mali, the sub-region, others came from South Africa and France to share their experiences on the topic discussed.

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13 May 2021
©Afsafrica
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Week 29 – Case study: Sustaining the Traditional Dynamics of Production and Conservation of Traditional Rice varieties in Guinea-Bissau

Author: Afsafrica, 2021
Topics: Multipliers, informal seed system, traditional varieties

In order to preserve their tradition, the Manjaco communities have embarked on a process of preserving local varieties of rice essential for the organization of some traditional ceremonies.READ MORE

06 May 2021
©CABI
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Week 28 – Case Study: Improving access to quality seeds in Africa

Author: L. Kimenye; CABI 2014
Subjects: Indigenous Vegetables, Quality Declared Seed, QDS, neglected crops, informal seed system, access to seeds

AIVs (African indigenous vegetables) have traditionally been a significant contributor to food security and nutrition for smallholder farmers in East Africa and are also important in providing incomes, particularly for women. However, farmers’ capacity to meet a growing demand for these vegetables has been limited by lack of good quality seed.

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