Entebbe, Uganda, 2-4 October 2019

IntroductionIn recent decades, national seed systems have become more diverse through the inclusion of private sector and community-based seed actors. Community-based seed actors, such as farmer seed enterprises (FSEs) and community seedbanks (CSBs), have an important role to play in supplying smallholder farmers with quality seed of many food and minor crops, particularly crops that are not of interest to commercial seed companies. CGIAR centres, I/NGOs, agricultural universities and government agencies are often involved in providing support services to such community-based initiatives. However, across Africa, there is considerable variation in the scale of operations and degrees of success of these community efforts. The scattered panorama of community-based efforts suggests that there is scope to learn

more systematically about past and current efforts, and explore avenues to reach many more smallholder farmers in Africa through the scaling of community seedbanks and farmers’ seed enterprises.

The workshop on Scaling Community Seedbanks and Farmer Seed Enterprises in East and Southern Africa was held in October 2019 in Entebbe, Uganda, under the umbrella of the Resilient Seed Systems for Climate Change Adaptation and Sustainable Livelihoods in East Africa project, led by Bioversity International (now the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT), bringing together 20 participants from Ethiopia, Kenya, the Netherlands, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe to document successful community-based cases, models and opportunities; identify their strengths and challenges; develop proposals for scaling pilots; and further discuss the

Photo: Part of the Joy Mugisha bean collection.

Credit: The Alliance of Bioversity International and

CIAT/R. Vernooy

Joyce Adokorach1, Ronnie Vernooy2, Ronald Kakeeto3

1 The Plant Genetic Resource Centre, National Agricultural Research Organisation (NARO), Uganda2 The Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT 3 Bulindi Zonal Agricultural Research and Development Institute, NARO, Uganda

Scaling Community Seedbanks and Farmer Seed Enterprises in East and Southern Africa: Workshop Highlights

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development of modality to establish a sub-regional seed knowledge and service hub. This brief presents the highlights of the workshop.

Update on community seedbanks Community seedbanks in EthiopiaEthiopia boasts a network of 24 community seedbanks linked to, and supported by, the Ethiopian Biodiversity Institute (EBI) (photo 1). EBI developed

guidelines for the management of the community seedbanks, providing the storage facilities and offering training on various topics related to community seedbank governance and management. EBI is also responsible for managing Ethiopia’s national genebank in Addis Ababa, which is linked to six sub-regional conservation centres. The 24 community seedbanks conserve local varieties of barley, black cumin, chick pea, common bean, coriander, faba bean, fenugreek, grass pea, lentil, linseed maize, millet, oat, pea,

sorghum, tef and wheat. Accessions in the community seedbanks are registered using the same format as in the national genebank, where duplicates of all these accessions are stored.

Seed Savers Network-KenyaThe Seed Savers Network-Kenya (SSN) was established in 2009. It is a social enterprise dedicated to improving seed access and promoting the use of local varieties for agrobiodiversity conservation. SSN supports farmers in saving seed, individually and collectively, and aims to establish a vibrant seed conservation network for seed sharing and exchange in Kenya. SSN works with 60,000 small-scale farmers in Nakuru, Kakamega, Kiambu, Nyandarua and Baringo on agroecology and agrobiodiversity conservation, with 500 primary school pupils on the Fruit for Schools pilot project, and with 40 nascent community seed custodians and newly formed community seedbanks. SSN has set up a seedbank in Gilgil that serves as a demonstration seedbank and as a back-up facility for the Kenyan

Photo 1: Yonas Shimelis of the Ethiopian Biodiversity Institute (EBI) presents the activities of community seedbanks in Ethiopia.

Photo 2: The renovated seedbank of the Seed Saver Network-Kenya in Gilgil.

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community seedbanks (photo 2). Altogether, the Gilgil and Kenyan community seedbanks conserve one or more varieties of the following plant and tree species: amaranth, black nightshade, calabash, common bean, cow pea, custard apple, finger millet, goose berry, groundnut, lablab bean, maize, millet, papaya, passion fruit, pea, pepino melon, pepper, pigeon pea, pumpkin, sorghum, spider plant, thorn melon, tree tomato, tomato, water melon. A major challenge in Kenya is collaboration of SSN with the national genebank, but initial steps have been set and some collaborative activities to bridge this gap are expected in 2020.

Community seedbanks in UgandaThe first four community seedbanks in Uganda were established with the direct assistance of Bioversity International (now the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT) under the umbrella of the National Agricultural Research Organisation (photo 3). Of these, Kiziba

community seedbank is the best-known, specializing in conserving common bean. A fifth community seedbank in Nakasongola, was launched at the end of October 2019. PELUM Uganda – a regional network of over 220 African Civil Society Organizations working together to support participatory ecological land use management to improve the livelihoods of small-scale farmers and the sustainability of farming communities by fostering ecological land use management – also supports several community seedbanks, e.g. in Soroti, where it is associated with a local farmer cooperative (photo 4). Plant species conserved by the community seedbanks are amaranth, banana, bean, bitter tomato, cassava, Cat’s whiskers (aka African cabbage, Cleome gynandra), groundnut, finger millet, sorghum. They also conserve various fruit trees on farm. It is encouraging to note that one of the policy strategies in the newly passed National Seed Policy (2018) is to enhance the development of community seedbanks. Despite the progress made, there are

still some challenges: inadequate links with the national genebank, poor information flow between community seedbanks, and the limited number of crops conserved in the community seedbanks. NARO and partner organizations are addressing these challenges in the Resilient Seed Systems for Climate Change Adaptation and Sustainable Livelihoods in East Africa project.

Photo 3: Joyce Adokorach presents the work of community seedbanks in Uganda.

Photo 4: Bosco Opiding presents the evolution of the Soroti community seedbank in three phases: past, present, future.

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Community seedbanks in ZimbabweThe Community Technology Development Trust (CTDT), with the help of national and international partners, has established 16 community seedbanks across the country (photo 5). They are key to promoting and carrying out on-farm conservation and sustainable use of plant genetic resources. They facilitate smallholder farmers’ access to seeds of choice in times of need and emergencies (e.g. drought). Plant and tree species conserved by the community seedbanks are: amaranth, Bambara groundnut, Blackjack, coffee, Chinese date (Ziziphus mauritania), common bean, cowpea, cucumber, finger millet, groundnut, Jathropa, maize, okra, melon, pea, pearl millet, pepper, pumpkin, rape, reed sweet-grass, rice, sesame, sorghum, soybean, squash, sunflower and water melon.

The community seedbanks’ sustainability is guided by several factors, including the involvement of several stakeholders and

farmers, easy accessibility of the buildings, ownership by farmers, cash contributions of members, diversification of activities and provision of social and economic benefits. Community seedbanks can greatly benefit from links to the national genebank for technical and financial support. However, decentralizing some of the national genebank operations to community seedbanks still remains a challenge. To make this happen, a more supportive policy and legal framework needs to be developed.

Update on farmer seed enterprisesThe Joy and family demonstration farm, Ngoma, Kiziba, Kagano-Sheema, UgandaThis farmer seed enterprise, established by Joy Mugisha, a former leader of the Kiziba community seedbank, specializes in bean seed production, and maintains over 70 farmer and improved bean varieties (photo 6). New varieties received from farmers and NARO are

tested on a regular basis. The enterprise operates on a combined membership/non-membership basis. Members benefit from easier access to seed and a friendlier payment scheme, while non-members are treated strictly as clients. Seeds are sold locally, nationally and even across the Ugandan borders (for example, at seed fairs or workshops). Total seed production at the Mugisha farm has reached approximately 2 metric tons per year. To overcome the challenge of inadequate availability of quality declared or certified seed in the south-western agroecological zone, Joy and her family propose to initiate a community-based seed production scheme to supply good quality seed in large quantities.

Local seed business development supported by the Integrated Seed Sector Development (ISSD) programme, UgandaThe ISSD programme promotes the Quality Declared Seed (QDS) system, which has minimum certification requirements for

Photo 5: Members of the Chemazumba community seedbank, Zimbabwe.

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specific food crops (e.g. bean) (photo 7). QDS is a formally recognized seed class with a green tamper-proof label. The ISSD programme works through zonal partners including agribusinesses and seed specialists. The beneficiaries, who receive the QDS seed, are business-oriented farmer groups, which are identified and transformed into local seed businesses (LSBs). To date, over 270 LSBs have been established. The QDS system is supported by the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF) and the various District Local Governments (DLGs). QDS and LSBs are important elements of Uganda’s revised national Seed policy. The ISSD programme is now scaling the approach to new zones (East, South Western Highlands and Western Highlands). There is scope for seed producing community seedbanks to become LSBs.

Champion Farmer Seeds Cooperative, ZimbabweThe Community Technology Development Trust (CTDT), in partnership with Oxfam Novib, recently supported the establishment of the Champion Farmer Seeds Cooperative Company (known as Champion Seeds), formally registered in 2016 and launched in 2017. Champion Seeds is both a commercial and social enterprise, with farmers as shareholders, producers (on a contract basis) and buyers of high quality, certified seed of highly adaptable and high- yielding varieties of dryland grains and legumes. Champion Seeds benefits from both social and seed capital built up over the years; improved pearl millet and sorghum varieties developed over time by the farmers’ field schools (FFSs) are making their way to the company. Champion Seeds works on a contract basis with individual seed producers,

irrespective of whether they belong to a community seedbank. Hence, community seedbanks are not contracted, but their members are considered important buyers of seed (customers). The company provides inputs (including foundation seed); the farmers provide labour and technical knowhow. The costs of the inputs are deducted from the sales.

Photo 7: Charles Ssemwogerere of the ISSD Uganda programme presents the programme’s achievements.

Photo 6: Joy Mugisha displays her bean collection of more than 70 varieties.

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Planning new scaling activitiesConsidering that in Ethiopia and Zimbabwe national networks of community seedbanks are well established, workshop participants focused on developing three scaling action plans for Kenya, Uganda and Zambia. Given that community seedbanks and farmer seed enterprises in Zambia are in the infant stage, it was decided to mobilize the expertise of Ethiopia and Zimbabwe to enhance the Zambia proposal. The key scaling components identified for each country are:

Kenya: building linkages between seed custodians, community seedbanks and the national genebank; developing community seedbank management guidelines; participatory crop evaluation; strengthening linkages between seed custodians, community seedbanks and county governments.

Uganda: drafting common guidelines and regulations for community seedbanks; strengthening linkages between community seedbanks and the national genebank under the National Agricultural Research Organisation (NARO); participatory variety enhancement and farmer seed enterprise development.

Zambia: raising awareness about the roles of community seedbanks; organizing learning events for farmers and extension staff (e.g. visits to Ethiopia/Zimbabwe); training farmers and extension staff in community seedbank management; construction and inauguration of the first community seedbank; building linkages with the national genebank (photo 8).

Proposal activities are expected to start in early 2020, supported by resources from the Resilient Seed Systems project.

A regional seed/knowledge service hub: design suggestionsBuilding on the discussions held at the start-up workshop of the Resilient Seed Systems project (March 20191), workshop participants endorsed the proposal for a regional seed/knowledge hub and offered the following suggestions (photo 9):

• Proposed activities to be coordinated by the hub: 1) Developing and managing a regional digital database/ portal/ Mobile App; 2) Establishing national networks/platforms on community seedbanks and farmer seed enterprises and facilitating exchange and learning; 3) Conducting tailor-made training; 4) Coordinating policy-related research and advocacy; 5) Facilitating inter-country/regional communications.

Photo 8: Graybill Munkombwe presents the pilot scaling plan for Zambia.

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• Service model: The hub should support and mobilize regional seed champions in joining forces (e.g. collaborative crop improvement research). It could also develop specific thematic areas and working groups to scale activities and actions (e.g. related to community seedbanks and/or farmer seed enterprises, policy/legal issues).

• Achieving sustainability through: 1) Scaling partners’ funding/co-funding contributions; 2) Core project support (creating a seed fund); 3) Embedding activities in on-going initiatives.

Novel ICT applications for managing seed demand and supplyTwo novel examples of the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) were presented at the workshop and well received, stimulating reflections about the

use of ICTs to support the work of community seedbanks and farmer seed enterprises in East and Southern Africa. The Seed Savers Network-Kenya has initiated work on a web-based seed portal from which the other project countries could learn.

Example 1: A digital seed demand-supply system for Myanmar, piloted in one region, consisting of two Android-based Apps and one web-based portal:

1. Grower registration App to register seed producers

2. Seed request App, “Quality seed”, to order early generation and certified seed, maintain stocks of certified seed and maintain sales records of certified seed

3. Web tool, “Administrator”, for the Seed Division and Ayeyarwady Regional Department of Agriculture of the Ministry of Agriculture,

Livestock and Irrigation to enter and monitor seed supply and demand data (breeder seed, foundation seed, certified seed) and manage early generation seed stocks and flows.

http://www.myanmarseedportal.gov.mm/

Example 2: An Android-based mobile phone seed App, in Nepali, named “Hamro Biu” (Our seeds) by and for community seedbanks in Nepal, which allows community seedbanks to profile their seed stocks and stimulate controlled seed demand from community seedbanks and individual farmers in the country. The App was developed with the support of LI-BIRD, Nepal.

https://apkpure.com/hamro-biu/com.fube.seedapp

Photo 9: Abishkar Subedi of the Wageningen Center for Development Innovation introduces the seed knowledge service hub proposal.

The Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT is part of CGIAR, a global research partnership for a food-secure future.

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Bioversity InternationalHeadquartersVia dei Tre Denari, 472/a00054 Maccarese, Rome, ItalyTel. +39 06 61181

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CIATHeadquartersKm 17 Recta Cali-Palmira. CP 763537A.A. 6713, Cali, ColombiaTel. +57 2 445 0000

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AcknowledgementsWe acknowledge the financial support of the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality of the Government of the Netherlands (https://www.government.nl/ministries/ministry-of-agriculture-nature-and-food-quality). This workshop was organized as part of the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), which is carried out with support from the CGIAR Trust Fund and through bilateral funding agreements (for details, please visit: https://ccafs.cgiar.org/donors). The views expressed in this document cannot be taken to reflect the official opinions of these organizations. We acknowledge Olga Spellman (the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT) for technical editing of this brief. We thank Evelyn Clancy for production coordination and Luca Pierotti for design of the brief.

Photo credits: Unless otherwise stated, all photographs in this factsheet are credited to the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT/R.Vernooy.

Notes1 Recha, T., Vernooy, R., Halewood, M., Otieno, G. (2019) Resilient seed systems for climate change adaptation and sustainable livelihoods in the East Africa subregion. Report of the consultative workshop, 5-8 March 2019, Entebbe, Uganda. Bioversity International, Rome, Italy. Available at: https://hdl.handle.net/10568/101278

Suggested citation: Adokorach, J., Vernooy, R., Kakeeto, R. (2020). Scaling Community Seedbanks and Farmer Seed Enterprises in East and Southern Africa: Workshop Highlights, 2-4 October 2019, Entebbe, Uganda. The Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, Rome, Italy.

ISBN: 978-92-9255-147-6

Contacts:

Photo 10: The trajectory of the Soroti community seedbank.