collective action news, march 2010
TRANSCRIPT
8/8/2019 Collective Action News, March 2010
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Updates rom agricultural research in Arica
Issue No 18
March 2010
COLLECTIVE ACTION NEWS is a periodical e-publication o the CGIAR’s Regional
Collective Action in Eastern and Southern Arica, hosted at the International
Livestock Research Institute and the World Agroorestry Centre, both o which
are supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research
(CGIAR)
Newsletter team:
Kate Longley, Michael Hailu, Rebecca Selvarajah-Jafery, Kate Langord,
Yvonne Otieno and Reagan Sirengo
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Collective Action News
NewsbytesRegional partnerships to strengthen the seed industry
This document has been produced with the nancial assistance o the European Union and with the technicalsupport o IFAD. The views expressed herein can in no way be taken to refect the ocial opinion o IFAD and theEuro ean Union
In early March, several CGIAR Centres were
involved in discussions to formulate a new
initiative, the Alliance for the Seed Industry in
East and Southern Africa (ASIESA).
The initiative will take a coordinated approach
to addressing the constraints to developing a
vibrant commercial seed industry in East and
Southern Africa, with the aim of improving the
use of quality seed in the region.
ASIESA will operate under the African Seed
Trade Association (AFSTA) a non-protorganization which promotes the use of quality
seed to improve agricultural production and
therefore food security across Africa.
ASIEAs objectives include:
Enhancing company and seed value chain performance to ensure farmers have•
affordable, timely and reliable access to adapted genetics and traits in high quality
seeds and planting materials
Effectively representing the interests of African seed value chain enterprises and industry•
in national, Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and African
agricultural development dialogue
Providing farmers with access to an improved choice of high quality seed as well as•
access to knowledge in how to use seeds to increase farm productivity.
The initiative is supported by CIMMYT, ICRISAT, CIP, CIAT, and Bioversity through
Collective Action’s Flagship Program 3 on Conservation and Enhancement of Agricultural
Biodiversity for Improved Agricultural Production. All are actively engaged in developing
sustainable seed supply systems involving both public and private sector partners.
A broad spectrum of other seed stakeholders are involved, including local and international
companies and NGOs dealing with seed and other inputs and representative of the African
Seed and Biotechnology Programme of the African Union.
AFSTA is currently nalizing a memorandum of understanding with COMESA to support
seed regulatory harmonization in the COMESA region among other things. This will build
on work already done through other programs that have involved CGIAR centers as an
important source of germplasm for seed entrepreneurs.The ASIESA initiative comes at a time when Flagship Program 3 is looking into the
inadequate and often non-existent interaction between institutions responsible for the
conservation of crops, trees, livestock and biodiversity as well as those organizations that
use genetic resources to improve agricultural production. The program is also considering
the interactions and trade-offs between enhanced and traditional genetic resources
within the context of smallholder farmers’ management systems of such resources at the
community or landscape scale.
This new initiative provides a good opportunity for collective action between ASIESA,
AFSTA, COMESA, the seed industry, seed value chain entrepreneurs and CG centers in the
application of technology and relevant information to stakeholders for credible business
and increased food security.
Article by Wilson Marandu (Bioversity) and Richard Jones (ICRISAT),
Coordinators of Flagship Program 3
The Collective action underpinning the Alliance for the Seed Industry in East and Southern Africa (ASIESA) initiative
involves IFPRI, CIMMYT, ICRISAT, ILRI, IRRI, World Agroforestry Centre, CIP, the seed industry, seed value chain
entreprises
Global Futures project launch in Washington
The Global Futures project was launched inWashington DC in early March.
Funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation,the project aims to provide enhanced tools forevaluating the benets of promising agriculturaltechnologies, investments, and policy reformopportunities within the ever-changing globalagricultural environment.
The project will be coordinated by IFPRI andcurrently involves CIMMYT, ICRISAT, ILRI,IRRI, World Agroforestry Centre, and CIP. It willalso work closely with HarvestChoice and the
Challenge Programme on Climate Change andFood Security.
Using the IMPACT model developed at IFPRI,project partners will identify key drivers of global environmental and economic changesand quantify the consequences of these changesfor the world’s most important crops, livestock,forests and other natural resources. The teamwill also enrich the current modeling capabilityto assess the impacts of a broader range of interventions for wider use within and outsidethe CGIAR.
Genetic fnger printing
During the March meeting to inform potentialimplementing partners of the ASIESA initiative,plans for CIMMYT to do genetic nger printingof all released varieties originating from theirmaterials were discussed.
Participants echoed the need to seek the supportof the CGIAR to do genetic nger printing of all varieties released from their materials inorder to assist efforts of the seed industry tocurb fraudulent large scale sale of grain as seedparticularly in the name of seed aid.
CGMAP Ongoing Research in Africa UpdatesFind an updated list of IWMI’s research projectswhich address a range of water and relatedissues in the map today (http://ongoing-research.cgiar.org/ )