Lamwo | Situated in Kaliro village, Pawaja parish, Paloga sub-county in the Northern district of Lamwo, Nen Anyim Community Seed Bank has transformed the lives of its members since its establishment in 2018.
The seed bank is governed by a handwritten constitution of 30 farmer members with a majority of 25 female and 5 male farmers. They are all active with a set committee to handle administrative issues and work with other seed banks to grow.
Nen Anyim Community Seed Bank comprises rural farmers who have established the record management system and its related information management is gradually transitioning to a much more manageable system.
These farmers were initially united during the LRA insurgency in early 2004 as a saving cooperative and their further development into a seed bank comes from their desire to conserve the indigenous seed varieties.
The farmers are united by the drive to breed seeds, sell seeds, improve the growing capacity of farmer members, and return lost traditional varieties predominantly grown on their land.
The crop species currently conserved at the seed bank are about 14 varieties including vegetables, beans, ground nuts, sesame, and cassava, among others with the hope of even adding more.
A seed bank is a place where seeds are stored to preserve genetic diversity for the future and they are usually flood, bomb, and radiation-proof vaults holding jars of seeds from different plant species. The seeds are typically kept at low humidity and in cold conditions- around 20 degrees Celsius.
The first community seed bank was formally established in 2010 in Sheema district by the National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO) together with the Alliance of Biodiversity International and CIAT and other stakeholders.
How seed banks can improve food security
Food and nutrition insecurity is a problem for many Ugandans, especially in the Northern part of the country with over 68 per cent of the poverty index. In Northern Uganda, the long rains that usually fall between early March and May have been drying up as a result of climate change.
The food security situation in the region has continued to worsen with the population in IPC phase 3 or above increasing from 27 per cent in June 2020, to 30 per cent in April 2021, to 41 per cent in April 2022, and to 45 per cent in May 2023.
For the past 6 years, smallholder farmers under the Nen Anyim Community Seed Bank have freely shared a wide variety of seeds to produce the food that feeds a significant proportion of the population in Lamwo district and beyond.
Kenneth Oyet, 36, a smallholder farmer from Kaliro village, Pawaja Parish, Paloga sub-county in Lamwo district said since their inception of the concept of a seed bank five years ago, their lives have changed.
“We started as a small community seed bank five years ago but now see how we are; we now have varieties of traditional seeds in our store like beans, millet, sesame, and many others,” Oyet said.
Oyet added that their indigenous seeds have been appreciated by many people including the community members who are not part of the group but rather buy from them instead of the hybrid seeds.
Oyet further said many people have so far come to benchmark how they are preserving the traditional seeds, how unique their group is, and what inspired them to do better.
“I am happy now that many people from all walks of life come to see us and appreciate our work in preserving the indigenous seeds. Community members from the neighbouring sub-counties have so far bought these seeds from us and am glad that we are creating impacts,” Oyet explained.
He however disclosed that their journey started with the conservation of local bean seeds, and cassava cuttings which yielded tremendous results and made them decide to do away with hybrid seeds which to him are harmful to the soil.
For the East African country to cushion its population against food insecurity, it must prioritise smallholder farmers and seed banks like Nen Anyim Community Seed Bank, and shift to climate-resilient practices such as organic farming, says Hakim Baliraine, Chairman of the Eastern and Southern Africa Small-Scale Farmers’ Forum, ESAFF.
“For Uganda and Africa to be food sufficient, we must allow the smallholder farmers who are the majority take their space within the food system,” he says, adding, “This includes having control and absolute use of our indigenous seed varieties.”
Also read: ESAFF calls for efforts to promote food safety to avert food-borne infections
Jimmy Okot Kamunto, a member of the seed bank says, they have specialised in cultivating traditional crops that are fast-growing and help save them from hunger and possible famine since they last for a few months in the garden.
“The seeds that we plant are fast-growing like these beans only last for two months and ready for harvest; we no longer starve. They are also pest and disease-resistant compared to the hybrid because once you plant, you need not continuously visit the garden but rather wait for harvest time thus giving you time to concentrate on other work,” Okot said.
According to Okot, once the crops are harvested and consumed, they do not have any health side effects; rather they are medicinal as compared to the hybrid seeds which sometimes have aflatoxins and mycotoxins in them.
“Once harvested and consumed, our food does not have any side-effects but rather medicinal properties like the ‘malakwang’ which serves as a pest control crop when planted around the beans’ garden because it prevents pests from attacking the beans,” Okot told this publication.
He further noted that these traditional seeds are resistant to diseases and climatic conditions and contain no chemicals and they are very marketable thus he implored farmers to engage in using them.
Community seed saving and call to action
In 2006, the Seed and Plant Act was enacted to provide for the promotion, regulation, and control of variety release, multiplication, conditioning, marketing, importing, and quality assurance of seeds and planting materials and for other related matters.
The ACODE Policy Research Paper Series No. 63, 2014, argued that the availability and use of quality seeds and planting materials in Uganda remains very low and the use of quality seeds is estimated at just between 10-15 percent.
The paper states that even though the use of quality seeds and planting materials is key in increasing agricultural production and productivity; the reasons for the low availability and low use of quality seeds and planting materials in Uganda are due to insufficient breeder and basic seed classes for many varieties, insufficient field supervision and inspection services leading to lack of quality control along the entire seed value chain.
The paper also cites limited capacities in the seed industry especially in the area of research and innovation, and infrastructure for seed production and conditioning.
“Other reasons include, the lack of seed data to project national seed demand for national planning and forecasting of various seed types that farmers need; high cost of quality seeds, limited farmer awareness, inefficient and ineffective institutional setup and absence of a seed policy,” the paper stated.
The paper analyses the potential of Uganda’s draft national seed policy (May 2014), and the adequacy of the major seed legislation and institutional framework in ensuring the sustainable availability and accessibility of affordable quality seed and planting materials.
“Although the draft national seed policy contains some good provisions, in its current form, it cannot guarantee the sustainable availability of adequate and affordable quality seed and planting materials. First, many objectives, strategies, and guiding principles proposed therein are either vague and/or too general. Objectives of a robust policy framework should be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound,” the research policy paper highlighted.
David Ocaya, a smallholder farmer from Loyo-boo village, Unyama sub-county in Gulu district, says rural communities have moved away from purchasing indigenous seeds.
“There is no market for our traditional seedlings of ‘Lamola’ and hence people are not planting them as well.”
He further notes the challenges arising from the high costs incurred by farmers in purchasing these seeds adding that, “they are not easily accessible by farmers since there are few seed companies in the rural areas.”
According to him, as much as these seeds from the government and hybrid have proven to be not only expensive but inaccessible, they have lost grip of a big market segment among farmers groups.
This publication learned that statistics from the Uganda Seed Traders Association (USTA), an umbrella body of seed companies licensed to operate in the country, show a very rapid increase in the sales of maize seed between 2014 and 2017.
“The sale of hybrids rose from 309 metric tons in 2014 to 10,721 metric tons in 2017- a 97 per cent increase while sales of open-pollinated varieties grew 81 per cent, from 835 metric tons in 2014 to 4,339 in 2017,” the statistics indicated.
Jackline Auma, 29, a smallholder farmer from Paloga sub-county in Lamwo district highlights the lack of access to quality seeds as one of the problems they are facing as farmers in rural areas.
“There are some varieties which are being supplied by the government but also are poor yielding which means that they can yield well only in one season and the next season, you do not see any yield,” Auma said.
Jackline Auma, another smallholder farmer from Lamwo district points out the rampant cases of aflatoxins, especially in grains which require a regulatory framework.
“If well designed and implemented, the legal and regulatory framework can facilitate market diversification, supervision, and quality control of our seed and other forms of planting material, while promoting our private sector participation,” Auma said.
According to her, ordinary farmers continue to suffer if their varieties are not recognized and if policymakers keep passing highly restrictive laws based on false claims and misplaced fears thus seed policies will help farmers improve their seedlings and planting processes.
Dr David Kalule Okello, the Principal Research Officer and Head of Plant Genetic Resources Center/Curator Entebbe Botanic Gardens told Monitor that they are looking for a way to support farmers but it will take a long process, time, and commitment for a farmer to nurture a variety.
He, however, said that the government should gear up advocacy for some unique crops with good traits that can be conserved in a particular community and also empower the community to use them.
“We do recognize the challenges faced by the smallholder farmers such as climate, weather, pests and diseases, and market fluctuation among others but if a farmer has developed, nurtured, and kept a variety over the years, they should be recognized,” Dr. Okello said.
According to him, some of the farmers’ seeds have been used for so many years without replenishment and they have lost their value over time and there is a need for protection.
“Some of them need some protection whereby a farmer can get alternatives from NARO and the Ministry of Agriculture on how to better their yields,” he added.
Hakim Baliraine, Chairman of the Eastern and Southern Africa Small-Scale Farmers’ Forum (ESAFF), said that there is a need for legalising the seeds of farmers and this implies that it should be registered as per the laws of the National Seed Catalogue.
Baliraine further said that though the journey is not all that easy, civil society that works with farmers should continue to work towards sourcing funding to support the processes in seed protection and recognition.
“This journey is not an easy one. The issues relating to seeds sometimes affect some people’s businesses, investment and for some farmers, it is not about the seed only but their livelihood. ESAFF and a few partners have found out that farmers’ seed varieties have existed and farmers have been living with them for some time,” Mr Baliraine said.
“There is a need to bring them to the limelight of the laws and policies and it needs the farmers to be recognized.”
However, he called upon the policymakers to put forward the need for farmers’ varieties protection and handle it urgently because it requires attention and due diligence.
Mr Charles Opiyo, Resilient and Livelihood Manager at Oxfam Uganda said food security of the local community and even the country largely depends on smallholder farmers and they need protection and recognition.
“The supply of seeds according to statistics right now, about 80 per cent is coming from a farmer-managed seed system; it is something supporting the survival and production system, so why not recognize it? They guarantee food security,” Opiyo said.
Opiyo, however, said that farmers’ varieties are a source of parent materials for breeders as they cannot maintain all the thousands of different crop species thus, they have to concentrate on one, and now every time they have to make improvements.
“Farmers’ varieties are highly diversified compared to the breeder’s variety because breeders concentrate on few crops probably to respond to the market demand but also due to limitations in funding thus, the diversity must be recognized by acknowledging farmers’ varieties.
“If we do not recognize them, then the breeders will not have anywhere to run to do their breeding,” he added.
This story was made possible with support from the ESAFF-Uganda.
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