Following the complaints by farmers and seed producers about fake and adulterated seeds on the market, Gerald Businge interviewed Bulegeya Komayombi, the Commissioner for Crop Protection in Uganda’s Ministry of Agriculture about the government’s efforts to solve the problem and to develop the seed and crop development sector. Below are excerpts: –

Qn: Does the government have any policies or regulation governing the operation of the seed industry in Uganda?

We have the seed law of 2006, which is basically aimed at controlling the production and marketing of seeds. We also have the plant health law. We are also developing the plant variety protection law to give incentives to those who are involved in research that can develop seed varieties to get recognized and get benefits from their efforts.  But we are still finalizing the overall basic policy framework

Qn. How would you describe the seed industry in Uganda, in terms of being able to produce necessary seeds for farmers

The seed industry is still challenged by little capacity. You know about 12 years ago, the seed industry was fully government controlled and there was only one company to do the production and marketing of seed. The government liberalized the seed industry and 24 seed companies have so far been registered. So the industry is vibrant, but it is still development. Of course with liberations, there are challenges of quality control. There are challenges of producing inadequate seed.

Qn: Seed companies are complaining about poor regulation and fake seeds on the market, which they blame on poor regulation of the seed sector by the government. Are you unable to regulate seed production and supply?

We had challenges of human capacity but in December 201o and January 2011, we recruited 18 seed inspectors who are currently undergoing training.

seeds for planting and food

These companies are only able to produce about 30 percent of the seeds demanded by farmers. Now when farmers are clamouring for quality seed, there are some unscrupulous people taking advantage of the vacuum to supply substandard seeds.

We are aware of the problem and we are addressing it. That is why we have boosted our team with 18 more inspectors. We have also empowered district Agriculture officers to control and regulate the movement of seed and its marketing by inspecting seed stockists.

Of course also the other strategy is to support the private sector to be able to produce efficient seed so that the demand for seeds is met and there is no vacuum that would be exploited by unscrupulous people.

Qn: In what way are you helping the private sector to develop capacity to produce effective seeds?

One, the government is responsible for the production of foundation seed. This is the initial stock that is multiplied to produce seed stock of a given new variety. It is the responsibility of the government to make available sufficient foundation seeds.  The government last year also availed 30 billion shillings to be borrowed by seed producers among other agriculture players. Participating banks are supposed to match the government fund with another 30 billion. So in total, we have 60 billion from which seed companies can borrow. We have also been training these seed companies in quality control and we have established partnerships with the seed industry through its umbrella body, the Uganda Seed Trade Association. We sit with them and discuss the development of the seed industry bearing in mind that we are partners.

It is also a requirement for every seed company to have a quality control manual, which we enforce. We are also asking each seed company to employ a quality control manager who control the seed produced by the company or its out growers so that when we come in to inspect and certify, some work has been done on day to day basis.

Q: Seed companies also raised the issue of inability of Uganda to regulate seeds that enter the country. What is the government doing to ensure only acceptable seed varieties enter the country and that the government knows these seed varieties?

I have already said we have boosted our team and we are going to post seed inspectors at various border points. But you should know that Uganda is surrounded by five countries and the borders are porous. This one is being tackled through collaborating and harmonizing with our neighbours on how to regulate and control seed. At East Africa Community level, we are harmonizing.

We are also part of a bigger effort by 10 countries in the region where we are working together and have set up a seed committee to see how we can harmonise our procedures, for production, inspections and documentation for seed movement within these countries.

Ultimately, we want to ensure that a seed that comes into or goes out of Uganda is more or less of the same standard with our regional neighbours.

Q. Are you also sharing in research, especially in development of the primary seed?

Yes. We have collaborative projects. For example there is a collaborative project called Eastern Africa Agriculture Productivity Program, which is addressing three crops namely cassava, rice, wheat and the dairy. Uganda is taking lead as a center of excellence for cassava research and production of foundation seed. But it is also collaborates on rice, wheat and diary research.

Kenya is taking a lead in dairy, but Uganda also collaborates. Tanzania is taking lead in rice, while Ethiopia is taking the lead on wheat. But this is a regional collaborative project to enable us synergize and produce sufficient quantities and qualities of seed material.

Q. How can development agencies and developed countries best support Uganda and such regional efforts to improve seed availability?

They can support us to improve production of seeds. As I already said, there is a deficit in seed availability for farmers in Uganda. We also need to see them collaborating more in agriculture output marketing.

They should provide market for our agriculture products. Because if they provide market for output, it will stimulate production as farmers will get incentive to produce more and thereby demand more seeds from the improved disposable income. We need to be able to access their markets. They can also support us in quality assurance of the seed industry.

This story was produced as part of the Africa Reporting Project with sponsorship from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation