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Global Plan of Action 197.
Assessment: Farmers benefit from having a wide
range of seed varieties and other planting materials. Availability
can be constrained by: (a) poor harvests, inadequate onfarm
storage facilities, insufficient means to multiply quality
seed, and (b) poor seed distribution systems. These
problems can apply to seed of both local and commerciallybred
varieties. Parastatal
and commercial seed companies sometimes have difficulty supplying
seed of varieties specifically adapted to unique and local
conditions. Often
they cannot offer the range of varieties, or seed of socalled
"minor'' crops, on which many farmers rely, because of high
transaction costs and low purchasing power of farmers. There
is thus a need to strengthen local capacity to produce and
distribute seed of many crop varieties, including some landraces/farmers'
varieties, that are useful for diverse and evolving farming
systems. 198.
Long term objectives: To increase the availability
of good quality seed of a wider range of plant varieties.
199.
To contribute to the maximization of both agrobiodiversity
and productivity. 200.
Intermediate objectives: To improve the complementarity
between governmental (or parastatal), commercial, and small
scale enterprises in plant breeding, seed production, and
seed distribution. 201.
To develop and expand viable locallevel seed production and
distribution mechanisms for varieties and crops important
to smallscale farmers; 202.
To help make new crop varieties available to farmers. To
make suitable materials that are stored ex situ available
for multiplication and distribution to farmers. 203.
Policy/strategy: Governments and their national
agricultural research systems, subject to national laws and
regulations as appropriate, with support from international
agricultural research centres, regional cooperation programmes
and NGOs, and taking into account the views of the private
sector, farmers' organizations and their communities, should:
(a)
develop appropriate policies concerning governmental, commercial
and informal enterprises in, seed production, and seed distribution,
to help focus efforts of government supported initiatives
on the varietal needs of resourcepoor farmers in particular,
with attention, where necessary, on the needs of women farmers.
Such
an approach should be complemented by encouraging the private
sector to meet the needs of largerscale, commercial farmers.
Government
involvement with major or minor crops that are inadequately
covered by the private sector should not be precluded; (b)
provide, and promote as appropriate, an enabling environment,
where such an environment does not already exist, for the
development of smallscale seed enterprises, including through
appropriate incentives; (c)
strengthen linkages between genebanks, plant breeding organizations,
seed producers, and smallscale seed production and distribution
enterprises; (d)
consider seed quality control schemes particularly those appropriate
to small scale enterprises. (e)
Consider legislative measures which allow distribution and
commercialization of landraces/farmers' varieties and obsolete
varieties, if they meet the same distribution and commercialization
criteria for disease, pests, health and the environment, as
conventional or registered varieties. These
measures should meet quality standards of seed distribution
and commercialization, in accordance with national legislation
or applicable regional agreements, as appropriate. 204.
Capacity: Governments, subject to national laws,
regulations and policies as appropriate, and in conjunction
with international aid agencies, NGOs and existing seed enterprises
should: (a)
encourage existing seed enterprises to improve the range and
quality of planting materials they offer; (b)
provide appropriate incentives, credit schemes, etc., to facilitate
the emergence of seed enterprises, paying attention as appropriate
in each country, to the needs of the small farming sector,
of women and of vulnerable or marginalized groups; (c)
provide support to and strengthen farmers' organizations in
order that they can more effectively express demand for their
seed requirements, paying particular attention to the needs
of women and of vulnerable or marginalized groups; (d)
provide training and infrastructural support to farmers in
seed technology, in order to improve the physical and genetic
quality of farmersaved seed. 205.
Research/technology: Governments should: (a)
assess current incentives and disincentives as well as needs
for support to seed production and distribution enterprises,
including smallscale, farmerlevel efforts; (b)
develop approaches to support smallscale, farmerlevel seed
distribution, learning from the experiences of community and
smallscale seed enterprises already underway in some countries.
206.
Coordination/administration: National capacity
for farmers to acquire appropriate seed should be regularly
monitored by governments. 207.
The potential for integrating this activity into agricultural
development projects should be explored in collaboration inter
alia with FAO, UNDP, the World Bank, and IFAD. |
