SEED SYSTEM SECURITY ASSESSMENT REPORT FOR DARFUR REGION SUDAN JUNE 2011 Photographs courtesy of: Cover: FAO Sudan Field Team - Pg. 13: 1/2/3 FAO Sudan Field Team; 4. FAO/J. Cendon The designations employed and the presentation of material in this information product do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) concerning the legal or development status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The mention of specific companies or products of manufacturers, whether or not these have been patented, does not imply that these have been endorsed or recommended by FAO in preference to others of a similar nature that are not mentioned. The views expressed in this information product are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of FAO. All rights reserved. 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Applications for permission to reproduce or disseminate FAO copyright materials, and all queries concerning rights and licences, should be addressed by e-mail to [email protected] or to the Chief, Publishing Policy and Support Branch, Office of Knowledge Exchange, Research and Extension, FAO, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00153 Rome, Italy. © FAO 2012 SEED SYSTEM SECURITY ASSESSMENT REPORT FOR DARFUR REGION SUDAN JUNE 2011 Funded by the European Commission Directorate-General for Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection January 2012 Seed System Security Assessment, Darfur Region Research Team Organization Members (position) Food and Agriculture Organization of the Joseph Okidi, Philippe Le Coënt, Emmanuel United Nations 4 Lujuo, Jimmy Owani, Tarig Mustafa, Salah Mohamed, Abdalla Mohamed Yahia, Abaker Mohammed Abaker; Adam Mohammed Adam, Bashir Abdelrahman Abbas, Daifella yagoub Rahama, Mohamed Salah Eldin, Mubarak Musa Haroun, Mujahid Mohammed Tahir, Tarig Eltayeb Hamza Formal Plant Breeding / Formal Seed Abdel Moneim Beshir El Ahmadi (Background Sector Synthesis Consultant Consultant) Data Analysis Odong Thomas Lapaka (Data Analyst) State Ministry of Agriculture 4 Abdalla Idriss Adam Ahmed, Abdelmola Eissa Abdelmola; Ahmed Adam Abdalla, Khalid Osman Mohamed, Mohammed Abdelrahaman Mohammedien, Mustafa Adam Mohamed Nor, Osman Mohammed Neel, Siddig Ibrahim Haroun Afag Organization for Peace and Abdelsuttar Adam Ibrahim development American Refugee Committee1 Ahmed Mohammed Ahmed and Hashim Ibrahim Karamalla Cooperazione Internazionale2 Abdelmola Hussein Abdelmola Catholic Relief Services3 Mohamed Ibrahim Suliman Darfur Development and Relief Agency2 Sumia Ibrahim Mohamed INTERSOS3 Musa Ibrahim Salih 2 Mobadroon Organization for Prevention Noureddin Ahmed Alnour of Disaster and War Impacts (MADAR)3 Relief International2 Elhadi Mohammed Abdurahman World Vision International2 Adam Sulaiman Abaker 1 South Darfur; 2 North Darfur; 3 West Darfur; 4 All Darfur states. Acknowledgements Acknowledgements The Darfur Seed System Security Assessment was conducted with full financial support from the European Commission Directorate-General for Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection and technical support from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Emergency Rehabilitation and Coordination Unit (ERCU) in Sudan and Rome. We acknowledge the ERCU initiative in search of a better understanding of seed system security, as well as their efforts in bringing on board all the key stakeholders. Special thanks go to Marc Abdala, Emmanuel Lujuo, Jimmy Owani, Salaheldin Mohamed, Tariq Mustafa, Sajjad Noor, Mulugeta Behailu, Belihu Negesse and all the FAO field personnel for organizing and coordinating the assessment. Thanks to the Federal Government of Sudan, the Ministry of Agriculture and in particular, the Undersecretary, Mr Jubbara, along with the technical team from Seed Administration, Mr Hashin Hassan Eltayib and Mr Ahmed Abdala; appreciation is also extended to representatives from the State Ministry of Agriculture (SMOA) from the three Darfur states, Abdelrahim Salih (North Darfur), Babiker Hassan Adam (East Darfur) and Tarig Elbah (East Darfur), who gave strong support to the assessment at the initial stage of the scoping mission. The secondary data provided by the Seed Administration staff gave a better understanding of the operation of the formal seed production system in Sudan. Without the participation of members of the Food Security and Livelihoods Cluster and the SMOA in all three Darfur states, the assessment would have been nearly impossible. We highly appreciate the financial, logistical and human resources provided by Darfur Developmental and Reconstruction Agency, Cooperazione Internazionale, Relief International, World Vision, AFAG, American Refugee Committee, Agriculture Research Station, MADAR, INTERSOS and Catholic Relief Services. Last but not least, we would like to thank all those who spared their valuable time to provide us with all the necessary information (primary and secondary data) that enabled us to compile this report. Most notable are the 725 individual households, 99 grain/seed vendors, 9 agro-input dealers, 12 community members, many agroprocessors and all the key informants. Your contributions are highly appreciated. This work is strongly based on the concepts and guidelines of the publication “When disaster strikes: a guide to assessing seed system security” (Sperling, 2008). The tools used during the assessment as well as the structure of the report are mainly those elaborated for the Seed System Security Assessment in Southern Sudan by Louise Sperling (CIAT). 3 Seed System Security Assessment, Darfur Region Foreword The Darfur Seed System Security Assessment (SSSA) report aims to provide the reader with the following: t insight into seed system security scenarios; t processes and methods used; t a clear picture of past and current situations; and t opportunities and actions that may be undertaken to improve the current situation. The report comprises seven main chapters. Chapter I provides background information on the seed security concept and on current options for seed-related response. Chapter II introduces the SSSA methodology and reviews the methods actually used in Sudan, including the rationale for the choice of sites. Chapter III summarizes the context of the assessment, identifying socio-political and economic progress, health trends and the food security situation. It also gives an overview of agriculture and crop production and reviews food and seed-related assistance during the last five to ten years. Chapter IV describes the functioning of the seed system in Sudan by reviewing both the formal and informal sectors. It reviews the past and current formal plant breeding structures and processes, and how the formal seed production has been organized in the past and present, with specific reference to Darfur. It provides an extensive section describing how decentralized seed multiplication and distribution unfolds in Darfur. Chapter V is the heart of the field findings and presents the current seed security situation in Darfur. It a) reviews the major crop types and varieties being grown; b) looks at issues related to seed availability, access, and quality (for 2010 and also projecting to 2011) at household level; c) reviews the functioning of the local grain/seed markets and agro-input dealers in improving availability, access and quality of grain for seed, as well as d) suggests alternative sources of quality vegetable seed and other agro-inputs. 4 Chapter VI focuses on agroprocessing that could indirectly stimulate demand for increased production of specific crop varieties. It also reviews other related opportunities in support of income generation and agricultural development. Chapter VII presents the overall conclusion and recommendations. These are intended to lead to specific actions in a range of areas of agricultural research, seed security interventions and agro- enterprise development for improved food security and livelihoods. Table of Contents Table of Contents Acknowledgements _____________________________________________________________________________ 3 Abbreviations and Acronyms _________________________________________________________ 11 Executive Summary ____________________________________________________________________________ 13 I. Introduction ____________________________________________________________________________________________19 1.1 Rationale for Seed System Security Assessment (SSSA) in Darfur _____________________19 1.2 Introduction to the SSSA ______________________________________________________20 II. Materials and Method _________________________________________________23 2.1 Selection of sites_____________________________________________________________24 2.2 Community interviews ________________________________________________________27 2.3 Household surveys ___________________________________________________________27 2.4 Decentralized seed multiplication _______________________________________________28 2.5 Grain/seed market analysis ____________________________________________________28 2.6 Agro-input supplies __________________________________________________________28 III. The Sudan Sectoral Context _________________________________________29 3.1