Mathanzua
JF-Expert Member
- Jan 4, 2017
- 17,251
- 22,929
Our country needs a viable and efficient seed sector,however building a viable seed sector presents many challenges and the situation is quite complex. After almost 50 years, Tanzania is still in the process of evolution and so does the seed sector. Under socialism,there was no private seed sector, Tanseed had a monopoly on seed production and distribution in Tanzania.This was however a healthy situation,because improved seeds available than were safe and probaby enough under the circumstances because many farmers were using own seed.
Remains of the old Tanseed structures can still be seen in ASA,the Agricultural Seed Agency,a government agency which aims at producing high quality agricultural seeds.
ASA's desire is to produce, process and market sufficient high quality agricultural and safe seeds for the local and international farming community by using modern management and appropriate technologies to enhance food sovereighnity and security.However this desire is far fetched, because ASA lacks the human resources and facilities to do that.
high quality agricultural and safe seeds for the local and international farming community by using modern management and appropriate technologies to enhance food sovereighnity and security.However this desire is far fetched, because ASA lacks the human resources and facilities to do that.
It must be realized that ASA is the sole source of public variety foundation seed and problems impacting other public institutions have not spared ASA.
Furthermore,ASA’s foundation seed production is unable to meet demand,and hence the chipping in of private companies like the World Seed Centre,sometimes probably bringing in unsafe seed like GMOs.Also
ASA’s certified seed production according to ASA, is intended only to address orphan crops which are of no interest to the private sector.This is part of the problem.ASA must have the mandate,financial resources to produce all foundation seed in the country.Private companies should only produce Certified Seed,and if they are to produce Foundation seed,the source of Breeders seed must be from local sources which TOSCI can supervise and monitor.
It is estimated that farmers in Tanzania grow only 15% of cerified seed, which shows that their is a huge potential for increasing our crop production without the use of Genetically Engineered seed, if all or most of our farmers can use certified seed.ASA is also plagued by financial constraints.
Financial resource constraints are also rampact in the public sector.This has led to limited public sector breeding in Tanzania, and the absence of maintenance breeding. This has resulted to the loss of a number of valuable lines.
There are complains that Foundation seed produced by ASA for both the public and private sector is of poor quality.If this is true,this does not bode well for the future food sovereignity, security and economic development of Tanzania.
With a land area of 947,000 sq. km. and three different farming ecologies,low,medium and high, few roads are suitable for trucking. Of the 79,000 km of roadways, less than 9,000 km are paved.This exacerbates an already fragile distribution chain for certified seed by increasing retail prices to the point at which many farmers cannot afford to buy. Conventional financing is not an option; with a banking sector that is risk averse, does not understand farming, and with interest rates in the 20%-25% range, even a medium sized and profitable regional company such as East Africa Seed finances expansion from retained earnings.
Drought is yet another factor and explains why the private sector has been unable to meet demand from farmers for certified seed, and is one factor in ASA’s inability to meet private sector demand for foundation seed. The government is now investing in the installation of irrigation systems for the ASA seed farms, and this should enable an increase in output. Seed companies seem to be highly aware of the need to establish and maintain a strong brand identity to distinguish themselves from competitors who, for the most part, are selling identical product,foundation seed provided by ASA and AVRDC. The options for developing unique branding strategies are, however, limited and the common focus is on quality and reliability.Seed companies have not been able to satisfy demand and this explains why marketing is not a critical issue for the private seed sector.
When Tanzania’s seed laboratory is finally accredited to ISTA and OECD, it is hoped according to ASA that this will stimulate the availability of new varieties, new crops and new lines.What new crops and lines will be available by the labouratory is anybody's guess.We only hope that they will not be GMOs.It is also hoped that this will increase our export opportunities. Unfortunately as I have already pointed out, budgetary constraints have slowed down this process.
With all these constraints, it is unlikely that all farmers will access improved technologies any time soon. These are the challenges which should be addressed by Tanzania and its development partners so as to improve food sovereighnity and security.
Remains of the old Tanseed structures can still be seen in ASA,the Agricultural Seed Agency,a government agency which aims at producing high quality agricultural seeds.
ASA's desire is to produce, process and market sufficient high quality agricultural and safe seeds for the local and international farming community by using modern management and appropriate technologies to enhance food sovereighnity and security.However this desire is far fetched, because ASA lacks the human resources and facilities to do that.
high quality agricultural and safe seeds for the local and international farming community by using modern management and appropriate technologies to enhance food sovereighnity and security.However this desire is far fetched, because ASA lacks the human resources and facilities to do that.
It must be realized that ASA is the sole source of public variety foundation seed and problems impacting other public institutions have not spared ASA.
Furthermore,ASA’s foundation seed production is unable to meet demand,and hence the chipping in of private companies like the World Seed Centre,sometimes probably bringing in unsafe seed like GMOs.Also
ASA’s certified seed production according to ASA, is intended only to address orphan crops which are of no interest to the private sector.This is part of the problem.ASA must have the mandate,financial resources to produce all foundation seed in the country.Private companies should only produce Certified Seed,and if they are to produce Foundation seed,the source of Breeders seed must be from local sources which TOSCI can supervise and monitor.
It is estimated that farmers in Tanzania grow only 15% of cerified seed, which shows that their is a huge potential for increasing our crop production without the use of Genetically Engineered seed, if all or most of our farmers can use certified seed.ASA is also plagued by financial constraints.
Financial resource constraints are also rampact in the public sector.This has led to limited public sector breeding in Tanzania, and the absence of maintenance breeding. This has resulted to the loss of a number of valuable lines.
There are complains that Foundation seed produced by ASA for both the public and private sector is of poor quality.If this is true,this does not bode well for the future food sovereignity, security and economic development of Tanzania.
With a land area of 947,000 sq. km. and three different farming ecologies,low,medium and high, few roads are suitable for trucking. Of the 79,000 km of roadways, less than 9,000 km are paved.This exacerbates an already fragile distribution chain for certified seed by increasing retail prices to the point at which many farmers cannot afford to buy. Conventional financing is not an option; with a banking sector that is risk averse, does not understand farming, and with interest rates in the 20%-25% range, even a medium sized and profitable regional company such as East Africa Seed finances expansion from retained earnings.
Drought is yet another factor and explains why the private sector has been unable to meet demand from farmers for certified seed, and is one factor in ASA’s inability to meet private sector demand for foundation seed. The government is now investing in the installation of irrigation systems for the ASA seed farms, and this should enable an increase in output. Seed companies seem to be highly aware of the need to establish and maintain a strong brand identity to distinguish themselves from competitors who, for the most part, are selling identical product,foundation seed provided by ASA and AVRDC. The options for developing unique branding strategies are, however, limited and the common focus is on quality and reliability.Seed companies have not been able to satisfy demand and this explains why marketing is not a critical issue for the private seed sector.
When Tanzania’s seed laboratory is finally accredited to ISTA and OECD, it is hoped according to ASA that this will stimulate the availability of new varieties, new crops and new lines.What new crops and lines will be available by the labouratory is anybody's guess.We only hope that they will not be GMOs.It is also hoped that this will increase our export opportunities. Unfortunately as I have already pointed out, budgetary constraints have slowed down this process.
With all these constraints, it is unlikely that all farmers will access improved technologies any time soon. These are the challenges which should be addressed by Tanzania and its development partners so as to improve food sovereighnity and security.
