3. Project Team ESA
ICRISAT MALAWI TANZANIA
E MONYO F MAIDENI O MPONDA
R JONES T KAPEWA F MIZAMBWA
B SHIFERAW G KANANJI E KAFIRITI
4. Project Components
â˘â Improve seed availability and thus
adoption of new varieties
â˘â Build capacity to ensure a sustainable
supply of affordable high-quality seed
6. What was the legume seed
system situation when the project
started?
Baseline report.
7. Relative contribution (% share) of different
seed sources to groundnut seed supply
â˘â Tanzania
ââ 92.9% Farmer saved seed
ââ 3.4% Farmer to farmer
ââ Balance: agro dealers, traders, local producers family
gifts
â˘â Malawi
ââ 53% Farmer saved seed
ââ 16% purchased from local seed producer
ââ 9% Farmer clubs
ââ 8% Farmer to farmer
ââ 7% inherited from family
ââ Balance: gift and agro dealers
8. Adoption of groundnuts varieties in
Malawi (%)
(awareness Ever Planted in
% of all Planted 06/07
farmers) (% of all (% of all)
 Crop variety hâholds)
Groundnuts 55
CG 7 53 38 21
Chalimbana 84 69 37
Manipintar 11 9 2
Chalimbana 2005 9 8 5
Kalisere 5 5 2
Nsinjiro 3 3 1
Baka 3 2 0
Kakoma 2 1 1
9. Major reasons for never planting some
groundnut varieties in Malawi
(% hâholds never planted)
Lack of Lack of Low
Groundnut varieties
access cash to buy yielding
CG 7 73 8 3
Kakoma 80 0 0
Chalimbana 2005 80 20 20
Chalimbana 51 10 18
Nsinjiro 100 0 0
Baka 67 11 0
Manipitar 64 18 0
11. Approaches being tested
â˘â Seed Production and delivery strategies
for breeder and Foundations Seed
ââBreeder seed at all Agric Research Stns â
ââFoundation seed thro Foundation seed farms
and contract growers vs Revolving Funds
â˘â Initial production thro project funds but
subsequently thro seed revolving fund
13. Scheme details
â˘â ICRISAT selects outgrowers and gives them seed on credit funded by the
Revolving Fund
â˘â At the end of the season the farmer sells the produced seed to ICRISAT
â˘â ICRISAT pays the farmer the contract price per kg of seed using the
money from the Revolving Fund
â˘â ICRISAT sells the seed to Seed companies and NGOs
â˘â The buyers of the seed pay to ICRISAT which replenishes the Revolving
Fund
â˘â NGOs give away seed to farmers in certain areas
â˘â Seed companies sell seed directly to farmers or,
â˘â Seed companies sell seed through agrodealers
â˘â The government provides farmers with vouchers to purchase seed under
the Subsidy Scheme
â˘â Farmers purchase seed from seed companies and pay using cash plus
the voucher (subsidy is partial) or,
â˘â Farmers purchase seed from agrodealers and pay using cash plus the
voucher
â˘â The agrodealer collects the redeemed vouchers and gives them to the
government who pays the value of the vouchers to the agrodealer
â˘â The seed company collects the redeemed vouchers and gives them to
the government who pays the value of the vouchers to the seed company
14. Production and Delivery
Approaches cont
â˘â Certified Seed through
ââFarmer Associations â FA (NASFAM; MW),
Farmer Cooperatives-FC (Tanzania)
â˘â Smallholder farmers linked to FA /FC are trained to
produce certified seed for NGOs with DoA support
â˘â NGOs purchase for relief (10t CARE-MW)
â˘â FA/FC purchase for their membership (40t TZ)
â˘â Govt buys for subsidy programs (300t MW)
15. Production and Delivery
Approaches cont
â˘â Community / informal seed supply
ââ Community seed banks; Farmers pay back seed loan
on post-harvest return in kind to the community (140t
MVP MW, 12t CARE&NASFAM)
ââ Rural Community structures: FFS (80 TZ 134 MW),
seed villages/churches(46 TZ, 50 MW),
ââ Farmer field days (19 MW/TZ âĽ1000 farmers), Demos
& PVS in each seed village/FFS and seed fairs
involving 2500 farmers
16. Production and Delivery
Approaches cont
â˘â Seed marketing platforms
ââ Farmer associations in Malawi under the umbrella of
NASFAM and Pvt Traders
ââ Farmer Marketing Groups in Tanzania under the
umbrella of District Cooperatives in District Councils
(support NGO efforts)
ââ Govt of Malawi thro registered dealers (seed co, seed
associations, agro-dealers, private individuals for the
subsidy program)
17. Capacity for sustainable supply of
affordable quality seed
â˘â Training in seed production and delivery strategies
ââ 547 seed producers (Farmers and their supervising
officers), 57 technicians, 141 extension officers, 46
farmer research group leaders in MW and TZ
â˘â Establish & train farmer marketing groups in Tanzania
and Malawi
ââ Three groups in TZ under Masasi and Nanyumbu
District Councils-DC (Mpeta, Mnanje B and Likokona)
ââ 19 groups in Mchinji, 28 groups in Nkhotakhota under
NASFAM and 3 groups in Zomba under MVP in MW.
ââ 134 FFS under CARE MW, 80 FFS under DC and
KIMAS in TZ trained on seed production & marketing
18. Capacity for affordable quality
seed cont
â˘â Produced groundnut
seed production manual
in Swahili (Tanzania)
â˘â More than 15000 flyers
for released varieties and
their production practices
in Swahili and Chichewa
â˘â TV, Radio broadcasts,
newspapers, live
interviews a norm
â˘â Degree training 1 MSc
19. Challenges
ďâWeather â Early cessation of rainfall
ďâTransport problems âRestricted mobility to
supervise/monitor seed production
ďâFood insecurity âused as food or sold it as
grain to meet other demands
ďâLow private investment- Small market size
of legume seeds
ďâTrained Manpower- Limited number of
research & seed technicians
ďâSeed production during off-season-
Irrigation system installation with most of the
NARS still incomplete
20. Lessons learned
â˘â Areas for seed production should target assured
productive regions to lower seed costs
â˘â Cumbersome seed certification procedures for gnuts is
unnecessary discourages smallholders leading to high
seed costs
â˘â Whereas small seed packs is popular with new vars, for
gnuts they should be at lease 1-2kg to be appreciated.
â˘â New vars are a stimulant for adoption of Good Agron
Practices hence the need for faster testing and release
system
â˘â Informal sector supplies signf proportion of legume seed.
Its improved efficiency will have positive contribution to
enhanced legume seed supply
21. Other Collaborating Projects
â˘â Groundnut Breeding E/S Africa â (The McKnight
Foundation)
â˘â Malawi Food Security Program (CARE/ICRISAT)
- EU
â˘â Malawi Legumes Seed Development Program
(IRISH AID)
â˘â ICRISAT Seed Revolving Fund (USAID)
â˘â Treasure Legumes â IFAD Project (Malawi and
Tanzania)