RESTORATION OF SEED SYSTEMS AND PLANT GENETIC RESOURCES
AFTER DISASTERS:
A Synthesis of the Background Papers
1. INTRODUCTION
It is widely recognized that the maintenance of genetic diversity is essential for the sustainability of local farming systems and agricultural production. In this regard, agricultural systems in most developing countries, and especially disaster-prone areas, are characterized by a wide range of crops and varieties necessary to achieve food security and to meet other diverse needs of populations living in rural communities. Therefore, farmers access to seed of diverse local varieties has been, and will continue to be, the foundation of present and future agricultural systems in developing countries.
Most farmers in developing countries still largely depend on on-farm production of seed and plant material. These agricultural systems have been time-tested and are found to be stable. However, they are also extremely fragile during times of disaster. Generally, countries and farming communities are unprepared for disasters and their subsequent ramifications. Farmers' seed stocks can be destroyed, stolen or consumed, and seed of locally adapted varieties may be lost entirely. Furthermore, countries and communities where disasters occur frequently lack the capacity to restore their seed supply systems. Due to the lack of preparation for emergency seed relief and the complexity and difficulty related to emergency operations, most relief programmes have been unable to restore the majority of the adapted local varieties lost due to disasters.
In an effort to restore seed and plant genetic resources after disasters, a project entitled "Developing Institutional Agreements and Capacity to Assist Farmers in Disaster Situations to Restore Agricultural Systems and Seed Security Activities" was funded by the Norwegian Government. The project objectives are as follows:
(i) to develop mechanisms that enable countries and their rural farming communities to identify, acquire, multiply, and deliver seed of locally adapted varieties before, during, and after disasters; and
(ii) to determine mechanisms of collaboration for a continuing partnership among governments and institutions involved in the maintenance or restoration of farmer seed systems, plant genetic resources, and seed supply systems.
In addition, the project aims to identify follow-up actions to achieve these objectives and to determine the role of concerned institutions.
The project called for two meetings, the first of which was organized in January 1998 as a planning session. The purpose of the second workshop of November 1998 was to convene experts from around the world to identify appropriate strategies for achieving the above mentioned project objectives. In preparation for this workshop, six background papers that analyzed the pertinent issues relating to the restoration of adapted local varieties were prepared. These papers include the following: (i) characterizing disasters; (ii) farmer seed systems and disaster; (iii) plant genetic resource and seed relief; (iv) regulatory aspects of seed security; (v) seed stocks and seed multiplication in emergency situations; and (vi) food and seed assistance in the recovery from crisis.
The authors of the papers have stressed the importance of local varieties and crop diversity in agricultural systems of disaster-prone countries. They have also emphasized that in order to design strategies for the restoration of local varieties after disasters, it is first important to understand why farmers perceive the importance of crop genetic diversity and how they maintain it in the farming systems.
2. FARMING SYSTEMS AND CROP GENETIC DIVERSITY
In most developing countries, farmers living in disaster-prone areas attach great importance to yield stability for food security, which depends on accessibility to genetic diversity in the form of crops and varieties. This stability is the result of repeated natural and farmer selection pressure under local conditions, mutation, and uncontrolled hybridization. Growing mixed varieties and crops reduces insect and disease pressure that could drastically affect yield. In addition, different crops and varieties provide an opportunity to make better use of available resources as the difference in planting and harvest dates spreads the labor demands for plowing, planting, weeding and harvesting. This practice is viewed by farmers as a way to reduce the impact of short-term disasters. However, producing and maintaining a wide range of crops and varieties requires the availability of land.
Socio-cultural and socio-economic factors also contribute to the maintenance of diversity in farming systems. These may include gender specific crop and variety preferences. For example, men and women farmers may differ in their selection of crop variety according to the transformation and storage qualities. Cultural norms may also influence the selection of crop varieties produced for consumption. For instance, most landraces are low yielding, but are nonetheless maintained in farming systems throughout the developing countries for their specific cultural or culinary values. In the Great Lakes region, despite their low yields, some sorghum and banana varieties are maintained in farming systems specifically for the production of local beer. However, when production is under stress, limited resources farmers often favor varieties that guarantee food stability at the expense of those grown for culinary or construction qualities.
Production of and accessibility to new and adapted varieties also contributes to the increase of crop genetic diversity in farming systems. Farmers acquire a new variety by procuring seed from formal sector seed producers and maintain the variety in the following cropping seasons if the farmers' expectations are satisfied. There are also farmers who prefer to acquire seed of new varieties from neighbors and relatives rather than from the original source. In this case, the new variety is spread from farmer to farmer.
In summary, it is important to stress that crop genetic diversity, - - the basis of agricultural systems in the developing countries - - is mainly maintained through farmer seed systems.
3. RESTORING SEED SYSTEMS AFTER DISASTERS
The authors of the background papers stress that in order to restore the agricultural systems after disasters, it is critical that farmer seed systems are re-established. However, due to the complexity of the seed systems, the multiple difficulties faced by emergency operations, and the maintenance of seed diversity depends on how well the institutions involved in seed security activities and plant genetic resources are prepared for disaster situations.
This document will highlight approaches elaborated in the background papers to identify, acquire, multiply, and deliver seed of adapted local varieties and describe the institutional collaboration needed for each of the above steps.
3.1. Identification of appropriate varieties
In order to restore varieties lost during disaster situations, it is first imperative to know the crop germplasm used by farmers. It is therefore necessary that varieties used by farmers in disaster-prone areas are characterized and evaluated and that the information is made available to disaster relief operations. Presently, we are far from achieving this goal. There is little information available on most varieties used by limited resource farmers in disaster-prone countries. The information that does exist is collected by different institutions, which makes it difficult for emergency seed relief providers to obtain. Furthermore, it is often poorly documented or incomplete. For example, collected accessions in genebanks frequently lack socio-economic data critical to the restoration of farmer varieties. The authors of the papers have underscored that the availability of information on varieties used by farmers and their management characteristics in disaster-prone areas is the first major step in the preparation for disaster situations.
To facilitate the identification of appropriate varieties for restoration in disaster situations requires work towards the following:
(i) improving the information exchange and documentation on the relevant varieties that have been characterized and evaluated;
(ii) characterizing and evaluating varieties used by farmers and creating lists of names of local varieties; and
(iii) producing variety maps that are combined with socio-economical and cultural information relevant to the management of farmer seed systems.
There is a wide range of organizations that can be consulted and mobilized to provide relevant information on local varieties. These include among others national and international research institutions, private and public institutions, international institutes and United Nations agencies, seed and plant genetic resources regional networks, Non-governmental organizations (NGO), and farmer organizations.
3.2. Acquisition of appropriate varieties
After the appropriate varieties for the disaster area have been identified, the following major task is to transport the varieties back to the affected region. This issue was addressed in detail by the background papers on farmer seed systems, seed regulation aspects of seed security and the seed stocks and seed multiplication in emergency situations. The authors of the documents show that local markets, neighboring countries or regions, and national and international genebanks and collections constitute the major sources of seeds of local varieties in emergency situations. In cases when the appropriate varieties are located in neighboring countries, seed regulations may prohibit the movement of seeds across borders, especially for local varieties.
Countries have seed regulations including seed laws (variety release and seed certification), phytosanitary laws and intellectual property rights systems which often interfere with the acquisition of seed varieties. Regulations, especially in the case of local varieties, which are often not released or registered, can seriously hamper the restoration efforts. For example, in some countries seeds of non-released varieties are not allowed in the markets, which can hurt farmers during emergency situations when larger quantities are often needed. In addition, multiplication of seeds of non-released varieties collected from affected countries can be illegal in neighboring countries.
Although the majority of farmers' seeds are local varieties, large numbers of farmers in disaster-prone countries use certified seeds or commercial seeds of released varieties. In emergency situations, these seeds can be acquired from national and international seed producers or in the neighboring countries or regions. However, once again regulations on seed importation and exportation can hamper the acquisition of appropriate seeds. These importation and exportation regulations affect both certified and non-released local varieties.
It is suggested that regulation issues in emergency situations, which are the responsibility of each government, must be addressed prior to disasters. In many countries, seed regulations are created by members of a national seed board or council who are often involved in the formal seed sector. As a result, the individuals making seed laws are rarely directly involved in discussions on the conservation or restoration of local farmer varieties after disasters. The success of adapting appropriate regulation strategies during disasters depends heavily on the collaboration of governments and the institutions involved in seed security and plant genetic resources. These institutions include non-governmental organizations, private and public seed producers, national and international plant genetic resource institutions, farmer organizations, and regional seed security networks. Collaboration needs to be established at national, regional, and global levels.
3.3 Seed multiplication in crisis
When seeds of appropriate varieties have been acquired, adequate quantities of seed are needed to restore seed systems and local crop genetic diversity in communities where disasters have occurred. The National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS) and/or International Agricultural Research Centers (IARC) are the major providers of seed for multiplication in most disaster-prone countries. However, while these research institutions develop and test varieties, they do not have the mandate or the resources to multiply and store large quantities of seeds of adapted varieties.
In emergency situations, seeds of local varieties can be procured from local markets or in neighboring countries or regions with similar agro-ecological conditions. These seeds are often purchased as grain and, as a result, the quality is not guaranteed. While national and international genebanks and collections have considerable sources of seeds that have been characterized and stored, these seeds are kept in small quantities that require extensive multiplication efforts to be used in emergency.
The background paper on seed stocks and seed multiplication in emergency situations clearly shows that seed stocks are costly and often avoided by governments in developing countries. Therefore, the appropriateness of seed stocks must be carefully analyzed before being suggested as a strategy for the restoration of farmer varieties.
Only national and international seed producers have the capacity to multiply and store adequate quantities of seeds. Furthermore, these producers often keep stocks of unsold certified seeds. However, companies are mostly involved with commercial crops, which most often do not include the varieties needed by limited resource farmers (seeds of commercial crops represent approximately 5 to 10% of farmer seed requirements).
Ways in which this problem might be addressed are needed. In addition, linkages between genebanks, NARS, IACRs, seed companies in the region, NGOs, farmer organizations, and regional seed security networks must be established.
3.4 Seed delivery in disaster situations
Seed delivery has a stepwise process, which includes planning, needs assessments, funding, and relief operations.
Planning for emergency seed intervention starts with the characterization of farmer varieties and their system of production, the identification of potential places for multiplication in times of calamities, and agreements for collaboration from the major stakeholders. During disasters joint planning for food and seed emergency intervention is required to coordinate the appropriate timing for seed and tool distribution, determine the number of cropping seasons for funding, and determine whether food for seed protection is needed.
Disasters are very diversified and take many different forms. The main factors that need to be assessed when determining the effects of disasters on farmer seed include the timing of the disaster and its duration and frequency. Needs assessments include a consideration of the crops required, the phenological and ecological characteristics required in the affected areas, and socio-economical factors that are relevant to the farming systems and on-farm seed supply systems. Furthermore, changes in social and economical conditions due to disasters may lead to new production systems. When this happens, new varieties that vary slightly to the pre-disaster varieties may be appropriate. Technical considerations such as the availability of adequate warehouse facilities are also critical to the success of seed delivery and should be considered when assessing needs. For example, limited warehouse availability may result in the storage of food and chemically treated seed in the same warehouse. Inadequate seed storage conditions can affect seed quality and thus reduce the availability of seed of the most appropriate varieties. This can lead to a decrease in the quantity of seed per farmer or per number of beneficiaries and to the distribution of less adapted varieties.
Funding for relief activities is time-limited and as a result important activities such as seed multiplication and testing of new varieties in crisis situations do not receive adequate financial support. There is a narrow window of time to propose projects, receive funds, and deliver resources, which even under normal circumstances is often a slow and complicated process, thus restricting emergency relief efforts.
Stakeholders in the provision of seed following a crisis are the affected communities, the governments where the disaster occurred, United Nations Agencies, donor agencies, international and national NGOs who usually act as implementing partners to UN organizations, and regional seed security and plant genetic resources networks.
4. INSTITUTIONAL COLLABORATION
The papers prepared for this workshop illustrate that linkages between governments and institutions involved in seed production and seed security activities, emergency food and seed provision, and management of plant genetic resources are critical to the restoration of seed and plant genetic resources.
It is necessary to determine how the various players can collaborate to identify local varieties used by farmers in disaster-prone areas and to establish mechanisms to facilitate the acquisition of appropriate varieties, multiplication and delivery of seed to the affected areas. Frameworks or conditions to promote collaboration between institutions must also be identified.
Each step in the process of restoring local varieties lost to disasters is extremely complex. There is always a high number of institutions that are involved in activities related to seed security and plant genetic resources, and the collaboration of these institutions to the restoration effort is critical in any given region. Coordination of disaster preparedness, relief and rehabilitation is needed at local, national, regional and global levels and the leading organization should act as a liaison between the different institutions involved. However, the success of a new initiative such as this requires adequate and ongoing resources.
5. BIBLIOGRAPHY
FAO. 1998. Seed stocks and seed multiplication in emergency situations. International workshop on developing institutional agreements and capacity to assist farmers in disaster situations to restore agricultural systems and seed security activities. 3-5 Nov. 1998 Rome, Italy.
Grunewald, F. 1998. Characterizing disaster. International workshop on developing institutional agreements and capacity to assist farmers in disaster situations to restore agricultural systems and seed security activities. 3-5 Nov. 1998 Rome, Italy.
Hines, D., and S. Wickrema, and L. van Straaten. 1998. Food and seed assistance in the recovery from crisis. WFP. International workshop on developing institutional agreements and capacity to assist farmers in disaster situations to restore agricultural systems and seed security activities. 3-5 Nov. 1998 Rome, Italy.
Hodgkin, T., and N. M. Anishetty. 1998. Plant genetic resource and seed relief. International workshop on developing institutional agreements and capacity to assist farmers in disaster situations to restore agricultural systems and seed security activities. 3-5 Nov. 1998 Rome, Italy.
Longley, C. 1998. Farmer seed systems and disaster. International workshop on developing institutional agreements and capacity to assist farmers in disaster situations to restore agricultural systems and seed security activities. 3-5 Nov. 1998 Rome, Italy.
Louwaars, N. , and R. Tripp. 1998. Regulatory aspects of seed security. International workshop on developing institutional agreements and capacity to assist farmers in disaster situations to restore agricultural systems and seed security activities. 3-5 Nov. 1998 Rome, Italy.
Musa, T. 1998. Farmer seed systems. International workshop on developing institutional agreements and capacity to assist farmers in disaster situations to restore agricultural systems and seed security activities. 3-5 Nov. 1998, Rome, Italy.
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