Integrated Agricultural Systems for the Humidtropics, a CGIAR Research Project Consultancy Report on Vegetable Seeds Baseline survey for setting up smallholders’ sustainable vegetable seed supply and distribution system in humid tropics areas of Cameroon Team Members Tata Precillia Ijang (Team leader) Dr Ngome Francis Godswill Ntsomboh Ntsefong Ngayong Joseph Wirngo December 2013 Executive Summary The Cameroon seed sector is developing slowly and steadily and there is political will through government legislation and requirements to foster the development of the sector with a view to boosting the agricultural sector as well as stimulating the economy as a whole. The seed sector activity is regulated by law N o 2001/014 of 23 rd July 2001 relating to seed production and marketing and its instruments of application. Decision N o 541/MINADER/SG/DRCQ/SDRSQV of 7 th September 2006 on the homologation of official technical regulation of quality control of certain vegetable seeds complements the law of July 2001 and specifically applies to the production, importation and quality control and marketing of vegetable seeds. The public sector has a definite contribution to promote the development of the seed sector in Cameroon. Through the Department of Quality Regulation and Control of Inputs and Agricultural Products of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the state ensures regulation of seeds and vegetable quarantine as well as the breeding of various species of seeds. At present this department controls one national breeding centre and ten regional ones that supply seeds to various stakeholders of the seed sector in Cameroon. The role of public sector is mainly catalytic in initiating seed production, quality control, seed certification, notification and registration of varieties and other regulatory systems. Despite state regulation of the seed sector activity, the public sector is yet to engage itself in the production of vegetable seeds. Government provides the regulatory mechanism for the production, importation, quality control and marketing of specific vegetable seeds laid down in a decision of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development both for the public as well as private seed multiplication and breeding companies. Three private local companies are involved in seed multiplication and breeding programmes. Grenier du Monde Rural (GMR), Semences de Qualité Garantie (SQG) and Farmer’s House multiply vegetable seeds in Cameroon concentrating mainly on indigenous species. Majority of vegetable seeds available on the market are imported from abroad by private distribution enterprises of which TROPICASEM is the biggest. Alongside imported species and other indigenous species produced by the aforementioned local companies, an informal vegetable seed sector exists on a rather negligible scale and provides local varieties or species which may be of dubious quality given that they are produced by individual vendors on a small scale using traditional and rudimentary production techniques to satisfy both the domestic and commercial needs of smallholders. The latter species of vegetable seeds do not go through the scrutiny requirements of state inspectors and controllers to certify quality standards before they are marketed to smallholders. Table of Content Executive Summary ........................................................................................................................ 2 I GENERAL INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................... 6 1.1. Background to the study ................................................................................................... 7 1.1.1. Description of Cameroon’s agricultural potentials and agro-ecological regions .......... 7 1.1.2. Cameroon’s agriculture: farming system and crop diversity .................................. 10 1.2 The traditional agricultural sector .................................................................................. 11 1.3 The modern agricultural sector ...................................................................................... 12 1.4 Livestock and Forestry production ................................................................................. 12 II LITERATURE REVIEW ON THE VEGETABLE SECTOR IN CAMEROON ................ 14 2.1 Vegetables ...................................................................................................................... 14 2.2 Vegetable Seed ............................................................................................................... 14 III Appreciation of the terms of reference ................................................................................. 16 IV Study approach and tools used .............................................................................................. 18 4.1 Sampling design and strategy ......................................................................................... 18 4.2 Research steps ................................................................................................................ 19 4.2.1 Preliminary field visit ............................................................................................. 19 4.2.2 Literature review, Questionnaire Design and Testing ............................................ 20 4.2.3 Data entry and analysis ........................................................................................... 21 V RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ........................................................................................... 22 5.1 Policy and regulatory environment affecting the national vegetable seed sector .......... 22 5.1.1 Vegetable Seed Production and Certification ......................................................... 23 5.1.2 Limitation of the policy and regulatory environment affecting vegetable seed sector 24 5.2. Types/channels of vegetable seed production and distribution systems ............................ 25 5.2.1 Informal seed system .............................................................................................. 25 5.2.2 Formal seed system ................................................................................................. 27 5.2.3 Complementarities of different seed sector activities and possibilities for improvement ......................................................................................................................... 27 5.2.4 Major constraints of the vegetable seed sector in Cameroon ................................. 28 5.2.5. Vegetable variety release system in Cameroon .......................................................... 30 5.3. Current situation of existing vegetable farming and cropping systems ................................. 30 5.3.1 Socio-political and economic situation in the study sites ....................................... 30 5.3.2 Vegetable found in the action sites ......................................................................... 32 5.3.3. Vegetable farming and cropping systems ............................................................... 35 5.3.4. Major problems linked to vegetable seed farming in Cameroon ............................ 37 5.3.5. Farmers perception and demand of vegetable seeds ............................................... 38 5.4.1 Institutions involved in vegetable seed production in Cameroon ........................... 41 5.4.2 Structures or organisations distributing vegetables seeds to farmers in Cameroon 41 5.4.3 Some basic vegetables seeds either produced locally or imported ......................... 43 5.5. Vegetable seed requirement versus farmers demand for vegetable seeds ......................... 44 5.6. Farmers preferences for vegetable types............................................................................ 45 5.7. Local Vegetable varieties and preference per action site................................................... 46 5.8. Critical bottlenecks and opportunities to improve formal and informal seed supply chain ................................................................................................................................................... 48 VI ACTIVITY PLAN AND COSTING .................................................................................... 52 VII CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................................ 52 7.1. Conclusion ......................................................................................................................... 52 7.2. Recommandations .......................................................................................................... 52 VIII REFERENCES .................................................................................................................. 53 8.1. Policy and legal instruments .................................................................................................. 53 8.2. Technical bulletins ............................................................................................................. 54 8.3. Scientific articles, books and proceedings ......................................................................... 54 IX APPENDICES ...................................................................................................................... 58 9. 1 Questionnaires ................................................................................................................ 58 9.2 Pictures ..........................................................................................................................