Inside the new draft seed policy

The 1993 National Seed Policy is being reviewed and, soon, Malawi will have a new Seed Policy. The draft is already in the public for discussions and input. In this first part of three-part series, our News Analyst EPHRAIM NYONDO studied the policy and isolates some of its key provisions.

What if, say this year, 95 percent of tobacco farmers, lured by a flawed but highly popularised research study, grow tobacco seeds that produce a toxic leaf that gets entirely rejected by buyers at the auction floors?

That, unarguably, would mean economic doom for Malawi. Being a heavily agricultural dependent economy, the fall of its agriculture, especially tobacco, is akin to the drying up of oil wells in Equatorial Guinea and Nigeria.

Every national economy has a seed. In Malawi, crop seeds—be it maize, tobacco, rice, groundnuts, cotton, etc—are the seed of the economy. This, then, underlines why a seed, as small as it looks, controls the destiny of 16 million Malawians.

In fact, it is not just about the seed and the national economy. Seeds are central too in food crops—because most Malawians consume what they produce.

Unfortunately, studies show that since 1970, Malawi, just like other countries in sub-Saharan Africa, per capita grain production has declined by more than 10 percent.

Increasing the productivity of staple food crops will help poor farmers and consumers, and one of the most sustainable ways to expand food production, experts argue, is to generate new technologies—including staple seed varieties—that are adapted to the constraints of the continent’s small-scale farmers.

Malawi, thus, requires a cost-effective system of seed production and distribution to ensure that appropriate seeds are delivered to farmers.

However, that cannot happen without  having a robust way of managing these seeds so that not just local farmers in Chapananga, Nsanje, benefits but most importantly, the entire national economy.

Managing the seed sector, therefore, begins with the kind of policy that government puts in place to regulate the development, circulation and use of seeds in the country.

Fortunately, government has developed a draft Seed Policy and, currently, it is in the public for debate and input. The policy, according to the draft we have seen, aims at having a vibrant, sustainable and dynamic seed industry supported by a comprehensive and dynamic seed policy.

But what are some of its key provisions?

Scope and seed definition

Among the many gaps in the 1993 Seed Policy is absence of the definition of the term “seed”.  According to the draft policy, omission of the definition of seed in the 1993 National Seed Policy limited the scope of commodities that fell under the mandate of the policy.

For instance, the 1993 Seed Policy was not explicit enough on matters related to forestry, horticultural and other special seed systems.

It is based on this background that the revised National Seed Policy defines seed to avoid ambiguity on what type of commodities that should be under the mandate of the revised policy.

In addition to omitting the definition of seed, the 1993 Seed Policy was also not explicit on issues to do with biotechnology with particular reference to Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs).

Against this context, the draft policy defines seed as: “Any type of living material, including: fruit, root, stem, sprout, tree seedling and leaf capable of regenerating crops, trees, shrubs and pastures that is true to its type”.

Sources of seeds

The draft policy recognises that the seed industry in Malawi is comprised of the formal and informal seed systems as main sources of seeds to farmers.

The formal seed system is comprised of local and multinational seed companies, most of which have their own breeding, production and distribution programmes.

On the other hand, the informal seed sector constitutes the major source of seed for the majority of smallholder farmers. Sources of seed in the informal sector are largely from farm saved seed, farmer-to-farmer exchange, local markets, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and community-Based organisations (CBOs).

Establishment of a seed commission

The draft policy provides for the establishment of the Malawi National Seed Commission (MNSC) which will be a semi-autonomous institution. The commission will replace the Seed Service Unit (SSU) to improve efficiency in management of financial resources and delivery of services. This, according to the draft, will enhance operations of the seed certification and quality control.

Courting private sector

As part of ensuring the importance of an effective institutional, regulatory and legal framework in order to undertake the required activities in the seed industry, the draft provides that government, through the MNSC and in collaboration with the private sector, will establish and develop institutional, regulatory and legal framework for the effective and efficient functioning of the seed industry.

Within the seed industry, adds the draft, the Public and Private Partnerships (PPPs) will be encouraged in research and development, extension, quality control, trade and commerce.

Protecting local breeds

In a quest to ensure growth among local breeders, the draft policy advances that government will protect the domestic seed industry from oversees competition. To achieve that, there will be periodical review of the policy on importation of seed in line with Agreements on Harmonisation of Seed Regulations in the Sadc and Comesa regions and beyond.  This will be done in the light of price, preference, availability and other factors pertaining to local suppliers, in order to protect the interests of smallholder farmers. All seed importers will comply with the Seed Act and Regulations.

On recognising GMOs

The draft provides that MNSC shall promote biotechnology and biosafety research and commercialisation of related seed alongside capacity building for local scientists in collaboration with technology developers and other stakeholders in various institutions while at the same time creating awareness on biotechnology issues.

It adds that research on biotechnology including research related to GMO seeds shall be promoted with strict adherence to the Biotechnology and Biosafety Policy guided by the Biosafety Act and Regulatory laws as developed by the country.

Further, the draft advances that training on biosafety shall be provided to scientists and extension agents in both public and private sectors with the help of technology developers and in turn sensitise the farming community and the general public based on empirical evidence.

The draft then recommends that user friendly guidelines and protocols shall be developed for the production and management of GMO-related seeds in accordance with the relevant Acts in order to avoid contamination with conventional crops or varieties.