A consortium of African-based farmers' organisations has proposed some interventions aimed at supporting a Farmers' Managed Seed system by formulating an education program so farmers are aware of the intricacies around seeds.
The consortium has also suggested the need to develop lead farmers on seed production and how to preserve and take care of seeds.
It has been noted with concern that while there is a lot of support for advanced seeds from multi-national companies, indigenous seeds are demonised to a point that some farmers have abandoned them thinking that they are not useful.
The organisations include Participatory Ecological Land Use Management- PELUM Zambia, FIAN International Zambia, Policy Associate Eco-Justice of Malawi, National Farmer Representative-Malawi Moyo Agribusiness Foundation Malawi and Eastern and Southern African Small Scale Farmers Forum.
Speaking during a Webinar Conference to stimulate Policy Support for Farmer Managed Seed Systems in Africa Seed Regulatory Frameworks, PELUM Zambia country Coordinator Mweketoi Wamunyima says the harmonisation process of seed should seriously take into consideration farmers' rights, food and nutrition aspects and not only focus on trade.
Mr Wamunyima also called for the protection of the Farmers' Managed Seed system because farmers depend on them for their survival.
Mr Wamunyima said there is a need to push the agenda of influencing policy to recognise the Farmer Managed Seed system and put in place a regulatory framework that will support the implementation of the system on the ground and not on paper.
He added that in as much as farmers have hybrid seeds, the majority of them want them for sale yet do not address the issues of their home security in terms of food and Nutrition security.
"Across Africa, we have seen quite a lot of seed festivals happening and you could agree with me that there is quite a huge variety of seeds that is found within communities which we can not find with commercial seeds companies. So if you talk of Farmer Managed Seed systems, we are talking about the reality, that they exist and need to be protected. We have had a lot of sharing from different countries and experiences from different," he said.
He further added that" I will give an example of Zambia, just in July Zambia managed to access about 14 million dollars from African Development Bank-DBZ and all that money is skilled towards fertiliser and hybrid seed to be put back into the agriculture sector, it does not talk about Farmer Managed seed system or any alternative approach to the agriculture sector that will enhance resilience and improve food security among our communities.
"We really need to push this agenda of influencing policy to recognise the farmer-managed seed system and put in place regulatory framework that will support the implementation of Farmer Managed seed system on the ground and not on paper."
"We thank you for your participation.....this work needs to go on and we appreciate Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa-AFSA for initiating this discussion with the AU and I hope that this is something we can take forward. I also want to appreciate the input from Bright on the regulatory framework and the language that we need to speak to...but we should also take cognisant of the fact that as Civil society Organisations we may not have the legal jargon but we have the idea and conception of what we feel
Farmer Managed Seed System should look like this, and so I thank you all for your participation and hope this conversation can continue and carry forward ."
Speaking at the same virtual meeting FIAN International Zambia Country Coordinator Vladimir Chilinya noted with concern that the Farmer Managed Food System and Farmers' rights as contained in the SADC and AU seed harmonisation program do not take into account the need to maintain the national policy space which he said countries need to have to safeguard farmers, support food sovereignty and security.
"We know that most countries such as Zambia are battling with issues of nutrition with hunger and poverty. Therefore it is important that this policy takes into context, the need for countries so that they maintain their policy space so that they can be able to deal with problems because if these guidelines are fully implemented, we see that there will be no space for our sovereign government to safeguard food sovereignty and security," he observed.
He said, "I also look at the right to food and nutrition, we know that access to food is a right and this right should not be given to one institution like African Union or SADC..If by any chance, farmers lose their right to germinate their own seed, they will lose their right to food. This will be in contradiction with the International Covenant on Economics Social and Cultural Rights and the declaration on the human right which actually guarantees the ability of every person to have the freedom of choice to feed themselves.I also want to refer to the UN declaration on the right of Peasant and Other People ...it clearly does state farmers' right to exchange........save their own seeds...but what we see with the revision of African Union, SADC contradicts these frameworks the framework on UNDROP, the Framework on right to food and nutrition and the framework on economic, social and cultural rights and also our constitution, and the framework on national policies....the agriculture politics of countries that deal with problems, secure food for the people ....in an event all these take place, we see that people begin to depend on few institutions for them to feed themselves."
We are now at the stage of almost losing control of food because we are losing control of seed and most of the seed varieties for instance maize are cross-pollinated which he said is not by mistake but being done by companies strategically to control the seed. And therefore it is very important for AU and SADCto democratise the food system and not monopolise it in the interest of a few corporate companies.
And Moyo Agribusiness Foundation-Malawi Operational Director Charles Michael Govati said there is a need to carefully and properly scrutinise the agenda of those with money by ensuring that the proposed seed laws address the concerns of a farmer and not those of donors or funders who are driving the process.
"Behind these seed laws we are trying to put in place, are donors, people with money that are driving these processes they have got their own intentions...And so we have to be very very careful because at the end of the day will end up coming up with laws that address their concerns but are not addressing the concerns of a farmer. So for me its a word of caution that we have to raise our eyebrows to people who are funding, we have to scrutinise their agendas properly and make sure that we drive our concerns for the food system so that it has to be preserved, it integrity has to be maintained and has to be promoted," he said
He also revealed that 70 percent of the seed that they grow in Malawi is farm grown, but regretted that it is not counted as the seed.
"If you look at Horticultural crops most if its not all of them is farm seed, they keep their own seed. But at the end of the day it is not counted as seed but how are we getting our vegetables, the cabbages, Just three weeks ago I had to circulate a manual on how to produce seedlings from onions because the farmers because farmers asked us, how can we produce seedlings for onions ?..... I taught them and later on said they asked can you give us something to read and follow," he explained.
Meanwhile, Eastern and Southern African Small Scale Farmers Forum NationalCoordinator Henry Singili stressed the need not to concentrate much on the market aspect but also on issues of food security when looking at issues of seeds.
Mr Singili called for regulation to allow small-scale farmers to participate in this market by getting them a special space to sell their traditional seed varieties so that no one is left behind in terms of accessing the market in the African Continental Free Trade Area.
He feels in the absence of these regulations small-scale farmers will be cut off from the market in COMESA and SADC in the event they are unable to meet the criteria or standards being provided.
"It is important that we look at these guidelines and how the interests of small-scale farmers are being taken care of so that they are not left behind in as far as accessing the markets is concerned. If they are left behind a lot of issues will come out in terms of food and security that will cause a lot of problems around Africa," he observed.
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