Seed regulatory framework analysis

The purpose of this tool is to provide actionable evidence on policy and investment options to accelerate seed system and market development in countries where RT&B crops and other vegetatively propagated crops (VPCs) are important to food security and agricultural development. The users of the tool are agricultural researchers, policy analysts. The tool consists of a series of checklists for key informant interviews (KII) to be used with different seed system stakeholders e.g. public and private sector agricultural scientists and technicians working on breeding and developing high quality planting material of VPCs; public regulators who design, supervise and/or manage quality assurance systems for VPC planting materials; industry experts and representatives of industry associations who are engaged in VPCs or policy and regulatory issues related to VPCs; entrepreneurs, business people, traders, seed importers, NGOs, or other individuals who conduct business in the production, distribution and/or marketing of VPC planting material; and farmers and leaders of farmers’ associations who produce, use, and/or purchase VPC planting materials. The KII checklists specifically ask about gender differences in perspectives on use and implications of seed regulations for VPC seed producers and users. The KIIs should be complemented by literature review, secondary data and document analysis.

Tool description: Here

User guide: Here

Examples:

• International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI); International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT); International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA); International Potato Center (CIP); Michigan State University (MSU), 2019, "Making Seed Systems and Markets for Vegetatively Propagated Crops (VPCs) Work for the Poor: A Cross-Country Study of Kenya, Nigeria, and Vietnam." URL: https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/MSIMRE. Harvard Dataverse, V1.
• David J Spielman, Marcel Gatto, Tesfamicheal Wossen, Margaret McEwan, Tahirou Abdoulaye, Mywish Maredia, Guy Hareau. 2020 Beyond the Conventional Wisdom on Maize. Regulatory Options to Improve Seed Systems for Vegetatively Propagated Crops in Developing-country Agriculture (IFPRI discussion paper in preparation)
• McEwan, M.A., D.J. Spielman, J.J. Okello, G. Hareau, B. Bartle, D.G. Mbiri, E.O. Atieno, B.A. Omondi, T. Assfaw, L.C. Gonzalez, T. Abdoulaye, and M. Maredia. 2020. “Exploring the regulatory space for improving availability, access and quality of vegetatively propagated crop seed: the case of seed potato in Kenya.” [Proposed RTB working paper]
• Spielman, D.J., M. Gatto, T. Wossen, M. McEwan, T. Abdoulaye, M. Maredia, and G. Hareau. 2020. Beyond maize: Regulatory options to improve seed systems for vegetatively propagated crops in developing-country agriculture. [Journal article submission].
• Gatto, M., D. Phuong Le, G. Pacillo, M. Maredia, R. Labarta, G. Hareau, and D.J. Spielman. 2020. “Policy options for advancing seed systems for vegetatively propagated crops in Vietnam.” [Proposed RTB working paper].

Contact: David J. Spielman, Margaret McEwan m.mcewan@cgiar.org, Julius Okello J.Okello@cgiar.org