Small-scale seed production

While the last few decades have seen great advances in seed variety and quality, small-scale farmers in Africa have benefited little. New types of seed tend to be expensive, produced for profit by large commercial farmers and seed companies, and sold for cash only. Thus most farmers continue to obtain their seed from their previous year's harvest, and this has typically been low yielding non-hybrid varieties.

However a Zambian non-government organization, Programme Against Malnutrition (PAM), is running a project which gives talented local farmers the chance to set up their own seed producing businesses, thereby improving seed supply and food security for subsistence families. Participants in the project are selected both for their current skills in production, and their business sense. They then choose which crops to grow, based on their assessment of local needs, and the project supplies fresh parent seed every year. Crops being grown for seed include not only legumes and grains, but also roots and tubers such as cassava and sweet potatoes. The parent seed and other materials used to set up the business are supplied as a loan, paid back once seed is harvested.

Prospering in the aggressive seed market is not easy for the small producers. To help them, PAM employs specially trained extension officers, who visit the farmers individually to offer technical support. In addition, all the new producers are registered with the Seed Control and Certification Institute, and are given support in promoting their seeds through demonstrations, field days, posters and radio advertisements.

Programme Against Malnutrition's primary concern is making improved seeds more affordable for local purchasers. It therefore encourages the new producers to sell their seeds not only for cash, but also through commodity exchange, or on a 'Seed for work' basis. This has already proved to be a more efficient way of distributing seed than the 'cash only' approach of the formal sector.

Benefits from the project appear to be widespread. The quality of seed available to small-scale farmers has improved, and more of them are taking advantage of the gains offered by new varieties and crops. In addition the seed growers have improved their production methods, and the extension services have gained respect among their communities, with greater numbers of farmers coming to them for advice.

According to PAM the challenge for the project now lies in keeping pace with seed production trends and seed consumption in the rural markets.

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