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Issues with Seed multiplication in Sierra Leone

There are vast and ingrained interrelated factors that are responsible for the increasing global food insecurity including; lack of targeted government policies, growth in the cultivation of non-food crops mainly for bio-fuels, environmental issues, supply disruptions due to natural disasters, political instability and natural disasters, the lack of resources for research and development of;  new seeds/ varieties, technology, and intervention. These problems are more profound in the case of Sierra Leone with seed production, dissemination and marketing which have led to increased food Insecurity, chronic hunger and prevalent malnutrition and systemic poverty among its populace. See the survey of some villagers' perspective on poverty and seed multiplications in TABLE 1 & 2.

Table 2: Farm owner’s ranking of constraints to their business

Source: World Bank, Project Appraisal Document: Rural and Private Sector Development Project, 19 April 2007, p.26

Table 1: The main causes of poverty for the poorest group of people, as perceived by the villagers 

 

The total sample size surveyed across the whole country tabulated in both table one and two was 7,060 households.

 

Source: World Food Programme, Sierra Leone: Household Food Security Survey in Rural Areas, November 2009, p.48

SOBBA classifies all the factors highlighted in table 1 and 2 above into the following four categories

 

  1. General Farmers Constraints: -It is no secret that farmers in the least developed countries (Sierra Leone being one of those countries) are still facing constraints which have been eradicated in developed countries since the early 1970s. These constraints includes; lack of knowledge about producing improved seed varieties; the inherent tendency and ideology to cultivate grains for their immediate consumption; lack of capital to purchase good quality seeds and  farming inputs; high transportation cost; little/no access to markets to sell their crops; the lack of shops selling agricultural inputs in rural areas; lack of agricultural machinery (power tillers/ tractors/irrigation pumps) to cultivate larger pieces of land, a lack of knowledge on effective pre- and post-harvesting techniques.

  2. The inadequate availability of quality planting resources- the production of planting materials is indispensable in the overall plant/crop development processes to ensure the conservation of seed variety purity and continuous supply of quality planting materials for high yielding crops. Even with the use of local varieties, yields have been tripled where healthy seeds and cuttings are selected, treated, and adequately planted at optimum density on well-prepared soil with good control of weeds. Good crop production begins with adequate provision of planting materials (whether Certified seeds, high quality planting material, local or improved varieties). This is the primary issue faced by farmers in Sierra Leone

  3. Unclear multiplication and dissemination processes- Extensive funding is used in the  research,  development and validation activities  of  superior and high yielding genotypes derived from research Institutes. These costs increases with inadequate dissemination processes. Bureaucratic red tape, slow multiplication rate, perishability of planting materials and the unclear definition of multiplication responsibilities among national institutions that engage in the promotion of agricultural production greatly limit the availability of quality planting materials. Routine multiplication and distribution of certified seeds such as soybean, maize, cowpea and groundnut with a higher multiplication ratio is thus fundamental to the acceleration of impact at farm level. 

  4. The non-existence of vibrant private sector seed businesses-Attempts are underway by the Sierra Leone government and other bodies for the formation of a national seed multiplication policy. However, this process has experienced various setbacks and no established comprehensive seed multiplication mandate has been developed to date. The production, dissemination, marketing, and reproduction of foundation seeds and tuber cuttings in the business sector which were/are financed by donor funds have had little impact on the targeted population because of the perceived notion of farmers receiving “government “assistance for “FREE” which was the case during and after the war. To buttress the dire predicament of the sector to date; there are few existing private or non NGO seed multiplication projects, which have made an adequate impact on the poverty level of farmers and the nation.

 

 Please see the SOBBA solutions and responses to the above highlighted issues on the name tab

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