An international organisation, Oxfam, has called for a shift from continuous distribution of free seeds to more sustainable approach that will empower communities to produce their seed.
Oxfam Country Director, Mr John Makina, made the call at the Crop Diversity for Food Security Project in West Africa round table with humanitarian actors and stakeholders on Thursday, June 27, 2024, in Abuja.
Makina said that while seed distribution was often carried out with the best intentions, it had inadvertently caused some market distortions, created dependency among farmers and introduced unsuitable crop varieties.
The director said the goal of the crop diversity project of ensuring local based production of seeds currently being implemented in Bauchi state and Jigawa, was to establish a resilient and self-sufficient seed system in the project regions.
According to him, by doing so, long-term food security and agricultural sustainability will be ensured.
“The project aim is to rectify these issues by empowering local farmers and their organisations to produce, test, and disseminate diverse and adaptable seed varieties, fostering a sustainable and resilient agricultural system.
“In Bauchi and Jigawa, where this project is being implemented, farmers now have access to five new diverse varieties of millet and sorghum.
“This success is due to the rigorous testing of 10 different varieties in 20 communities’ farmer field school demonstration plots.
“These achievements highlight effectiveness of participatory variety selection and underscore the importance of involving farmers directly in the decision-making process,” he said.
Angarawa Ignatius, Country Representative, International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) Nigeria, said the meeting objective was to learn how humanitarian actors could support development of local seed systems sustainably.
He further said it was to ascertain how the role of agricultural producers in humanitarian actions related to seeds could be strengthened.
According to him, the project is to support smallholder farmers, especially in conflict affected areas to produce seeds and ensure sustainable food production.
The meeting was organised by Oxfam in collaboration with ICRISAT, International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT), USAID, and Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), among others.
By Felicia Imohimi
