Feed the Future Seed System Programs

Saharah Moon ChapotinBureau for Food Security

U.S. Agency for International Development

Key Seed Sector Constraints

Agriculture Business Enabling

Environment Framework

Early generation seed supply

scarcity (includes demand

forecasting)

Low capacity of NARS and private

MSME seed companies

Financing the seed value chain (company & smallholder)

Farmers’ awareness

These are mostly medium- to long-term constraints needing continued focus

Draft

Common Good

A good that cannot be excluded, but cannot be used or accessed simultaneously by multiple consumers (e.g., range land, open-

pollinated variety)

• Type 1 crop examples: OPV maize, OPV rice, wheat• Type 2 crop examples: chickpea, cowpea, groundnut

Private Good

A good that can be excluded and cannot be used or accessed simultaneously by multiple consumers (e.g., food, fertilizer)

• Crop examples: hybrid maize, vegetables

Public Good

A good that cannot be excluded and can be accessed simultaneously by multiple consumers (e.g. road, rainfall)

• Crop examples: millet, sorghum, teff

Club Good

A good that can be excluded, but can be used or accessed simultaneously by multiple consumers until congestion occurs (e.g.,

irrigation system, warehouse)

• Crop examples: cotton, tobacco

1 2

34

Private Sector Dominant Public-Private Collaboration

Niche Private Sector Public Sector Dominant

Supply P

ush

Dem

and P

ull

Seed supply system framework using public/private good characteristics

Pathways to scale depend considerably on the level of public-sector involvement in supply and distribution. Public sector investment often crowds out private sector investment. However, for predominantly public goods, there may be no pathway for reaching scale.

Examples of illustrative seed-sector business models that support early generation seed production and delivery

Variety

Research &

Development

Foundation

Seed

Production

Quality Seed

Production

Marketing &

Distribution

Breeder Seed

Production &

Maintenance

Variety

Selection &

Breeding

Private Sector Public Sector Public-Private

Legend: Type of actor investing in each value chain stage

In North Carolina, the largest sweet potato producer in the US, variety R&D and breeding is conducted by North Carolina State University. Breeder seed, also known as “G1 Roots,” is

then sold to commercial certified seed growers

Commercial certified seed growers produce foundation seed (G2) for sale to “table-

stock growers”

“Table-stock growers” grow their own quality seed (G3),

which they use for commercial crop production

Strong consumer demand makes it profitable for the private sector to

produce foundation and quality seed

United States: Sweet Potato

Public universities and research stations breed

legumes with public funding—e.g., South Dakota State Univ.

and SD Agric. Experiment Station breed soybean,

chickpea, lentil, and field pea

Non-profit foundation seed enterprises liaise between

breeders and seed companies—e.g., SD

Foundation Seed is financed through seed sales and makes

grants to the university

Private companies multiply, market and distribute seed—e.g., at least six companies in

South Dakota produce commercial soybean seed

Even in the US, costs are high for legume breeding and EGS

production and are borne mainly by the public sector

United States: LegumesR&D is conducted primarily by the

International Rice Research Institute (IRRI, CGIAR) in collaboration with the

Indonesian Agency for Agricultural Research and Development (IAARD)

Within IAARD, the Indonesian Center for Food Crops R&D (ICFORD) and

Indonesian Center for Rice Research (ICRR) coordinate to breed locally

adapted varieties and produce and maintain breeder seed

Private companies are beginning to produce and distribute quality rice seed, though the market remains

heavily subsidized (~75%)

Foundation seed production is dominated by the public sector,

though some private companies are beginning to enter the market

The private sector is relatively young, but is beginning to find

profits from higher yield varieties bred by IRRI and IAARD

Indonesia: Rice (OPV)

Sources: NC State University. NCSweetPotatoes.com South Dakota State University, IRRI, Indonesian Agency for Agricultural Research and Development, Indonesian Center for Agricultural, Socio-Economic and Policy Studies

IARCs w/ private sector & NARS

What policy constraints?

Each country has its unique set of challenges

Recommendations to Governments and Donors to overcome specific economic constraints to scale

Public-Private Collaboration

Niche Private Sector

Private Sector Dominant

Public Sector Dominant

Remove Market Distortions and Decrease Public RoleSupport and advocate for policies that enable the private sector to

grow sustainably

Potential Role of Government:

• Transition out of playing a direct role supporting the value chain

(e.g., stop producing foundation seed)

• Remove distortionary subsidies and restrictions where possible

Potential Role of Donors:

•Demonstrate profit potential of the market through business cases

•Alleviate high fixed cost of breeders through capacity building

•Build capacity in banking sector to increase financing availability

Mitigate Demand RiskSupport stable and predictable demand and linkages between

producers and markets

Potential Role of Government:

• Share demand risk with the private sector by backing financing and

entering into surplus purchase arrangements

• Invest in extension services to increase demand in rural markets

Potential Role of Donors:

• Improve availability and accessibility of data to enable more

accurate demand forecasting and planning of production

• Demonstrate private sector potential with business cases

Drive Public Sector EfficiencySupport efficiency of public entities through capacity building and

organizational linkages

Potential Role of Government:

• Increase responsiveness of public breeding and production efforts

by increasing farmer participation

• Implement more efficient QA processes to ensure more effective

resource use, including through building private sector capacity

Potential Role of Donors:

• Build decentralized capacity throughout a country to better

leverage public resources and reduce dependence on

• Implement monitoring and evaluation for public programs to

understand impact and effectiveness of public investments

Subsidize Production CostsSupport breeder and foundation seed production by mitigating high

fixed costs

Potential Role of Government:

• Directly subsidize fixed costs (e.g. breeders, certification) or back

financing for capital investments, e.g. in technology

• Partly or fully fund production of breeder and foundation seed on

an ongoing and stable basis (e.g., CGIAR, NARS)

Potential Role of Donors:

• Alleviate fixed costs by funding R&D and breeder training

• Ensure ROI on research by advocating for IP protections and

linking breeding more closely to farmers’ and market demand

1

2a

3

2b

10%

17%

18%

9%

13%3%

26%

4%

Feed the Future: Seed-Related Projects: By Focus Area Commercialization &

value chainEGS & value chain

Enabling environment

Research

Research &commercializationResearch & EGS

Value chain

Other

Equals 100% of projects.

Projects = 114

23%

14%

23%

13%

9%

10%

8%

Feed the Future: Seed-Related Projects: By Crops

Maize

Rice

Pulses

Other Grains

RTBs

Vegetables

Specialty

Percent of projects that include these categories of crops. Some projects include more than one crop. Does not include enabling environment projects.

Investments in seed-related projects

There are 511 projects entries in the Feed the Future Monitoring System, of which 114 are seed-related projects. These seed-related projects represent projects that are addressing different aspects of seed value chains.

Source: Feed the Future Monitoring System, Implementing Mechanism Performance Narratives for FY2015 (January, 2016) 64%

36%

Feed the Future: Seed-Related Projects by Operating Unit

Mission

Washington

SSA by cropVarietal

Age (yrs)

Number

Banana 10.2 1

Sweetpotato 10.3 5

Groundnut 11.7 5

Chickpea 11.9 2

Cowpea 11.9 16

Lentil 12.5 1

Maize–WCA 12.8 11

Wheat 12.8 1

Maize–ESA 13.0 8

Beans 13.8 9

Cassava 14.1 17

Soybean 14.2 11

Pearl millet 14.8 3

Rice 15.8 4

Sorghum 17.4 6

Pigeonpea 17.9 2

Yams 18.4 5

Barley 18.5 2

Field pea 18.9 1

Potato 19.4 5

Faba bean 20.7 2

Weighted mean / Total 14.0 117

The velocity of varietal turnover of improved varieties in farmers’ fields in SSA

1. Bangladesh, India, Nepal: Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CG)2. Cambodia, Nepal: Seed Scaling: Stress Tolerant Rice for Asia (CG)3. Central America, Carribean: Coffee Rust Support4. East Africa: Drought Tolerant Maize for African Seed Systems (CG)5. Ethiopia: Barley and Faba (CG)6. Ethiopia: Farm Service Center Project7. Ethiopia: Scaling High Yield Chickpea Varieties (CG)8. FtF countries: Collaborative Research on Grain Legumes9. Ghana: Agricultural Technology Transfer 10. Ghana, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal: Seed Scaling: Cowpea for West Africa (CG)11. Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal: Seed Scaling: Stress Tolerant Rice for

Africa (CG)12. Global: Rice Science Partnership (CG)13. Global: Roots, Tubers and Bananas for Food Security and Income (CG)14. Guatemala: MasFrijol (CG)15. Kenya: One Acre Fund16. Malawi: New Alliance ICT Extension Challenge Fund Malawi17. Malawi: Improved Seed Systems and Technologies (CG)18. Mali: Deploying Improved Vegetable technologies to Overcome

Malnutrition and Poverty (CG) 19. Nepal: Hill Maize Research Project (CG)20. Nepal: Knowledge-based Integrated Sustainable Agriculture and

Nutrition21. Nigeria: Maximizing Agricultural Revenue and Key Enterprises in

Targeted Sectors22. Rwanda: Private Sector Development – Agriculture23. Senegal: Economic Growth Project24. Sub-Saharan Africa: World Vegetable Center (CG)25. Tajikistan: Potato Production Support (CG)26. West Africa: West Africa Seed Program27. Uganda: Agricultural Inputs Activity

Source: Measuring the Effectiveness of Crop Improvement Research in Sub-Saharan Africa from the Perspectives of Varietal Output, Adoption, and Change: 20 Crops, 30 Countries, and 1150 Cultivars in Farmers’ Fields, July, 2014

USAID Seed Projects with “Quality” or “Quality Declared” components

Of 27 relevant projects, 15 are with CG Centers

Feed the Future projects with a focus on scaling seeds – monetizing R&D

Project Title Countries Category Partner organization

Climate Resilient MaizeEthiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi,

Mozambique, ZambiaCereals CIMMYT

Stress tolerant rice for Africa Senegal, Liberia, Ghana, Nigeria Cereals Africa Rice

Stress tolerant rice for Asia Cambodia, Nepal Cereals IRRI

Household Vegetable Seed kits Liberia, Cambodia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda Horticulture AVRDC

Cowpea for West Africa Senegal, Mali, Ghana, Nigeria Legume IITA

Groundnut in West Africa Mali, Ghana, Nigeria Legume ICRISAT

Barley and Faba in Ethiopia Ethiopia Specialty Market ICARDA

CSISA Wheat and Lentil in Nepal Nepal Cereal/Legume CIMMYT

MasAgro Guatemala Guatemala Cereal CIMMYT

Scaling Seeds & Technologies

Partnership

Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi, Mozambique, Senegal,

TanzaniaField crops AGRA

Partnering for Innovation Various Various Fintrac

Mission Scaling Plans and Projects FtF Focus Countries Various Various

• Six countries: Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi, Mozambique, Senegal, Tanzania

• 38 technologies are being commercialized, especially seeds of improved varieties of quality materials

• +10,000 demo plots • 42 field days/seed fairs • 100,000 households reached by ICT-

enabled extension services (radio, mobile, low cost video, TV)

• On-line COMESA Regional Plant Variety Catalog

• Support to local seed companies

SCALING SEEDS & TECHNOLOGIES PARTNERSHIP WITH THE ALLIANCE FOR A GREEN REVOLUTION IN AFRICA (AGRA)

Seed Scaling Projects

Three examples of the strategies determined through stakeholder meetings:

Climate Resilient Maize – Drought negatively influences the willingness of farmers to purchase inputs. The project works through SMSE’s to increase availability and adoption of improved seed. Project interventions include national and regional marketing campaigns and technical support, small grants and cost recovered foundation seed to SMSE’s.

Stress Tolerant Rice for Africa – Stakeholders decided the investment needed to promote adoption was in purifying lines and training companies on quality seed production.

Cowpea for W Africa – The project emphasizes seed production by community based organizations as out-growers for small seed companies and as independent producers. It focuses on relieving constraints to early generation seed access, increasing awareness of improved varieties and reducing postharvest loss to make investment in improved varieties more profitable.

Senegal Case Study: Naatal Mbay

12

Better Seeds: Naatal Mbay promotes varieties like NERICA rice

(Yields up to 3X higher & seeds require less water)

Better Partnerships:

• Funding seed labs

• Promoting PPPs to establish private seed processing centers

• Training community farmers as certified seed producers

Better Results: 10,000 tons of certified rice, maize and millet seed –> meets the needs of 180,000 small cereal farmers

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