Towards Effective And Sustainable Seed Relief Activities

This report contains papers given to a FAO workshop meeting, held in Rome in May 2003, organised to consider how to improve the effectiveness of seed relief schemes to promote sustainable development and food security, to identify gaps in the development of tools, guidance and methodologies, and to make recommendations for further collaborative work. It includes case studies of seed relief activities in several African countries.

First Published in 2009. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

The majority of the poor and hungry people in the world live on small farms and struggle to subsist on too little land with low input - low yield technologies. At the same time, many other smallholders are successfully intensifying and succeeding as farm businesses, often in combination with diversification into off-farm sources of income. This book examines the growing divergence between subsistence and business oriented small farms, and discusses how this divergence has been impacted by population growth, trends in farm size distribution, urbanization, off-farm income diversification, and the globalization of agricultural value chains. It finds that policy makers need to differentiate more sharply between different types of small farms than they did in the past, both in terms of their potential contributions towards achieving national economic growth, poverty alleviation, and food security goals, and the types of assistance they need. The book distinguishes between smallholders that are business oriented, subsistence oriented, and at various stages of transition to the non-farm economy, and discusses strategies appropriate for assisting each type. The book draws on a wealth of recent experience at IFAD and elsewhere to help identify best practice approaches.

A practical coverage of the principles of producing seeds for the main agricultural crops, this book emphasises producing optimal quality seed, and applies to small and large scale farms worldwide. Cereals such as wheat, rice, barley, rye and maize are covered along with pulses, legumes, oil seed rape and soybean. The coverage includes principles of production such as pollination, agronomy issues such as site selection and cultivar purity, seed processing, drying and storage. A focus on global food security is maintained throughout. It is suitable for researchers and students in agriculture an.

This book will convince the reader to care about fruit and vegetables and to see that the small-scale production of these crops is fundamental to achieving sustainable development goals. In five chapters, the reader will learn about the challenges and rewards for producers, sellers, and consumers. Chapter 1: a working definition for fruit and vegetables, making the case for supporting small-scale farmers and value chains. Chapter 2: options for farm management to ensure that production is sustainable including genetic resources, seed systems, management of water, soil, nutrients, and control of pests and diseases. Chapter 3: options to integrate small-scale commercial fruit and vegetable farmers into socially inclusive value chains, including innovative post-harvest handling services, market linkages, and reducing food loss and waste. Chapter 4: options for practitioners and policymakers at different governmental, institutional and social levels to promote the sustainable production and consumption of safe, nutritious, and affordable fruit and vegetables. Chapter 5: key interventions and innovations to facilitate the sustainable production of fruit and vegetables in low- and middle-income countries across the world. This publication takes readers on a journey introducing them to a diverse array of fruit and vegetables through colorfully illustrated studies from around the world. It justifies the importance of these crops and it encourages readers to take an active role both in promoting fruit and vegetable production and in encouraging more people to eat them.

The Practitioner’s Guide has been produced to provide practical guidance on the theory, technical knowledge, procedures and good practices necessary to implement a Seed Security Assessment (SSA). It contains the following sections: background information about what a seed system is, and how seed security is defined; how to practically conduct a SSA; how to interpret SSA results and make recommendations. This publication represents an important reference and refresher for SSA practitioners and th ose seeking practical information on SSA. A Seed Security Assessment Toolbox with relevant material designed to support SSA field work is available here.