ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA—Seed industry experts yesterday underscored the importance of uniform legal frameworks to regulate seed quality, trade, and intellectual property across East and West African countries. This, along with a standardized process for registering new seed varieties and managing plant pests and diseases, will enable the adoption of innovative crops across national borders, they said.
The benefits of policy harmonization and its potential to transform seed industries leads the list of topics being discussed in the ongoing seminar-workshop on seed systems development in the two regions. Leading experts, including plant breeders, regulatory officials, and seed industry stakeholders gather in Addis Ababa to gain insights into best practices, strategies for implementation, and the overarching benefits of a coordinated approach approach to the development of the seed sector.
Yacouba Diallo, secretary general of the African Seed Trade Association (AFSTA), an organization of seed companies and seed trade associations across the continent based in Dakar, Senegal, outlined the benefits of having strong national and regional coordination of seed systems in partnership with the private sector. Harmonizing seed regulations, he said, leads to cohesive phytosanitary regulations and protect crops and biodiversity from cross-border threats.
“By aligning critical regulations and adopting science-based policies, we can enhance the efficiency and transparency of seed markets,” said Claid Mujaju, Director of Research Services of Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development based in Harare. Harmonizing environmental and liability standards enables national seed systems to promote sustainable seed production practices and manage environmental impacts, he said. Coordinating regulations for varietal release and seed treatments, for example, will ensure efficacy and safety while minimizing environmental and health risks, Mujaju explained.
Adelaida Harries, seed quality management expert and former research scientist with Iowa State University’s Seed Science Center, stressed that a unified approach to the regulation of genetically modified seeds entails balancing innovation with safety concerns and public acceptance.
“Governments have an important role in fostering policy environments that ensure technology deployment and facilitate global trade,” according to Samuel Crowell, senior director for international programs and policy of the American Seed Trade Association (ASTA) with headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia. “Governments can definitely ease regulatory burden through policy innovation,” he said. “They can cooperate with industry to streamline varietal registration, harmonize seed catalogs to avoid duplicating requirements, and make sure that an intellectual property system is in place that ensures commercial success,” Crowell added.
The United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) partners with Iowa State University’s Seed Science Center (ISU-SSC) in hosting the ongoing seminar-workshop on "Seed Systems Development in East and West Africa.” The event aims to advance food and nutrition security through the development of efficient, dynamic, and sustainable integrated seed systems.
About the USDA-FAS: The Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) is the foreign affairs agency with primary responsibility for the USDA’s overseas programs—market development, international trade agreements and negotiations, and the collection of statistics and market information. It also administers the USDA's export credit guarantee and food aid programs and helps increase income and food availability in developing nations by mobilizing expertise for agriculturally led economic growth. The FAS mission statement reads, “Linking U.S. agriculture to the world to enhance export opportunities and global food security.”
About the Seed Science Center at Iowa State University: Iowa State University’s SSC is a global center for excellence in seed science, technology, and systems. It operates one of the world’s most comprehensive public seed testing laboratory that analyzes seeds of 300 species for over 350 seed-borne pathogens. It offers the only online master’s program in the world on Seed Science, Technology, and Business. SSC projects in 80 countries over the past 20 years have helped to expand producers’ access to quality seed, facilitate seed trade, and promote the growth of national seed systems and industries.
Contacts:
Justina Torry, senior agricultural attaché, USDA-FAS Addis Ababa, +251-11-130-6777, torryJ@state.gov
Clemen Gehlhar, program manager, Global Programs, Agricultural Economic Development Division, USDA-FAS Washington, DC, +1 202-720-1891, Clemen.Gehlhar@usda.gov
Lulu Rodriguez, global programs lead, Seed Science Center, Iowa State University, +1 515-294-5363, lulurod@iastate.edu
Cynthia Hicks, communication specialist, Seed Science Center, Iowa State University, +1 515-296-5386, cghicks@iastate.edu