Farmers learn to make the most of seed. Validated RNRRS Output.
Abstract
This is one of 280 summaries describing key outputs from the projects run by DFID's 10-year Renewable Natural Resources Research Strategy (RNRRS) programmes.
Summary for Project title: R8480: The Good Seed Initiative - sharing the learning from CPP programmes into pro-poor seed systems in East Africa.
Good crops start with good seed. A new manual and set of posters are now available to help farmers make the most of seed. Most farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa don't buy seed: they save their own or trade with other farmers. But, this arrangement often doesn't work—drought, pests, diseases, civil wars or other troubles mean they just don't have enough good quality seed. Over 1000 smallholder vegetable farmers in Kiambu District, Kenya, learned the best ways of choosing, drying and storing seed by discovering for themselves. Now, government staff in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania use these methods to help extension workers and other farmers make sure they have reliable supplies of healthy seed for vegetables, sorghum, yam, cassava, groundnuts, sweet potato, maize, and beans.
The CD has the following information for this output: Description, Validation, Current Situation, Current Promotion, Impacts On Poverty, Environmental Impact. Attached PDF (10 pp.) taken from the CD.
Citation
CPP69, New technologies, new processes, new policies: tried-and-tested and ready-to-use results from DFID-funded research, Research Into Use Programme, Aylesford, Kent, UK, ISBN 978-0-9552595-6-2, p 141.