African Seed Enterprises

African Seed Enterprises

Sowing the Seeds of Food Security

Edited by Paul Van Mele, Jeffery W. Bently and Robert G. Guéi
Hardback
August 2011
9781845938437
More details
  • Publisher
    CABI
  • Published
    16th August 2011
  • ISBN 9781845938437
  • Language English
  • Pages 256 pp.
  • Size 6.875" x 9.75"
  • Images 26 illus
$216.70
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In most developing countries, good quality seed is hard to obtain and farmers struggle to save seed from one year to the next. In many areas, farmers have come to rely on seed enterprises that multiply, store and distribute seed. African Seed Enterprises takes a people-centered look at the companies, public agencies and family farms that are taking on this role and making a difference to food security across Africa. Case studies are arranged by country, and each chapter includes a profile of the agricultural and policy environment that surrounds these enterprises and affects their development. Each case is unique and presents its own set of lessons, and, as a whole, this wide range of experiences is a rich source of data and ideas for future enterprise, offering valuable insights for policy makers, academics and non-governmental organizations throughout the world.

Co-published with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and AfricaRice

"This is a thorough, well-designed book. I found it fascinating and difficult to put down. It is highly relevant to overcoming barriers to new variety introduction in Africa - and hence food security - and is relevant to development more broadly."

Richard Ellis - , Journal of Experimental Agriculture

1. Introduction: A full granary
2. How seed works
3. Cameroon: Revolving funds make a difference
4. Nigeria: Clustered seed companies
5. Mali: When government gives entrepreneurs room to grow
6. Guinea: Networks that work
7. The Gambia: Capturing the media
8. Morocco: The visible hand
9. Kenya: A company, a cooperative and a family
10. Uganda: Dreams of starting a company
11. Madagascar: coping with relief aid and politics
12. Conclusions

Paul Van Mele

Paul Van Mele (Ph.D., Wageningen University) is an agricultural scientist who has managed agricultural R&D projects dealing with sustainable agriculture across the global South for over three decades. Since 2002, Paul has spearheaded farmer-to-farmer training video, coordinated research on video-mediated learning and taken it to scale. He runs his own company, Agro-Insight, and co-founded the non-profit organization Access Agriculture to support South-South learning on agroecological transformation.

Jeffery W. Bently

Jeffery W. Bently is an agricultural anthropologist, Bolivia.

Robert G. Guéi

Robert G. Guéi is at FAO, Rome, Italy.