Bean Seed Multiplication and Dissemination in East Africa

A.B.C. Mkandawire, C. Masangano, F. Magayane, S. Nchimbi-Msolla and R. Mabagala
Bunda College of Agriculture, MALAWI and Sokoine University of Agriculture,TANZANIA

Governments in the region noted about 30 years or so ago that the disparity between food production and population increase in Africa south of the Sahara was ever widening with a resultant decrease in per capita food consumption. Due to population increase land availability was declining. The best approach to increasing food production was, therefore, to increase crop yields. But farmers were growing mostly their own traditional varieties, which are low yielding. Some high yielding varieties had been released but were not available to farmers. As a result quasi-government seed companies were established in Malawi (National Seed Company of Malawi, NSCM) and Tanzania (TANSEED). After a few years of operation, these companies abandoned their self-pollinating crop seed enterprises citing poor profitability. As a result, low adoption of recommended technologies for beans still remains a major problem in the region despite the development of new high yielding varieties. Such barriers to seed dissemination are a major constraint to the determination of impact from CRSP programs. The East Africa Bean/Cowpea CRSP Project therefore embarked on development of locations and means to multiply and disseminate basic and foundation seed of improved varieties.

Earlier studies at Bunda indicated that growing beans in Malawi during the hot dry season acts as a filtration process of seedborne diseases except viruses. As a result, the program embarked on increasing breeders’ seed under irrigation on campus. In each of the past five years breeders’ seed has been increased to supply basic seed. At SUA basic seed is also produced similarly. During the past five years the Malawi Bunda CRSP multiplied basic seed of Kalima (released 1993) on about 5ha in each year to produce foundation seed. This seed was sold to NGOs, e.g. ActionAid and Self-Help Development International, and to Ministry of Agriculture for demonstrations. In Tanzania the bean seed distribution system is significantly different from that in Malawi. Until recently, bean seed was produced exclusively on government farms with little seed being produced or reaching the farmer. As the shortcomings of the official Ministry of Agriculture multiplication and dissemination stations become apparent and as market liberalization has progressed, more decentralized seed production systems are developing.

Barriers to seed dissemination result because of a number of socio-economic constraints. Poor distribution of inputs and produce in the region results from poor infrastructure that exists. The road/bridge network is so vulnerable that vast areas are inaccessible particularly during the rainy season. Markets are not adequately established. The quasi-government marketing organizations have better networks of markets but are poorly organized. They offer the farmers the lowest prices and generally do not have ready cash to offer the farmer when the crop is ready for sale. Entrepreneurs are coming into the system due to market liberalization. They may have ready cash and transport but lack necessary knowledge to handle seeds differently from other inputs and produce. In many instances farmers are not organized into groups or cooperative societies, which are powerful bodies that would assist them do combined efforts to break through the barriers of the marketing systems. In Malawi the credits system broke down as the country changed from dictatorship to a plural society.

It has been realized that smallscale bean farmers will: (a) buy bean seed and not just rely on their own stocks, (b) afford to buy seed of new varieties, and (c) not function efficiently in varietal diffusion. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are increasingly filling a niche in seed dissemination activities and thereby providing temporary solutions to the barriers expressed previously and to facilitate farmers’ capabilities for seed production. Their usual goals are food security and poverty alleviation. Malawi has a greater profusion of NGOs because of its burden of Mozambican refugees in the 80’s and 90’s. These NGOs have stayed even after most refugees were repatriated. In general, these NGOs operate two types of seed schemes; viz.: commercially-oriented schemes where fewer farmers purchase more seed to produce seed for sale and the food security oriented schemes where more farmers are given less seed on credit to produce seed or grain for the market or food. The former crop is certified whereas the latter is hardly inspected but the seed is ‘approved’. Approved seed is that seed which is produced either from certified or known stocks of uncertified seed. Seeds of this category do not necessarily carry a government seal but have to pass seed standards for purity and germination. This has facilitated the operations of many NGOs in seed multiplication and dissemination in Malawi.

In Malawi two organizations involved in seed distribution are described. The first is an NGO (ActionAid) that has a food security-oriented seed scheme. ActionAid developed a ‘Malawi Smallholder Seed Development Project, MSSDP’ after a flood disaster in 1992 when 1.1million households benefited from 3,000 tones of relief seed issues. The objectives of this Project are to: (a) develop low cost mechanisms, which would improve and sustain availability and accessibility of appropriate, improved seed to resource poor farmers in participating communities, (b) establish sustainable self-motivating community based groups, which will manage seed multiplication and distribution in the communities, and (c) train selected extension staff and participating community groups in seed production, seed quality control, on farm seed selection and storage, group dynamics and in community participatory methodologies. In 1998 a total of 3.6 tones of certified bean seed was supplied and made available to 76 groups with a total membership of 1500, who in turn multiplied more than 12 tones of first generation approved bean seed. About 75% of this seed were Kalima and Nasaka from CRSP.

An example of the commercially oriented seed scheme is that operated by the Maize Productivity Task Force, formed in Malawi in 1995, with the aim of increasing agricultural productivity. Its Action Group Two, one of the four groups, was set up to increase availability of seeds of self-pollinating and open pollinated crop varieties, which are neglected by the large multilateral seed companies. Funded by European Union, this group embarked on seed production and marketing as a business. The major activities of this group are: (a) technology promotion through demonstrations, radio programs and field days; (b) training of extension staff and seed growers in seed production techniques; (c) organization of farmers through establishment of farmer associations; and (d) seed production. In 1998/99 season there were 109 farmers growing seed beans on 28ha producing 24 tones of seed.

The CRSP project in Tanzania released SUA90 and Rojo. These varieties have been introduced into some selected farming communities in the country. The areas where they are currently grown and marketed include Morogoro and Kilosa districts of Morogoro region, Kongwa district of Dodoma region and some areas of Tanga and Arusha regions. Seed of Rojo was recently produced at SUA, Tanzania and was purposely disseminated through two NGOs, viz.: LVIA (Lay Volunteers International Agency) and CCT (Christian Council of Tanzania) and through the CRSP Project. The CRSP Project distributed the seed to Kongwa, Kisanga and Msolwa villages in addition to farmers in Maharaka and Msongozi, Muhenda and Ulaya-Mbuyuni villages of Morogoro and Kilosa districts. LVIA selected participating farmers based on their willingness to engage in seed production and on financial ability to start seed production. For SUA CRSP gender and education were major criteria. CCT selected progressive and innovative farmers in terms of knowledge on improved agricultural production. Notable amongst the results is the fact that smallholder farmers are willing to purchase foundation seed. However, seed demand and marketing issues are clearly not addressed. Farmers were unable to sell their seeds within their villages and had to sell as cheap grain. Adequate extension is lacking. The majority of farmers are still unaware of the new seed. LVIA provided its own extension staff and farmers under their scheme were more knowledgeable. Seed promotion activities also worked better for farmers under their scheme. A general recommendation was that successful seed producers are those more financially endowed and that these are the farmers to be targeted in future.

References

Mtenga, K. 1999. Public and Private Sector Models for Encouraging Smallholders’ Seed Production. M.Sc. Thesis. Sokoine University of Agriculture, Morogoro, Tanzania.

Kambewa, P. 1999. An Institutional Analysis of the Smallholder Legume Seed Multiplication Schemes in Malawi. Ph.D. Dissertation. Michigan State University, East Lansing, USA.