Seed Bill delay irks activists

 Some key players in the agriculture sector are dismayed by the delay by Capital Hill to enact into law the Seed Bill drafted four years ago in 2018.

The stakeholders, speaking, complain that the continued delays are costing the Malawi economy billions of kwacha as the seed sector is currently being regulated using the old Act of 1996; hence, not in tandem with the emerging issues unfolding in the seed sector.

The players also contend that the continued delays to enact the Bill has given room to proliferation of fake seed on the market which they say is affecting productivity in the agriculture sector and suffocating the agro-based economy at large.

In an interview yesterday, Farmers Union of Malawi (FUM) president Frighton Njolomole said the union “urgently needs the Bill to be finalised to provide the necessary regulatory and enforcement framework”.

He said the delay to finalise the law is also affecting the potential success of government’s

 flagship Affordable Inputs Programme (AIP) whose total budget is K142 billion in the 2021/22 National Budget.

Government introduced the AIP in the 2020/21 growing season with a two-pronged objective of reducing poverty and ensuring food security both at household and national levels.

About 3.6 mi l l ion households benefited from the programme with a price tag of K160.2 billion. Such a budget represents a 357 percent increase from the K35 billion that was being allocated to the Farm Input

 Subsidy Programme (Fisp) and targeted only 900 000 households.

Production estimates from the Ministry of Agriculture indicated that the country will harvest 4.2 million metric tonnes (MT) of maize this growing year, an increase from 3.8 million MT that was registered last year through AIP. This implies a 13.5 percent increase.

Njolomole said: “We, therefore, anticipated that the AIP would register an outcome that is proportional to the level of investment.

“FUM believes that such a subdued and disproportionate output could be as a result of fake and poor quality seed that has flooded the market.”

He said the implication is that if this is left unchecked, through the continued delay by the government on the need to enact the Seed Bill and bring sanity in the country ’s seed sector, the country will not be able to achieve its medium and long-term aspiration espoused in the Malawi 2063 of enhancing agriculture productivity and commercialisation.

He said good quality and

authentic seed is key in achieving productive and commercialised agriculture.

On her part, National Association of Smallholder Farmers in Malawi (Nasfam) head of policy and communication Beatrice Makwenda said the association also notes with concern that it has been four years since the commercial seed policy and its related regulations were gazetted.

She said the hope for sustained access to high quality seeds was rekindled after launching the policy.

Makwenda said : “However, the holistic seed regulatory framework has the seed policy, seed regulations and the Seed Act. The three pieces are complementary and without the Act, the intended new direction in regulating the seed sector is left in a void.

“At the heart of this, is a functional Seed Services Unit which is to be transformed into a commission after enactment. These prolonged delays are leading to a disservice to farmers in accessing good seed which is a foundation for good yields and better incomes.”

She said the investment that goes into the agriculture sector needs to be safeguarded with an

 active Seed Act.

Asked to estimate how much the country is losing out as a result of continued use of fake seed, Seed Trade Association business development officer Supply Chisi briefly said: “There is a two-year study looking into that, so in the next two months, we will have a quantifiable situation.”

In a separate interview, Ministry of Justice spokesperson Pirirani Masanjala said the Bill is currently at drafting stage.

Asked to estimate when the Bill is estimated to be ready for tabling in Parliament, Masanjala said: “That’s not in our control to decide, that’s the mandate of the Ministry of Agriculture.”

Ministry of Agriculture spokesperson Gracian Lungu said the Seed Bill is currently with the Ministry of Justice for drafting.

“Our technical team had a meeting with the Chief Legislative Counsel on the Seed Bill on 10 December, 2021 and probably this coming week the team will be finalizing the drafting process.

“Once they are through, this draft Bill will be submitted to the Principal Secretary for the Ministry of Agriculture so that it can go to Cabinet committee before being presented to the full Cabinet for approval,” he said