By Charles Mkoka
LILONGWE - Local varieties are a solution to nutrition and food security challenges in rural areas is what farmers at Chikwawa, Kawaza and Mkombezi seed banks in the northern region Rumphi district said. This was observed during a media visit to appreciate the initiative where farmers are retaining indigenous varieties inherited through the informal seed system over the years.
During random interviews farmers argued they are proud of local maize and legumes varieties they are currently growing. To them, it is these varieties that are compatible to the agro-ecology of the area; they favour the climate and give them the needed benefits compared to commercial hybrids varieties.
Mybeius Mkandawire, a single female headed family farmer who took journalists on a tour to see some of the crops she grows detailed how hybrids planted the past season failed to impress compared to local maize variety. She explained how local legume groundnuts called Tchayilosi outperformed CG1 variety which failed to cope with the little rainfall period due to reduced precipitation.
The dismal performance of hybrids forced farmers to express reservations on the impending draft seed policy that plans to encourage farmers to grow improved varieties from multinational corporations who form the bulk of the formal seed sector. However, there are concerns that the policy should also recognize the greater role played by informal seed sector where the bulk of the farmers’ access seeds through exchange.
Herbert Mwalukomo, Head of Programmes, at the Centre for Environmental Policy and Advocacy (CEPA) working in partnership with two other non - governmental organisations namely Find Your Feet and Biodiversity Conservation Initiative explained that Malawians need improved varieties and a formal seed system to meet national seed and food requirements.
However focusing on improved varieties and a formal seed system alone will not address Malawi's food security needs, not least because over 70 percent of the farming population relies on the informal seed system.
“Under the informal system, farmers save, sell and exchange farm saved seed among themselves. Those who can afford to buy seed from the formal market are able to produce more depending on the rainfall and the area agro-ecology. It is for this reason that we believe the right approach should be an integrated system in which the formal and informal systems complement each other. Integration would involve working with farmers and building on their knowledge in variety selection, undertaking participatory plant breeding, facilitating establishment of local seed banks and promoting knowledge exchange,” narrated Mwalukomo when asked to comment on the draft seed policy during the media visit.
Malawi’s economy is predominantly agro-based with a large majority of the rural population directly dependent on small-scale farming. Most farmers use indigenous varieties which are adversely affected by policy choices that emanate from the domestication of the international instruments according to non state actors observations.
Find Your Feet, Chimwemwe Soko suggests the need for more consultations saying more farmers needed to be approached especially where the policy stipulates that improved varieties have to be purchased annually. Ironically, local farmers interacted with expressed preference for local varieties especially maize because of its flavor, taste and durability.
Malawi just like others countries in the region however faces various challenges including inadequate technical and legal expertise to effectively negotiate and implement policy options relating to sustainable use of biodiversity, agro-biodiversity and equitable sharing of benefits arising from utilization of these; protection of indigenous knowledge systems, farmers’ rights and traditional practitioners’ rights.
These are some of the observations that are detailed in the National Policy Analysis and Advocacy for Sustainable Livelihoods where partners namely Biodiversity Conservation Initiative; Find Your Feet; and Trustees of Agricultural Promotion Programme are working with CEPA to raise the much needed awareness to strike a balance to ensure the seed system remain vibrant and robust.
Experts suggest that genetic resources in agriculture represent the foundation for food security, rural income and livelihood and the basis for adaptation to impacts of climate change. The effects of climate change have exacerbated the challenges women and other excluded groups experience due to among others, unsustainable exploitation of natural resources. Some of these challenges include travelling long distances to collect fuel wood and water. The impact of climate change on women has been greatly pronounced because of policies that have weak provisions on gender related issues.
Mwalukomo added that the limited recognition of agricultural biodiversity is reflected in the rapid replacement of the informal seed system with the formal system and its modern varieties. An example of this in Malawi is the focus on maize, a crop that lends itself to hybridization, which then makes seed saving impossible.
The ‘maize model’ (technology transfer, high inputs and subsidies) has been promoted through research, investment and favourable institutional and policy frameworks. The result is that it has become such a dominant crop in Malawi that it threatens to replace not only traditional maize varieties, but also many other crops, reducing diversity in farmers’ fields and in people’s diets he observed.
Through stakeholder consultations, however, the informal seed system is gaining recognition as essential for food security. Farmers continue to save seed and the informal seed system has survived with women playing a significant role in saving seeds owing to the limited capacity for farmers to access credit and subsidies for them to buy expensive modern varieties. At the same time, farmers prefer varieties with specific adaptation to local conditions or with tasting, cooking and storing qualities that cannot be obtained from the formal sector.
It is against this background that local farmers during the visit feel it is high time that they are consulted as key stakeholders in the agriculture sector as they play a central role in food security, nutrition and the agriculture value chain.
Local seed systems have a regional bearing in the New Partnership for Agriculture Development, Comprehensive African Agriculture Development Program established in 2003 that focuses on improving and promoting agriculture across the Africa continent.
CAADP aims to eliminate hunger and reduce poverty through agriculture led development and a sound seed system is part of broader approach to achieving this regional dream for all the signatories to the CAADP process.
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