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In July 2006, SeedQuest published
Strengthening
Africa’s private seed sector to serve smallholder farmers,
an article by
Dr. Edward Mabaya,
Research
Associate for the
Emerging Markets Program under the
Department of Applied Economics and Management
(AEM) at Cornell University and coordinator of two SME
development initiatives working in Sub-Saharan Africa: the
Seeds of
Development Program (SODP) and the Making Markets
Matter workshop.
We follow up
3 years later with an article by Malcolm
Blackie, bT Associates, who recently conducted an external
review of the Seeds of
Development Program (SODP).
The Seeds of Development Program (SODP) is an innovative market
orientated initiative which aims to improve access to
appropriate, good quality, and competitively priced crop seeds
by low-income smallholder farmers in East and Southern Africa.
This has been done by providing focused management training for
small- to medium-sized local seed companies in the region. The
programme provides support to 25 ‘fellows’ of the programme –
experienced company managers from a variety of countries across
east and southern Africa who come together to share knowledge
and build business networks. In addition, specialised management
training for these managers (and key staff) is provided. A
programme of focused research on the seed industry of the region
helps keep fellows (and their companies) up to date with current
developments in the industry. This paper is drawn from a full
review of the programme conducted from by the author between
July and December of 2008 and which involved extensive
interviews with participating companies and a comprehensive
examination of the programme’s M&E indicators.
The management training is well in hand and showing real impact.
SODP companies sell seed to farmers around 20% cheaper than
their larger competitors. In addition, SODP companies are
reaching farmers (those in remote areas and with poor
communications) that are typically overlooked by the major
players. SODP networking is also providing new ways of doing
business and opportunities for partnerships across countries –
with SODP fellows exploring market opportunities through skilful
collaboration and information sharing between themselves. SODP
helps address the lack of confidence in moving forward with new
ideas, especially amongst the smaller companies, through
assistance with business development plans.
The programme has developed an innovative and effective
programme of support to the emerging seed industry of the
region. There are two clear categories of seed company which are
evident – those that are full service seed companies producing
and marketing their own products, and those that are mainly
traders (and rely on public germplasm for much of their product
mix). These categories are very complementary as the ‘traders’
are often very skilled at reaching the most poor and
disadvantaged farmers, and can help the full service companies
extend their ‘reach’. A proposed additional focus will be to
facilitate further alliances between these two main SODP fellow
categories to enable each to exploit their niche within the
smallholder market for seed. Linkages with regional universities
will be developed to enable the provision of specialist advice
to network members.
Performance indicators are impressive – maize seed sales up by
54% between 2006 and 2007; full time employment increased by
19%; and sales revenue up by 35%. Company sales data also show
that the bulk of sales (more than 80%) go to smallholder
farmers. By offering a wider variety of seeds, including
higher-yielding, disease- and drought-resistant varieties, and
other inputs such as fertilizers, SODP companies help
smallholder farmers increase food security for their families
and communities. The evidence available shows that SODP members
are producing and selling seed to smallholders at significantly
lower prices than their larger scale competitors. The programme
is meeting all its key output targets. In the current economic
climate, farm input suppliers will face a challenging
environment. Sensitive and focused support in the manner
provided by SODP will be invaluable in creating strong local
farm supply companies that can reach the poor of the region.
Read the
2006 article: Strengthening
Africa’s private seed sector to serve smallholder farmers
Malcolm Blackie can be contacted at
mblackie@bt-associates.org
Dr. Edward
Mabaya can be reached at
em37@cornell.edu |
