SUCCEED WITH SEEDS

A farmer field school in Tanzania experiments with new sorghum varieties.

This video is a shortened version and part of a farmer-to-farmer training video series on integrated striga and soil fertility management. The entire series will shortly be available in French and English.

Video produced by Agro-Insight under The HOPE project (ICRISAT), funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Seed variety loss seen hampering climate response

8-10 Sept 2009, Rome. Farmers in developing countries are losing traditional varieties because of growing corporate control of the seeds they plant, hampering their ability to cope with climate change, a London-based think tank said.

The International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) said in a report that the diversity of traditional seed varieties is falling fast and this means valuable traits such as drought and pest resistance could be lost forever. The report was issued ahead of the World Seed Conference at the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome. The World Seed Conference was intended to raise awareness of the importance of new plant varieties and high quality seed in this context and considers how governments can develop an enabling environment to encourage plant breeding and the production and distribution of high quality seed.

IIED partner organisations in China, India, Kenya and Peru participated in the research behind the report.The report said an international tready on the protection of new varieties of plants -- known as UPOV -- protects the profits of private corporations but fails to recognise and protect the rights and knowledge of poor farmers.

"Western governments and the seed industry want to upgrade the UPOV convention to provide stricter exclusive rights to commercial plant breeders. This will further undermine the rights of farmers and promote the loss of seed diversity that poor communities depend on for their resilience to changing climatic conditions." said project leader Krystyna Swiderska of IIED

Contributions from African researhers:

• Anticipated demands and challenges to plant breeding and related technologies into the futureMr. Marcel Busuma Kanungwe, Director, Pannar Seed Ltd. (Zambia)
• Experiences in KenyaMr. Evans Sikinyi, Head, Seed Certification and Plant Variety Protection, Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (KEPHIS)

Reference

• Conference website Press Release / Conference Outcome
• IIED 07/09 Seed industry ignores farmers’ rights to adapt to climate change
• SolveClimate 8/09 Scientists Warn International Seed Laws Are Stifling Crop Diversity
• Commodity Online 10/09 ‎Plant breeders should focus on food security

Related:

Solving Kenya’s Food Crisis, One Indigenous Crop at a Time
Corn and Soy – Crops that Feed the World – Face Steep Drop Off As Climate Changes
Climate Change Could Devastate Latin America's Agriculture

Meeting of the African Union’s Directorate of Rural Economy and Agriculture (AU-DREA)

Staff of the FAO Regional Office for Eastern Africa and Rome offices; Libya, Tanzania, Kenya, Burkina Faso Senegal, Gambia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Madagascar, Ethiopia, Ivory Coast, Uganda, Burundi, South Africa, Tanzania; COMESA, ECOWAS, ECCAS/CEMAC, SADC; ASARECA, CORAF/WECARD, SADC-FANR; Norway, France, Netherland,s, China; ASN, ROPPA, BIOEARN; IFPRI, ICARDA, Bioversity International; AGRA; Consultants from Ivory Coast & Nigeria reviewed and discussed between 19-22 February in Addis Abeba the AU/FAO commissioned consultancy reports on the development of the seed sector in Africa in line with the AU Sirte Summit decisions on functional seed sector for African farmers. Project profiles were developed as follows:

• Strengthening networks and exchange programs for gene banks and variety improvement centers
• Development, adoption and capacity building for variety improvement strategies including through biotechnology applications
• Capacity building for safe handling and release of biotechnology seeds, planting materials and varieties
• Establishment of an African seed development training program
• Strengthening national seed sector through policy interventions
• Improvement of seed marketing and distribution channels in partnership with the private sector
• Development of improved disaster preparedness and response to seed insecurity
• Assistance to improving seed quality to enhance seed trade
• ASBP national seed projects support fund
• Technical assistance for national seed reviews

Related:

Svalbard's Doomsday Vault: The Global Seed Vault Raises Political/Conservation Debate. The swarm of media attention focusing on the opening of the Global Seed Vault in Norway's high Arctic may overshadow an even bigger news story. On 26 February, the Norwegian government pledged to give 0.1% of money spent on commercial seed sales to support Farmers' Rights, and challenged other governments to do the same.

What Are Seed Gene Banks and How Do They Work? The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) maintains and coordinates seed gene banks around the world, encompassing 600000 plant varieties. Its goal is to back up all known varieties of useful plant varieties.