The Need for Seed Policy Reform to Support Seed Systems Diversity.

Climate change poses significant risks to future crop productivity as temperatures rise, rainfall patterns become more variable, and pest and disease pressures increase. Developing new crop varieties that are more tolerant to rapidly changing environmental conditions is an important part of agricultural adaptation. However the choice of crops and varieties grown by smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is also strongly influenced by market demand, and agricultural investments are increasingly focused on integrating smallholder farmers into value chains to meet the growing food and feed demand driven by urbanization. Crop and varietal diversity to cope with increased climate variability, as well as the needs of urban consumers and agro processors have to be balanced with household nutritional needs.

 Seed policies and regulations were designed for formalized seed systems, which are increasingly commercial as governments have liberalized the production and sale of seed, but in most countries seed regulation remains firmly in the hands of governments that are increasingly unable to meet the demands of the growing commercial sector. At the same time traditional practices employed by farmers to select, preserve and exchange seed are largely ignored even though farmer saved seed of non-hybrid crops is widely planted across the world.

 This paper describes investments made by the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa to support the development and dissemination of locally adapted varieties, examines constraints to their release and dissemination, and then proposes a number of institutional changes to ensure that farmers can sustainably access affordable seed.