Food secure is dependent on quality seed farmers plant

PELUM says the absence of the laws to protect indigenous seed is the main reason why seed monopolists limit farmer’s rights to save, use, exchange, replant, improve and distribute seed but also sell their seeds which have been developed over the years and this will lead the extinction of indigenous seed.

By Francis Maingaila
Zambia24 – (Lusaka (01-10-19) – The Food Agriculture Organisation (FAO) country chief is convinced beyond reasonable doubt that, the dream of achieving a 2030 vision of having food security not only in Zambia but world over is mainly dependent on the quality of seed made available to farmers.
George Okeche said in an exclusive interview that the continuous planting of not only qualitable seed which is also tolerant to harsh weather conditions will determine the quantity of food to feed the nation.
“In the work of the devastating effects of climate change that have hit the society, distribution of harsh weather conditions seed is the only option to beating hunger in society.”
He observed that in the recent past, farmers have been planting any seed made available to them by seed manufacturers which unfortunately some does not have the strength to withstand the harsh weather conditions and this has always resulted in crop failure leading to food insecure.
In the recent past, the issue of providing food security through quality seed commanded an exceptional amount of attention in agricultural circles because it is one of the principal determinants agricultural successes for any nation.
According to Okeche, there is a relatively little agreement on what needs to be done to support the manufacture of not onlyeffective but also distribution of equitable and qualitable seed among farmers.
Additionally, Okeche suggested, there are also understandable worries about the growing reach of the multinational life sciences industry increasingly controlling the seed sector and this seed technology is left in few hands.
He advised that, the commercial seed supply should be seen as a larger part of many traditional farming systems than people may realize because, as agricultural economies develop, there is a natural shift towards specialization in the supply of products and services that were previously part of self-sufficient farms or communities.
According to the Zambia National Farmers Union (ZNFU) the access to commercial seed supply has the capacity to offer not only a wider access to the products of modern plant breeding but can also help in ensuring that the supply of seed is not completely dependent on the vagaries of local climate or other uncertainties in local production systems.
ZNFU Public Relations Manager Kelvin Kaleyi said in an exclusive interview that the expansion of agricultural markets often provide farmers with an opportunity to earn a premium for the specific qualities of their produce, which may require more attention to high quality and uniform seed than can be provided on-farm.
He suggested that the availability of commercial seed on the market will also allow the farmer to invest time in other activities on- or – off-farm, without having to worry about next year’s seed supply.
But Participatory Ecological Land Use Management (PELUM) Zambia Country Director, Muketoi Wamunyima said this should not be at the expense of destroying the indigenous seed.
Wamunyima said in an exclusive interview that from time immemorial, the people have not only planted but also distributed among themselves the seed, which they themselves have generated.
Part of the controversy over seed provision, Wamunyima observed is the product of a legitimate concern about the nature and the impact of the commercial seed sector given to farmers.
He suggested that, the danger of overemphasizing on the supply of commercial seed therefore, will lead not only to an acute disregard of the role of farmers in the identification and preservation of productive germplasm, but also in the maintenance of the local systems of sale and exchange of seed, including the innovations in crop management.
Wamunyima suggested that communities have over the years used their own traditional selection methods to keep and share seeds and expressed fear that,the coming up with laws to restrict the seed distribution of seed will be inimical not only to the interest of farmers but be a quick get way to food insecurity.
“To allow some protocols, including the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) and the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) that support seed harmonization and measures needed to facilitate the movement of seeds in the region will permanently extinguish existence of indigenous seed and this will create a safe haven for food insecurity.”
The reason why Wamunyima is opposed to these protocols is that, they highly favor increased trade in the region at the expense of protecting and promoting biodiversity and upholding the rights farmers have to seed sovereignty.
The informal seed sector falls short of the requirements that spell the standards for seed to be certified and approved for sell at the market in the region and the proposed regional laws that strengthen patent laws, require individuals to patent seeds and obtain a license in order to sell seeds.
According to Wamunyima, this is inimical to the interests of small-scale farmers and this will dwindle the indigenous seeds multiplication.​
Instead, Wamunyima proposes the law that will allow the indigenous seed to survive by way of multiplying it to the farmers in community who in turn will bring some grains and other crops from their harvest.
Unfortunately, Wamunyima explained, the foreign seed companies do not accept the local seeds as part of the larger seed syndicate and this has led farmers to abandon the indigenous seeds in preference to the new certified seeds.”
“The absence of the laws to protect the indigenous seed is the main reason why commercial seed monopolists not only, limit farmers rights to save, use, exchange, replant, improve, distribute but also sell their seeds which have been developed for generations.”
He added that, if the status quo is allowed to take precedence, the seed, which small scale farmers have relied on for generations will go to extinction and the dream of having a food secure society will be thwarted.
Against this background, Wamunyima urges for an urgent need to come up with a law that willthe promote the best practices in agricultural systems and ensure not only the production and maintenance of a diverse pool of genetic resources by farmers themselves but also safeguard food and nutrition in society.
In the absence of such laws, Germplasm is increasingly under threat of privatization and ecologically embedded farming practices risk being destabilized and dislodged and farmers are persuaded but sometimes forced to buy and use industrial seeds each season, and to purchase the expensive pesticides and fertilizers needed to grow their varieties.
This commercialization mantra has not only de-prioritized local food security but alsodestabilized farmers’ management of their seeds by negating the role of women and children, thereby contributing to intergenerational inequalities and further deepening their vulnerability and marginalization.
He regretted that, through agricultural extension, advertising and other media, society is being influenced to accept the narrative that farmers’ seed and localized food systems are an outdated, informal way of doing things.
He observed that such concepts seek not only to normalize but also to popularizethe industrial seed, value chains and monoculture at the expense of farmers’ diverse seeds of a wide range of food crops grown on their bio diverse farms for local consumption.
He added that what today’s consumer society requires are “modern” practices, implemented “responsibly” of course, that will organize and formalize the seed and food system.
The intention of all this is to shift and ultimately change public perceptions that the problem of feeding the nation can only be solved using genetically uniform industrial seeds of relatively few crops nurtured by private seed companies, development organizations and the government.
This policy situation tends to favor commercial farmers and scientists who are promoting new seeds and biotechnology. Policies on seeds are strongly geared to the interests of corporations and traders looking for market for their seeds and chemicals.
This policy operates under the Farm Input Subsidy Programme (FISP) for small-scale farmers, which include the provision of a package of subsidized chemical fertilizer and hybrid seeds sufficient to plant one hectare of maize. The input pack for farmers is comprised of fertilizer and maize seed, on condition that the farmer contributes a quarter of the cost of that fertilizer in advance.
Such government investment on behalf of the commercial seed sector and monoculture commodity production goes against the very essence of diverse, farmer-managed seed systems used in local food production.
This action often has led to deliberate misuse of seed quality, which should normally refer to viability and vigor but now refers to uniformity.
In addition to the extra costs, some farmers interviewed who were exposed to industrial seeds said that they were also “particularly concerned about our health, and we suspect that this is because the improved seeds are grown with chemicals.”
Similarly, some farmers spoken to in separate interviews have complained that the improved seeds or hybrid as it is often called do not produce enough to cover their costs, which the farmers have never before incurred, and that this results in them not being able to repay the seed suppliers, thereby increasing their debt:
“We do not know what to do with the fact that the purchase of the seeds is not always paid back, neither to the government nor to corporative for lack of money,” Siverious Mweene from Chibombo said in an exclusive interview.
Mweene suggested that they were also “particularly concerned about our health and we suspect that this is because the hybrid seeds are grown with chemicals.”
Similarly, some farmers regretted that hybrid seeds often do not produce enough to cover their costs, which the farmers have never before incurred, and that this results in them not being able to repay the seed suppliers, thereby increasing their debt:
For example, Maureen Bwalya from Mumbwa farming block said she does not know what to do with the fact that the purchase of the seeds is not always paid back, neither to the state nor to corporative for lack of money.