Improving the availability and use of diverse seed and planting materials to reduce vulnerability and improve food security for smallholders

1.2 billion of the 3 billion people living in the rural areas of developing countries are largely small family farms that use traditional or informal sources to meet their seed or planting material needs. The formal sector provides less than 5% of the seeds used to produce traditional staple foods of West Africa and less than 10% of the rice in Nepal. Today little attention is given to supporting a diversified offer of the suppliers and multipliers of diverse planting materials as a mean to reduce vulnerability to food insecurity of smallholders, particularly in vulnerable ecosystems and in the light of climatic change.

Smallholders in developing countries have access to diversified seed and other planting materials that maintains their resilience to climate change and their food security.

The major beneficiaries are smallholders in Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Nepal, Uganda and Uzbekistan. Educators, researchers and decision makers will benefit by being actively sought for leadership, management and research roles. Outreach will include building leadership and capacity of smallholders to participate more effectively in local and national decision-making fora. Capacity and leadership skills are also specifically targeted towards the “middle level” institutions, i.e. local- or site-level educational, technical and research institutes that can be enhanced to support the production and dissemination of genetic resources.

Outcome 1: Provision of local crop diversity through seed suppliers, institutions and other national stakeholders, in large enough quantities and with the necessary quality to minimize risk for smallholders in vulnerable ecosystems. Outcome 2: Smallholders are shock resilient and food secure through access to sufficient crop genetic resources. Outcome 3: Seed systems and crop plant conservation policies are better connected to the realities of smallholders at local, national and global levels through enhanced policy dialogue.

Phase 1 01.08.2012 - 31.12.2016   (Completed)