Capitalisation & Enhancement of Experiences of Development Projects and Progr...
CBSS_Facilitators Guide
1. Community-Based Seed System
The Facilitator’s Guide
Amadou M. Bèye, Monty P. Jones and Brent M. Simpson
CGIAR
GCRAI
Afr caR ce
2. About Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice)
The Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice) is a leading pan-African research organization working to contribute to
poverty alleviation and food security in Africa through research, development and partnership activities. It is
one of the 15 international agricultural research Centers supported by the Consultative Group on International
Agricultural Research (CGIAR). It is also an autonomous intergovernmental research association of African
member countries.
The Center was created in 1971 by 11 African countries. Today its membership comprises 24 countries,
covering West, Central, East and North African regions, namely Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central
African Republic, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt ,Gabon, the Gambia, Ghana,
Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Madagscar, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Republic of Congo, Senegal,
Sierra Leone, Togo and Uganda.
AfricaRice’s temporary headquarters is based in Cotonou, Benin; research staff are also based in Senegal,
Nigeria, Tanzania and Côte d’Ivoire.
For more information, please visit www.africaricecenter.org
Temporary Headquarters and Research Center
Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice)
01 BP 2031, Cotonou, Benin
Tel.: (229) 21 35 01 88; Fax : (229) 21 35 05 56
E-mail: AfricaRice@cgiar.org
Nigeria Research Station
c/o International Institute of
Tropical Agriculture (IITA)
Oyo Road, PMB 5320
Ibadan
Nigeria
Tel: (234-2) 241 2626
Fax: (234-2) 241 2221
E-mail: f.nwilene@cgiar.org
Sahel Research Station
AfricaRice, B.P. 96,
Saint-Louis,
Senegal
Tel: (221) 962 6493
(221) 962 6441
Fax: (221) 962 6491
E-mail: AfricaRice-sahel@cgiar.org
Tanzania Research Station
c/o Mikocheni B/Kawe
PO Box 33581
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Tel: (255) 222 780 768
(255) 744 788 495
Fax: (255) 222 780 768
E-mail: p.kiepe@cgiar.org
Bouaké Research Station
01 BP 2551 Bouak 01,
Côte d’Ivoire
Tel : (225) 31 63 25 78
Fax : (225) 20 22 01 33
E-mail : a.beye@cgiar.org
Abid an iaison f ce
01 BP 4029, Abidjan 01,
Côte d’Ivoire
Tel : (225) 20 22 01 10
(225) 20 21 28 79
Fax : (225) 20 22 01 33
E-mail : a.beye@cgiar.org
3. 2011
Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice)
Community-Based Seed System
The Facilitator’s Guide
Amadou M. Bèye1
, Monty P. Jones2
and Brent M. Simpson3
1
Africa Rice Center, Cotonou, Benin
2
Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa, Accra, Ghana
3
Michigan State University, USA
Afr caR ce
CGIAR
GCRAI
5. Contents
Preface ................................................................................................................ v
Introduction ........................................................................................................ 1
Conducting an inception workshop................................................................. 3
Objective........................................................................................................................................ 4
Action items................................................................................................................................... 4
Target groups ................................................................................................................................. 4
Number of people to be trained..................................................................................................... 4
Tools .............................................................................................................................................. 5
Facilitators ..................................................................................................................................... 5
Workshop duration......................................................................................................................... 5
Workshop preparation.................................................................................................................... 5
Workshop implementation............................................................................................................. 5
Communication methods............................................................................................................... 6
Conducting an on-farm eld workshop ......................................................... 23
Objective...................................................................................................................................... 24
Action items................................................................................................................................. 24
Workshop organizer..................................................................................................................... 24
Workshop duration....................................................................................................................... 24
Tools ............................................................................................................................................ 25
Workshop preparation.................................................................................................................. 25
Recommendations ....................................................................................................................... 28
Conducting an evaluation and awareness-raising workshop ..................... 29
Objective...................................................................................................................................... 30
....................................................................................................................... 30
Target groups ............................................................................................................................... 30
Workshop duration....................................................................................................................... 30
Facilitator..................................................................................................................................... 31
Workshop preparation.................................................................................................................. 31
Workshop activities ..................................................................................................................... 31
Annexe 1: Example of a three days inception workshop schedule ............................................. 37
............................................... 38
iii
6.
7. v
The Facilitator’s Guide
Preface
This booklet is a practical guide. It was developed to foster the facilitator’s
handling of the various training materials of the Community-Based Seed System
(CBSS).
It covers the various tools and methods used to reinforce the capacity building of
seed producers and technicians.
It explains in detail how to conduct the three major CBSS workshops:
- The CBSS inception workshop;
- The evaluation and awareness raising workshop.
It is, however, strongly recommended to adapt the methodological approaches
described in this booklet to local realities. In fact, CBSS is a dynamic tool that
evolves according to farmers’ concerns. Its main objectives are to ensure a good
coverage of the village communities’ needs for seed and seedlings and to link
traditional agriculture to the market by professionalizing farmers’ organizations.
Authors of this guide hope that the facilitator will know how to suitably use
the various participatory tools and methods proposed to bolster and add value
to indigenous knowledge and farmers’ practices. As stated by Braun and his
colleagues in issue nnumber 1 of Low external input sustainable agriculture
(LEISA) journal (2000) promoting sustainable and low-input agriculture: “The
main factor for increasing farmer’s innovation capacity is not the technology per
se, but the social development process at grass root level for any experimentation
and training”. These ideas require some thinking.
The Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) and Michigan State
University (MSU) provided funds for translating the manual into French.
The authors
9. Facilitator’s Guide
Introduction
The Community-Based Seed System (CBSS) was developed following an
in-depth inventory of indigenous knowledge and farmers’ practices in seed
production, seed dissemination and seed utilization. The inventory showed that
in Africa, in parallel with the conventional seed system, there are multiple seed
initiatives, which are considered as informal but which nevertheless cover almost
all the seed and seedling requirements of the countries. It is therefore important
regulatory framework for them. CBSS was generated to meet that desire. It
integrates two complementary seed systems: the centralized and decentralized
seed systems.
The centralized system, also called formal seed system, is run under the
supervision of the ministry of agriculture, research and the private sector. It is
designed to provide foundation seed to basic seed producers located in the main
production regions.
The decentralized system, also called informal seed system, is managed by
farmers with the collaboration of extension agencies (development corporations
and NGOs). Its main role is to ensure the availability of quality seed within the
village communities and to market the remaining seed.
Before initiating CBSS approach in an agro-ecological zone, country or natural
region, organizers are invited to build a team of facilitators. The team asseses
the constraints and opportunities in the major production zones by using
participatory approaches, such as rapid rural appraisals (RRA), to understand
the real seed and seedling problems and to look for appropriate solutions. This
stage is important for determining the CBSS structure and its mode of operation.
An inception CBSS workshop is then held to: (i) structure the seed system; (ii)
workshops.
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The Facilitator’s Guide
Conducting an inception workshop
Group picture of participants at the CBSS Inception Workshop in Côte d’Ivoire
(Yamoussoukro, February 2005)
Objective
To understand CBSS and facilitate its implementation at regional or national
levels.
Action items
1) Inventory and analyze local seed initiatives;
2) Understand the organization and operation of the conventional seed system;
3) Understand the organization and operation of the CBSS system;
4) Establish necessary institutions for operating a good CBSS (national
committee, national information collation center – information management
platform);
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The Facilitator’s Guide
7) Streamline CBSS by sharing responsibilities between:
- Foundation seed producers
- Basic seed producers
- “Acceptable quality” seed or “controlled seed” producers; and
8) Build a team of facilitators responsible for ensuring capacity building for the
Target groups
Seed service managers;
Breeders;
Research and extension agency managers (public and private sectors,
NGOs);
Senior technicians involved in seed management; and
Seed producers and representatives of farmers’ organizations.
Number of people to be trained
On an average 50 people including:
The number of facilitators to be trained will depend on the number of zones to be
covered. In general, one or two facilitators per zone would be ideal.
Tools
thumbtacks, a pair of scissors and a scotch glue.
Facilitators
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The Facilitator’s GuideFacilitator’s Guide
Workshop duration
At the end of each working day, it is important to conduct a quick assessment of
the workshop. This is required to know how participants appreciate the way in
which the workshop was run in order to make necessary readjustments.
Workshop preparation
The workshop is prepared by the representative of the ministry of agriculture
in charge of the seed sector who sends out invitations after consultations with
research and extension managers operating at the on-farm level and seed
producers’ representatives.
Workshop implementation
Depending on the duration of the inception workshop, various themes are
tackled.
1):
opportunities
- The conventional seed system and alternative strategies
- The community-based seed system and traditional know-how
- Evaluation and awareness raising workshops planning
- Establishment of an observatoire
- Information dissemination and its impact on commercialization
- Cropping budgets
- Farmers’ organizational capacity building
- Rural seed enterprises emergence opportunities
- Elaboration of action plans
In the case of a three-day inception workshop, the principal facilitator will rather
have to focus on identifying the main training themes and understanding seed
systems as well as their mode of operation (annexe 2).
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The Facilitator’s Guide
In both cases, the principal facilitator must be sure that the inception workshop
adequately addresses most of the issues raised during the surveys. These
responses must take into consideration farmers’ local realities in order to avoid
being irrelevant and therefore unusable.
Communication methods
Animation adds value to training through little jokes and games to stimulate a
smooth workshop implementation. A good as well as a bad response is therefore
always an opportunity for the facilitator to congratulate the participant through
a round of applause and to help him (or her) to show more keenness and
contribution to discussions.
Conventional, academic training methods are usually not appropriate for a
diverse group of farmers. The use of participatory methods such as learning
methods by experience and adult education methods can produce meaningful
results, if participants are motivated and their know-how well valued.
The facilitator must be a good animator capable of capturing participants’
attention. He/she must therefore have a strong background on rural sociology
in addition to good knowledge of agronomy. In fact, he/she must know the
sociological and cultural dimensions of seeds in the African society.
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The Facilitator’s Guide
Day 1
Day 1 / Stage 1: Introduction on the conventional seed system
Organization and operation
This session does not concern farmers. Its average duration is four hours.
The principal facilitator begins the workshop as a round table by giving the
She then makes a brief introduction of the objectives of the workshop and the
importance of quality seed in agriculture.
He/She lists the various components of a plant breeding and variety dissemination
program while highlighting the links between the following major activities:
- Germplasm management;
- Plant breeding and varietal improvement;
- Variety evaluation;
- Variety release; and
- Variety dissemination.
He/she describes the conventional seed system and its mode of functioning.
He/she explains the role of each partner in the seed system (ministry of
agriculture, research, extension, private sector, contract farmers) while stressing
on the differences between production activities and organizational and
commercialization aspects of seed production.
Seed production activities cover:
- G0 breeder seed maintenance
- G1, G2 and G3 foundation seed production
- G4 registered seed production
promotion of quality label through tagging. He/she then provides the tolerance
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The Facilitator’s Guide
Seed production organization involves the setting up of a seed program that is
managed by the national seed service of the ministry of agriculture. Its mission
is to oversee:
- Good implementation of the seed legislation;
- Regular updating of variety catalogues;
- Regular updating of varietal maps;
- Assistance to farmers to get access to cropping season credits;
- Organizing seed production and seed commercialization;
The main components of the conventional seed system
After the introduction of the conventional seed system, the principal facilitator
1) The general principles of plant breeding and varietal improvement
preparation, crops maintenance, plant protection, roguing, harvesting)
3) Seed processing and seed storage
4) Seed legislation and variety release
5) Commercialization
6) Intellectual property rights
Each presentation should not exceed 20 minutes.
At the end of the presentations, discussions are conducted on the organizational
and operational aspects of the conventional seed system. These discussions
should take approximately one hour. After this, the principal facilitator gives
some practical advice targeting communicating with adults (refer Channel for
2005). This session aims to prepare the technicians to meet farmers and to take
advantage of their presence for a better understanding of farmers’ practices and
their know-how in seed production, conservation and dissemination.
NB: Farmers’presence is required from this stage to the end of the workshop.
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The Facilitator’s Guide
Day 1 / Stage 2: Identifying the main constraints
Its average duration is four hours.
The session begins with an introduction of participants (name, institution,
position, location). It is also relevant for the farmers to specify the quantity
of seed they have produced over the last three years. The principal facilitator
conducted at farmers’level. Some brainstorming is done by using ZOPP methods
to inventory principal constraints in seed production, seed conservation and seed
commercialization.
Majorconstraintsarethenanalyzedbyusingthe“objectivestree”.The“objectives
tree” is drawn for each major problem raised, for example: lack of quality seed,
poor seed conservation, fair commercialization, etc. The workshop participants
try to identify the causes of the major constraints and envisage solutions. The
causes and solutions of problems can be primary, secondary or tertiary. It is
important not to mix them and to identify the main causes and solutions. At the
end of this exercise, the principal facilitator sets up working groups based on
constraints that have common causes.
The working groups are invited to identify the causes of the problems and to
The constraints are generally technical, organizational or institutional. They
can also be socio-economic, socio-cultural or environmental. Regarding rice
farming systems, rainfed and irrigated rice farming are generally considered.
mangrove zones.
Technical constraints are in general easier to solve than organizational and
institutional constraints. For them, support from research and extension is
required. Varieties, pest management, roguing techniques, etc. are among what
should be considered.
Organizational constraints can be overcome by farmers through a
reinforcement of their organizational capacities (creation of farmers’ groups,
cooperatives, federations and unions; development of seed enterprises; group
commercialization; information sharing; training, etc). Institutional constraints
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The Facilitator’s Guide
Socio-economic and socio-cultural constraints are quite complex and often need
a lot of time to be solved. The same applies to environmental constraints such as
Working group leaders must endeavor to avoid confusing solutions that are
applicable nation-wide with solutions that pertain to village communities.
At the end of working group sessions, a rounding-up plenary session is conducted
for about one hour.
Group plenary session
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The Facilitator’s Guide
Day 2
Day 2 / Stage 3: Experience sharing between farmers and technicians
The duration of this stage is two hours.
The principal facilitator recalls the problems raised the previous day and the
solutions proposed by participants. He/she asks farmers and then technicians
to share their practical experiences in the management of seed problems. He/
adapted to local realities.
Day 2 / Stage 4: Advantages and limitations of the conventional seed system
The principal facilitator shows the advantages and limitations of the conventional
seed system. He reviews a number of alternative strategies which are used by
farmers to address the lack of quality seed.
Most planted seed in Africa comes from farmer self-saved seed or farmer-to-
farmer seed exchange. These are cost-effective systems and are fully adequate in
many cases. They need to be better studied and better understood.
The principal facilitator emphasizes the following alternative strategies proposed
by FAO, CGIAR Centers, NGOs, etc.:
Quality declared seed: This is based on the national or regional list of
varieties that are eligible to be produced, registration of seed producers,
government monitoring of at least 10% of seed producers and seed sellers.
Truthfully labeled seed:
(regularly used for self-pollinated or vegetatively propagated crops).
Community-Based Seed System (CBSS): It promotes the concept of
“acceptable quality seed” and “controlled seed” to meet local community
demand and link traditional agriculture to the market.
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The Facilitator’s Guide
Seed vouchers and fairs: Seed vouchers and fairs are used to improve
the access to quality seed especially after disasters and displacements of
populations.
Community seed banks: They are used to store seed from improved
On-farm seed multiplication plots: These are small plots that are used to
address smallholder farmers’ seed needs.
Seed emergency and rehabilitation actions:
address the lack of seed in many countries during civil wars and catastrophes
regular.
and physical purity are controlled.
Community agro-biodiversity actions: These include all actions that are
undertaken to preserve crop varieties and their wild relatives. Here also,
only the germination rate and physical purity are controlled.
utilization of landraces (spontaneous and sub-spontaneous species) in all agro-
ecological systems in order to limit the loss of genetic diversity.
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The Facilitator’s Guide
Day 3
Day 3 / Stage 5: Introduction on the Community-Based Seed System
Its duration is one day.
Organization and operation
The principal facilitator introduces the community-based seed system and
indicates the implementation of production activities:
- G0 Breeder seed maintenance;
- Basic seed production;
- “Acceptable quality” and “Controlled seed” production.
Comparison of advantages and limitations of conventional and community-
based seed systems
The principal facilitator shows the main differences between the conventional
seed system and CBSS while highlighting:
- The role of basic seed producers in improving the quality of the seed in their
village communities and in reducing transaction costs;
- “Acceptable quality” and “Controlled seed” concepts and their differences
- The importance of decentralizing quality control operations.
laboratory.
Field inspections should specify: (i) the origin of the seed; (ii) the cultural
precedent; and (iii) the isolation norms used.
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The Facilitator’s Guide
Criteria Breeder
seeds
Foundation seeds
Isolation distance (min) 10 m 5 m 3 m
Off-types (max) 0.05% 0.05% 0.3%
Diseased plants (max) 0.01 % 0.01 % 0.5 %
Seeds of other cultivated species (max) 0.01 % 0.01 % 0.02 %
Noxious weeds (max) 0.01 % 0.01 % 0.02 %
Quality analyses in the laboratory are done on samples collected from released
productions (previously controlled at on-farm level and accepted as seed
varietal purity; (iii) moisture content; (iv) germination rate; (v) the presence of
foreign seeds; (vi) the presence of inert matters; (vii) the presence of dangerous
weed seeds; and (viii) the presence of red rice.
Laboratory standards are:
Items Breeder seeds Foundation
seeds
R1
R2
Varietal purity (min) 99.9 ‰ 99.9 ‰ 99.7 ‰ 990 ‰
98% 98% 98% 98%
Germination rate (min) 80% 80% 80% 80%
Moisture content (max) 12% 12% 12% 12%
Inert matters (max) 2% 2% 2% 2%
Seeds of other cultivated species
(max)
10 seeds/kg 10 seeds/kg 0.5% 0.5%
Noxious weed seeds (max) 10 seeds/kg 10 seeds/kg 0.5% 0,5%
Red rice (max) 0 0 5 seeds/kg 5 seeds/kg
Types of tags
According to seed classes, four types of tags are used. These are:
- Breeder seed: White with a purple stripe on the
diagonal
- Foundation seeds: White
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The Facilitator’s GuideFacilitator’s Guide
They must carry the following information:
- Year of harvest (month, year)
- Name of the species
- Name of the variety
- Lot number
- Treatment product
- Country of origin
- Bag weight
“Acceptable quality” seed
should meet the following technical standards:
- Germination rate > 80 per cent
- Physical purity > 90 per cent
Controlled seed
This is the kind of seed that is controlled by authorized technicians and quality control farmers (QCF).
Authorized technicians are trained in quality control techniques and are authorized in that regard
by the national seed service to ensure the monitoring of the seed production activities within their
jurisdiction. This involves organizing seed production activities including planning, control of seed
the authorized technicians will play the leadership role in quality control promotion by opening
QCF are farmers who are selected by their colleagues to monitor their seed activities. They are
trained in quality control techniques and are monitored by authorized technicians. They control seed
production activities in their respective cooperatives / associations. They also collect all information
data are sent to the cyber-seed centers.
Three major characteristics are monitored:
- Germination rate > 80 %
- Physical purity > 90 %
Noxious weed seeds and red rice are also monitored.
NB: Independent spot checks are conducted randomly by the national seed service to control the
quality of the work done by authorized technicians and QCF.
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The Facilitator’s Guide
Implementation of the Community-Based Seed System
The principal facilitator explains how to implement the community-based seed
system at different levels:
workshops and awareness-raising workshops);
- Institutional (establishment of an observatory, notably cyber-seed network
and a national committee);
- Organizational (seed commercialization, development of rural seed enterprises)
Data collection forms are submitted to participants for comments. These forms
basic information required to feed the observation database (see forms attached).
Theprincipalfacilitatorexplainstheroleofthevariouspartnersofthecommunity-
based seed system and describes the interface between experimentation, variety
release and seed production activities. He highlights the need to promote farmers’
innovation techniques and to add more value to their know-how.
At the end of the presentation, discussions are held for one hour. The principal
facilitator takes advantage of these discussions to encourage the exchange of
experiences among participants and to streamline the seed system.
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The Facilitator’s Guide
Day 4
Day 4 / Stage 6: CBSS Workshops
(see form 1)
That duration is enough to help to:
2) Propose relevant solutions
3) Organize a poster session
On-farm eld worskhop
26. 18
The Facilitator’s Guide
Day 5
Day 5 / Stage 7: CBSS Workshops (continued and end)
(see form 2)
The average duration of an evaluation and awareness-raising workshop is half
a day.
The evaluation and awareness raising workshop is held under a tree or in a
techniques, the evaluation and awareness-raising workshops are aimed at socio-
economic, organizational and institutional aspects of the seed value chain.
Day 5 / Stage 8: General workshop evaluation
The duration is four hours.
Stage 8 is the last stage of the workshop. It is designed to deepen a number of
topics, which were not adequately covered during the debates.
At the end of discussions, a general workshop evaluation is conducted. The
principal topics to be covered are:
1) The quality of the presentations (strengths and weaknesses);
2) Understanding and implementing the conventional seed system;
3) Understanding and implementing community-based seed system; and
4) Opportunities and development of rural seed enterprises.
evaluation and awareness-raising workshops, is then developed by the various
- The operation zones of regional facilitators;
- The quantity of foundation seeds, “controlled seed” and “acceptable quality”
seed producers to monitor; and
- The calendar of workshops.
The inception workshop ends with a closing session and the award of attendance
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The Facilitator’s Guide
Conducting an on-farm eld workshop
Poster session on germination tests, N’Zerekore, Guinea, 2004
Participants of an on-farm eld workshop, Yamoussoukro, Côte d’Ivoire, 2005
34. 26
The Facilitator’s Guide
Objective
To favor the exchange of experiences between farmers and technicians on seed
quality maintenance methods.
Action items
1) Share experiences on cropping practices used locally and elsewhere in seed
production.
2) Recognizing off-type plants.
3) Recognizing the main crop pests and diseases.
4) Conducting germination tests.
5) Conducting varietal purity tests.
6) Sharing experiences on seed conservation techniques.
7) Sharing experiences on a few farmers’ initiatives which are implemented in
the visited location (opportunities and constraints).
8) Sharing experiences on the way to ensure good maintenance of foundation
seed.
9) Promoting farmers’ innovations.
10) Collect training needs. At this level, partners are requested to specify themes
on which they would like to be trained (for example: establishing rural seed
enterprises, access to farming season credits, commercialization). Experts
on raised questions will be invited to give the necessary information during
an evaluation and awareness raising workshop.
Target groups
- Seed producers and farmers’ organization representatives; and
- Field technicians.
Workshop organizer
Regional facilitator.
Workshop duration
On an average two hours per location.
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The Facilitator’s Guide
year of CBSS implementation. After that, the number of workshops will reduce
to two depending on the requests made by farmers.
It is organized on the eve of the cropping season. The focus
(iii) land preparation (manual and mechanical); (iv) fertility management; (v)
planting dates and doses; and (vi) water management.
It takes place during the tillering stage. It emphasizes on: (i)
weed management; (ii) fertility management; (iii) roguing and its importance;
and (iv) other cultural practices.
on: (i) weed management; (ii) preparation for harvest operations; and (iii)
harvest and post-harvest activities (threshing, winnowing, seed processing and
conservation).
Tools
Flip charts, markers, sheets, different colored folders, thumbtacks, a pair of
scissors and scotch glue.
Workshop preparation
1) Together with farmers select the plots to be visited. These plots must present
interesting training opportunities to stimulate discussion among farmers on:
- Seed production techniques;
- Seed protection techniques; and
- The characteristics of new varieties (if any).
2) Choose with farmers a date for the workshop.
3) Inform in advance the public and traditional authorities about the visit.
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The Facilitator’s Guide
Workshop implementation
- Session I: This is called an in-situ session which are directly conducted in
- Session II: Poster session
Stage 1: This targets mainly the improvement of cultural practices.
The regional facilitator begins by introducing the workshop participants. He
then makes a short introduction of the CBSS system by explaining its activities
in tackling the technical and organizational capacity building of seed producers
workshops.
good management of seed quality. Discussions should therefore target practical
topics. He then stimulates debates by asking farmers, for example, how they
manage to obtain good seed.
Many answers will be given to this question and will probably involve various
seed production techniques ranging from soil preparation, seeding, crop
maintenance and harvesting, and seed storage.
It would then be meaningful to know how farmers perceive the importance of a
number of operations and the precautions to be taken to ensure high quality of
- Isolation norms
- Soil fertility management
- Weed management
- Pest control (rodents, insects, and birds)
- Roguing of off-types
- Seed harvest and processing
- Seed storage
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The Facilitator’s Guide
technicians to share knowledge on production constraints and especially, to
propose appropriate solutions in order to ensure good quality seed.
of new technologies. It would therefore be meaningful to visit demonstrations or
on-farm trials in the surrounding villages. These technologies can be varieties,
new fertilizer formulations, new pest control methods, etc. The use of organic
matter (manure and compost) is a theme that is very much appreciated by farmers
in the savannah and sahelian zones. This is also the case with natural insecticides
(biopesticides). Technicians are therefore recommended to have some practical
knowledge of these themes.
On-farm eld workshop conducted by a facilitator, Yamoussoukro, Côte d’Ivoire, 2004
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The Facilitator’s Guide
Stage 2: Poster sessions
with improved seed production and conservation techniques and to summarize
the main ideas expressed during the workshop.
Thepostersrehearsethemainstagesduringwhichseedisoftensubjecttomixtures
or biological deterioration (insect or disease attacks). Practical recommendations
are included as footnotes of each poster. The same posters can be found in the
CBSS Rice Farmers’ Guide.
At the end of the poster session, farmers are invited to express their opinion on:
- The way in which the workshop was conducted;
- The topics discussed; and
- The needs for the next session.
Recommendations
1) It is relevant to pay particular attention to the indigenous practices referred to
by farmers and to try to understand their sequences and farmers’motivations.
proposed. These notes might be useful for the development of the wrap-up
documents.
4) A video script on CBSS organization and operation is underway. It will
foster a wide diffusion of indigenous knowledge and their values throughout
countries within the sub-region.
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Conducting an evaluation and
awareness-raising workshop
Evaluation and awareness-raising workshop, Toumodi, Côte d’Ivoire, 2005
Objective
Evaluate the lessons learned in seed production techniques and promote farmers’
organizational capacity building.
1) Inventory existing seed stocks.
2) Check seed stock quality.
3) Promote information dissemination on available seed stocks (village
communities, categories, quantities, quality).
4) Inventory farmers’ needs for the next cropping season (seed, varieties,
fertilizers, pesticides).
5) Assign responsibilities to a number of farmers for producing basic seed for
surrounding village communities.
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The Facilitator’s Guide
6) Assign responsibilities to a few farmers for producing and conserving certain
traditional local varieties on behalf of their village communities.
7) Provide information on the varieties’ evolution trends of varieties at local,
regional and national levels.
To facilitate an easy information feedback, local regional zonal meetings are
held after organizing the evaluation and awareness raising workshop at regional
and national levels. Other means of communication are also used (radio, TV,
SMS, etc).
Target groups
Seedproducersandrepresentativesfromfarmers’organizations,cooperatives
and unions.
The private sector (seed producers, intermediaries, retailers, traders).
Public authorities.
Note: Because of the high interconnection between the various activities, it is
invited to attend the evaluation and awareness-raising workshops.
Workshop duration
On an average, half a day per location.
Facilitator
Workshop preparation
Select together with farmers the date to organize the evaluation and
awareness-raising workshop.
Inform and ask for authorization from traditional authorities for the coming
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Workshop activities
The evaluation and awareness-raising workshop can generally be held
immediately after harvest or sometime later.
Local regional zonal meetings, however, can be held only after evaluation and
awareness-raising workshops have taken place.
The evaluation and awareness-raising workshop is held in a few zones. It is
an important basic stage in: (i) reinforcing farmers’ organizational capacity
building; (ii) raising a seed program; and (iii) establishing and professionalizing
rural seed enterprises.
Stage 1:
Farmers’ organizations are the main pillars of CBSS. Unlike the conventional
seed system, which is supported by public institutions and parastatals, the CBSS
system is a product of the informal sector, which assigns to local indigenous
groups a driving role that regulates village community’s life.
These groups, commonly called farmers’ organizations, will ensure the
sustainability of the new seed system. They have to: (i) inventory traditional
local knowledge in seed management; (ii) propose, with regard to their own
ensure seed quality control.
Farmers’ organizational capacity building requires information exchange on:
workshops and what were their weaknesses and advantages.
2) Solutions proposed to address the main constraints related to seed production,
seed processing and seed storage.
3) Management of traditional local varieties.
4) Seed quality maintenance.
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Germination and physical purity tests are realized during the workshop with the
objective to acquaint farmers with these practices during storage and on the eve
of seeding. These tests aim to generally ensure good monitoring of seed quality
in village communities and good maintenance of nucleus seed.
The workshop must help to identify the main awareness-raising themes that
will need to be discussed through the mass media, in particular, the rural radio
broadcasters. By experience, it has been reported that emphasis should be put
on:
The importance of quality seed for agriculture;
Quality seed production techniques used in a number of locations;
Low-cost conservation techniques (local traditional and improved
techniques);
granary);
The main market trends (varieties, prices);
Functional literacy; and
The development of rural seed enterprises.
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The Facilitator’s Guide
Stage 2: Seed program development
Despite its decentralized nature, CBSS needs a number of minimal information
quantities of foundation seed to be produced.
The seed program is developed at the national level in three stages:
1) Acceptable quality seed or controlled seed requirements are calculated;
2) Basic seed requirements are evaluated;
3) Foundation seed G2 requirements are ascertained.
Below is reproduced the example of the Guinean 2003 CBSS program. It shows
that if research produces 4.25 tonnes of G2 foundation seed per year; the country
can cover within, four years, the seed requirements of Guinea’s upland rice
farmers.
Acceptable quality seed (AQS) or controlled seed (CS) calculation
According to the National Agricultural Statistical Service (SNSA), upland rice areas used are 287,000
ha. Should our reasoning be based on a seed requirement of 60 kilograms per hectare, we will have a
theoretical market of 17,220 tonnes for this type of rice farming.
Should we assume that 80 per cent of annual seed requirements are directly covered by farmers through
the farmer-saved seed production system, an annual residual difference of about 3,400 tonnes remains
to be found by producers outside exchanges, purchases, donations or loans. CBSS is interested in this
difference.
Foundation seed requirements calculation
Should we assume that multiplication rate for producing AQS or CS is 20, that is, for 1 kg of seed, 20
kg of paddy can be produced, every AQS or CS producer will need 20 kg of Basic seed, that is a total
of 170 tonnes of Basic seed (=3,400 / 20).
Foundation seed requirements calculation
Foundation seed production techniques are more intensive. They therefore offer a higher multiplication
rate. Assuming 40 as a multiplication weight, 4.25 tonnes of foundation seed are needed to meet the
local demand (170 / 40 = 4.25T).
That means if research produces 4.25 tonnes of foundation seed in year I, this production will give
it will be possible to renew the whole seed capital.
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The Facilitator’s Guide
Stage 3: Establishing and professionalizing rural seed enterprises
The establishment and professionalization of rural seed enterprises is one of
the major objectives of CBSS. In the context of economic liberalization and
privatization, the creation of rural seed enterprises constitutes an additional
stage for streamlining the seed value chain in order to better meet the needs
of smallholder farmers. By professionalizing, CBSS plans to reinforce farmers’
organizations’capacity building to meet seed requirements of their own members
and to sell the surpluses to surrounding village communities or on the market.
By choosing to get professionalized, farmers’ organizations accept to use a
market-oriented approach for the family subsistence agriculture. It is therefore
important to help them have a clear idea on a number of items such as:
- The legal recognition of farmers’ organizations
- The management of seed stocks
- Information collection and diffusion on seed stocks and proposed prices
- Information collection and diffusion on farmers’ requirements (varieties,
classes, quantities, pesticides, etc.)
- Crop budgets
- Marketing and market prospection
Establishing and professionalizing rural seed enterprises aims to involve farmers
in seed production planning, seed quality control and seed commercialization.
This needs to integrate a decentralized seed system with interventions from AT
stocks managers (in some cases) oversee under the supervision of AT the seed
germination rate and quality maintenance.
Rural seed enterprises are a motivating tool to ensure the availability of low cost
quality seed but also to promote employment in rural zones.
In addition to seed enterprises, CBSS fosters professional unions. These
unions must play their role as an interface between the main stakeholders. The
opportunity for forging professional unions stems from the fact that despite its
traditional nature, the seed sector is appealing to many operators with often
divergent interests (plant breeders, seed companies, seed producers, seed traders
and retailers, and other users). For them, professional unions can be a basic
consultation framework to defend their members’interests and to promote a seed
quality label.
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Stage 4: Meetings of the national information collation center members
After closing training workshops, meetings are held by the members of the
national information collation center to aggregate the data collected at zonal
and sector levels and to discuss general trends of the seed market (varieties and
classes to produce, sharing of responsibilities, locations targeted, etc).
Representatives from research, extension and development agencies, NGOs and
farmers’ organizations participate at these meetings.
At the end of the work, the national information collation center publishes seed
quantities available per variety and class as well as farmers’ needs. This can
be done through rural radio broadcasts and the publication of a liaison bulletin
a great number of stakeholders and a low price.
The national information collation center, in addition to centralizing data, must
be able to assess within a short period, the effect of training sessions on the
availability of quality seed. A three-year period could be enough. Indicators of
quantitative and qualitative monitoring are developed in all CBSS projects in
order to assess the expected effects and their possible impact on production in
the short- and medium-term.
Nowadays, the work of the national information collation center is being
facilitated by the establishment of cyber-seed networks, which are genuine tools
for communication between seed enterprises, seed companies, traders and other
end-users.
The major functions of the cyber-seed networks are to:
1) Promote rural seed enterprises;
2) Follow-up of the production of each farmer through traceability;
3) Promote the label of quality seed;
4) Promote the commercialization of seeds, other inputs and food crops;
5) Promote traditional local varieties and indigenous knowledge;
6) Reinforce farmers’ capacity building through mass-education.
Through this system, farmers’ associations interact among themselves and
with seed dealers in order to spread the full information about seed stocks at
the national level (varieties, quantities, quality, categories, proposed prices,
locations, etc) and farmers’ needs.
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The Facilitator’s Guide
the ministry of agriculture as an important tool for strategic planning which is
strong and at the same time trouble-free. They compare it with the monitoring
and evaluation systems that are available in most African countries but are very
complex and not always functional.
Information about the cyber-seed networks is available at the website:
. However one can get more information through this publication
or just go through the national Observatory (national information collation center)
. From there a connection can be
made with some cooperatives like COPROCOVIDAwhich has 3,600 women
coprocovida.ci-semences.com
Through capitalizing information, CBSS opens an avenue for linking local seed
systems and in general, subsistence agriculture to the regional and national
markets.
Group photograph at the inception workshop, Daloa, Côte d’Ivoire, 2003
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The Facilitator’s Guide
Annexe 1: Example of a three days Inception Workshop Schedule
Daloa, 05 – 07 March 2007: Capacity Building Project of 6 farmers’organizations
in rice seed production and commercialization (MINAGRI/FIRCA/ASN)
Time Activities planned Animator
DAY 1
08:30 – 09:30 Registration of participants Representatives of institutions
09:30 – 10:00 Opening speech (MINAGRI, ASN, FIRCA) Organizing committee
10:00 – 11:00 Cocktail, group photographs, interviews Organizing committee
11:00 – 11:00 Introduction of participants, schedule and practical
information
Organizing committee
11:30 – 12:30
d’Ivoire
Principal facilitator
12:30 – 14:00 Lunch break Organizing committee
14:00 – 14:30 Seed constraints diagnosed during the Rapid Rural
Appraisals
Principal facilitator
14:30 – 16:00 Group sessions (Constraints and solutions proposed.
- Group I: Upland rice
- Group II: Lowland/irrigated rice
Principal facilitator
16:00 – 16:15 Coffee break Organizing Committee
16:15 – 18:00 Report on group sessions
Report on seed initiatives by each cooperative. Training
themes selection
Organizing Committee
18h: 00 – 18h: 15 Day evaluation Principal facilitator and
resource person
DAY 2
08:00 – 12:00 Field visit of seed plots
Field inspection
Principal facilitator
12:00 – 14:00 Lunch break
14:00 – 16:00 Analysis in laboratory Resource person
16:00 – 16:30 Coffee break Organizing Committee
16:30 - 17:45 Seed processing and seed storage Principal facilitator and
resource person
17h: 45 – 18h: 00 Day evaluation Organizing Committee
DAY 3
08:30 – 11:00 Cropping budgets
Commercialization / Distribution
Principal facilitator
11:00 – 11:15 Coffee break Organizing Committee
11:15 – 12:30 Discussions. Workshop evaluation Organizing Committee
12:30 – 13:00 Organizing Committee
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The Facilitator’s Guide
Annexe 2: Example of a ve days Inception Workshop Schedule
WARDA Bouaké, 19–23 December 2001: CBSS MINAGRI/UNDP/AfricaRice
Time Activities planned Animator
DAY 1
08:00 – 10:00 -
- Introduction of participants
- Presentation of the workshop objectives
- Description of the conventional seed system
Representatives of institutions,
Organizing committee, Principal
facilitator
10:00 – 10:15 Coffee break and Group photograph Organizing Committee
10:15 – 12:15 Communications
- Plant breeding principles
- Seed production techniques
- Processing and seed storage
- Seed legislation and variety release
- Commercialization
Discussion on the presentations
Resource persons and Principal
facilitator
12:45 – 13:00 Practical advice on communicating with farmers Principal facilitator
13:00 – 14:00 Lunch break Organizing committee
14:00 – 14:30 - Introduction of farmers and other participants
-
- Creation of working groups
Organizing committee
14:30 – 16:30 Working group sessions Working group leaders
16:30 – 16:45 Coffee break Organizing Committee
16:45 – 17:45 Plenary session report Principal facilitator
17:45 – 18:00 Day evaluation Organizing committee
DAY 2
08:00 – 08:30 Reminder of the major seed issues and solutions proposed Principal facilitator
08:30 – 10:30 Case studies Principal facilitator
10:30 – 10:45 Coffee break Organizing Committee
10:45 – 13:00 Elaboration of cropping budgets and conclusion Principal facilitator
13:00 – 14:00 Lunch break Organizing committee
14:00 – 16:00 Advantages and limitations of the conventional seed system.
Alternative strategies
Principal facilitator
16:00 - 16:15 Coffee break Organizing Committee
16:15 – 17:30 Alternative strategies (continued and end) Principal facilitator
17h:30 – 18:00 - Evaluation of the understanding of the conventional seed
system
- Day evaluation
Principal facilitator
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The Facilitator’s Guide
DAY 3
08:00 – 08:30 Reminder of the conventional seed system organization and
its functioning
Principal facilitator
08:30 – 10:30 - Introduction of the CBSS system
- Traditional indigenous knowledge
Principal facilitator
10:30 – 10:45 Coffee break Organizing Committee
10:45 – 13:00 - Organizing and functioning of the CBSS
Role of partners
Principal facilitator
13:00 – 14:00 Lunch break Organizing committee
14:00 – 16:00 Imbrications of variety experimentation, release and
dissemination activities
Seed legislation
Reinforcement of farmers’ capacity building
Principal facilitator
16:00 – 16:15 Coffee break Organizing committee
16:15 – 17:30 Practical pieces of advice to improve seed quality Principal facilitator
17h:30 – 18:00 - Evaluation of the understanding of the community-based
seed system
- Day evaluation
Principal facilitator
DAY 4
08:00 – 08:30 -
Objectives of the workshop
Exchange of experiences on the maintenance of seed
quality (cultural practices and storage techniques)
Visit of demonstration plots
Posters’ session
- Day evaluation
Organizing committee +
Principal facilitator +
Regional facilitators
DAY 5
08:00 – 10:30 - Evaluation and awareness-raising workshop
Objectives of the workshop
Information collection form use (information feedback
collecting to the national observatoire, report to
producers)
Organizing committee +
Principal facilitator +
Regional facilitators
10:30 – 10:45 Coffee break Organizing Committee
10:45 – 13:00 - Discussion on the reinforcement of producers
organizational capacity building
Discussion on opportunities for the emergence of rural
seed enterprises
Elaboration of action plan
Organizing committee +
Principal facilitator +
Regional facilitators
13:00 – 14:00 Lunch break Organizing committee
14:00 – 15:00 - General workshop evaluation Organizing committee
15:00 – 15:30 -
-
Organizing committee
50.
51. About the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR)
The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) is a global partnership
that unites organizations engaged in research for sustainable development with the funders of
this work. The funders include developing and industrialized country governments, foundations,
and international and regional organizations. The work they support is carried out by 15 members
of the Consortium of International Agricultural Research Centers, in close collaboration with
hundreds of partner organizations, including national and regional research institutes, civil society
organizations, academia, and the private sector.
CGIAR Centers
AfricaRice Africa Rice Center (Cotonou, Benin)
Bioversity International Bioversity International (Rome, Italy)
CIAT Centro Internaçional de Agricultura Tropical (Cali, Colombia)
CIFOR Center for International Forestry Research (Bogor, Indonesia)
CIMMYT Centro Internaçional de Mejoramiento de Maiz y Trigo (Mexico, DF, Mexico)
CIP Centro Internaçional de la Papa (Lima, Peru)
ICARDA International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (Aleppo, Syria)
ICRISAT International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (Patancheru, India)
IFPRI International Food Policy Research Institute (Washington, DC, USA)
IITA International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (Ibadan, Nigeria)
ILRI International Livestock Research Institute (Nairobi, Kenya)
IRRI International Rice Research Institute (Los Baños, Philippines)
IWMI International Water Management Institute (Colombo, Sri Lanka)
World Agroforestry World Agroforestry Centre (Nairobi, Kenya)
WorldFish WorldFish Center (Penang, Malaysia)
52. Afr caR ce
Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice)
01 B.P. 2031, Cotonou, Benin
www.AfricaRice.org
