Presentation by Saharah Moon Chapotin, Bureau for Food Security at USAID, on April 28, 2016

1. Feed the Future Seed System Programs
Saharah Moon Chapotin
Bureau for Food Security
U.S. Agency for International Development

2. Key Seed Sector Constraints
Agriculture Business
Enabling
Environment
Framework
Early generation
seed supply
scarcity (includes
demand
forecasting)
Low capacity of
NARS and private
MSME seed
companies
Financing the seed
value chain
(company &
smallholder)
Farmers’
awareness
These are mostly medium- to long-term constraints needing continued focus

3. Draft
Common Good
A good that cannot be excluded, but cannot be used or accessed
simultaneously by multiple consumers (e.g., range land, open-
pollinated variety)
• Type 1 crop examples: OPV maize, OPV rice, wheat
• Type 2 crop examples: chickpea, cowpea, groundnut
Private Good
A good that can be excluded and cannot be used or accessed
simultaneously by multiple consumers (e.g., food, fertilizer)
• Crop examples: hybrid maize, vegetables
Public Good
A good that cannot be excluded and can be accessed
simultaneously by multiple consumers (e.g. road, rainfall)
• Crop examples: millet, sorghum, teff
Club Good
A good that can be excluded, but can be used or accessed
simultaneously by multiple consumers until congestion occurs (e.g.,
irrigation system, warehouse)
• Crop examples: cotton, tobacco
1 2
34
Private Sector Dominant Public-Private Collaboration
Niche Private Sector Public Sector Dominant
SupplyPush
DemandPull
Seed supply system framework using
public/private good characteristics
Pathways to scale depend considerably on the level of public-sector involvement in supply
and distribution. Public sector investment often crowds out private sector investment.
However, for predominantly public goods, there may be no pathway for reaching scale.

4. Examples of illustrative seed-sector business models that
support early generation seed production and delivery
Variety
Research &
Development
Foundation
Seed
Production
Quality Seed
Production
Marketing &
Distribution
Breeder Seed
Production &
Maintenance
Variety
Selection &
Breeding
 Private Sector  Public Sector  Public-Private
Legend: Type of actor investing in each value chain stage
In North Carolina, the largest
sweet potato producer in the
US, variety R&D and breeding
is conducted by North Carolina
State University. Breeder seed,
also known as “G1 Roots,” is
then sold to commercial
certified seed growers
Commercial certified seed
growers produce foundation
seed (G2) for sale to “table-
stock growers”
“Table-stock growers” grow
their own quality seed (G3),
which they use for commercial
crop production
Strong consumer demand makes it
profitable for the private sector to
produce foundation and quality
seed
United States: Sweet Potato
Public universities and
research stations breed
legumes with public funding—
e.g., South Dakota State Univ.
and SD Agric. Experiment
Station breed soybean,
chickpea, lentil, and field pea
Non-profit foundation seed
enterprises liaise between
breeders and seed
companies—e.g., SD
Foundation Seed is financed
through seed sales and makes
grants to the university
Private companies multiply,
market and distribute seed—
e.g., at least six companies in
South Dakota produce
commercial soybean seed
Even in the US, costs are high for
legume breeding and EGS
production and are borne mainly
by the public sector
United States: Legumes
R&D is conducted primarily by the
International Rice Research Institute
(IRRI, CGIAR) in collaboration with the
Indonesian Agency for Agricultural
Research and Development (IAARD)
Within IAARD, the Indonesian Center
for Food Crops R&D (ICFORD) and
Indonesian Center for Rice Research
(ICRR) coordinate to breed locally
adapted varieties and produce and
maintain breeder seed
Private companies are beginning to
produce and distribute quality rice
seed, though the market remains
heavily subsidized (~75%)
Foundation seed production is
dominated by the public sector,
though some private companies are
beginning to enter the market
The private sector is relatively
young, but is beginning to find
profits from higher yield varieties
bred by IRRI and IAARD
Indonesia: Rice (OPV)
Sources: NC State University. NCSweetPotatoes.com South Dakota State University, IRRI, Indonesian Agency for Agricultural Research and Development, Indonesian Center for Agricultural, Socio-Economic and Policy Studies
IARCs w/ private
sector & NARS

5. What policy constraints?
Each country has its unique set of challenges

6. Recommendations to Governments and Donors to
overcome specific economic constraints to scale
Public-Private
Collaboration
Niche Private
Sector
Private Sector
Dominant
Public Sector
Dominant
Remove Market Distortions and Decrease Public Role
Support and advocate for policies that enable the private sector to
grow sustainably
Potential Role of Government:
• Transition out of playing a direct role supporting the value chain
(e.g., stop producing foundation seed)
• Remove distortionary subsidies and restrictions where possible
Potential Role of Donors:
•Demonstrate profit potential of the market through business cases
•Alleviate high fixed cost of breeders through capacity building
•Build capacity in banking sector to increase financing availability
Mitigate Demand Risk
Support stable and predictable demand and linkages between
producers and markets
Potential Role of Government:
• Share demand risk with the private sector by backing financing and
entering into surplus purchase arrangements
• Invest in extension services to increase demand in rural markets
Potential Role of Donors:
• Improve availability and accessibility of data to enable more
accurate demand forecasting and planning of production
• Demonstrate private sector potential with business cases
Drive Public Sector Efficiency
Support efficiency of public entities through capacity building and
organizational linkages
Potential Role of Government:
• Increase responsiveness of public breeding and production efforts
by increasing farmer participation
• Implement more efficient QA processes to ensure more effective
resource use, including through building private sector capacity
Potential Role of Donors:
• Build decentralized capacity throughout a country to better
leverage public resources and reduce dependence on
• Implement monitoring and evaluation for public programs to
understand impact and effectiveness of public investments
Subsidize Production Costs
Support breeder and foundation seed production by mitigating high
fixed costs
Potential Role of Government:
• Directly subsidize fixed costs (e.g. breeders, certification) or back
financing for capital investments, e.g. in technology
• Partly or fully fund production of breeder and foundation seed on
an ongoing and stable basis (e.g., CGIAR, NARS)
Potential Role of Donors:
• Alleviate fixed costs by funding R&D and breeder training
• Ensure ROI on research by advocating for IP protections and
linking breeding more closely to farmers’ and market demand
1
2a
3
2b

7. 10%
17%
18%
9%
13%
3%
26%
4%
Feed the Future: Seed-Related
Projects: By Focus Area Commercialization &
value chain
EGS & value chain
Enabling environment
Research
Research &
commercialization
Research & EGS
Value chain
Other
Equals
100% of
projects.
Projects =
114
23%
14%
23%
13%
9%
10%
8%
Feed the Future: Seed-Related
Projects: By Crops
Maize
Rice
Pulses
Other Grains
RTBs
Vegetables
Specialty
Percent of
projects that
include these
categories of
crops. Some
projects
include more
than one crop.
Does not
include
enabling
environment
projects.
Investments in seed-related projects
There are 511 projects entries in the Feed the Future
Monitoring System, of which 114 are seed-related projects.
These seed-related projects represent projects that are
addressing different aspects of seed value chains.
Source: Feed the Future Monitoring System, Implementing
Mechanism Performance Narratives for FY2015 (January, 2016) 64%
36%
Feed the Future: Seed-Related
Projects by Operating Unit
Mission
Washington

8. SSA by crop
Varietal
Age
(yrs)
Number
Banana 10.2 1
Sweetpotato 10.3 5
Groundnut 11.7 5
Chickpea 11.9 2
Cowpea 11.9 16
Lentil 12.5 1
Maize–WCA 12.8 11
Wheat 12.8 1
Maize–ESA 13.0 8
Beans 13.8 9
Cassava 14.1 17
Soybean 14.2 11
Pearl millet 14.8 3
Rice 15.8 4
Sorghum 17.4 6
Pigeonpea 17.9 2
Yams 18.4 5
Barley 18.5 2
Field pea 18.9 1
Potato 19.4 5
Faba bean 20.7 2
Weighted mean /
Total 14.0 117
The velocity of varietal turnover of
improved varieties in farmers’ fields in SSA
1. Bangladesh, India, Nepal: Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CG)
2. Cambodia, Nepal: Seed Scaling: Stress Tolerant Rice for Asia (CG)
3. Central America, Carribean: Coffee Rust Support
4. East Africa: Drought Tolerant Maize for African Seed Systems (CG)
5. Ethiopia: Barley and Faba (CG)
6. Ethiopia: Farm Service Center Project
7. Ethiopia: Scaling High Yield Chickpea Varieties (CG)
8. FtF countries: Collaborative Research on Grain Legumes
9. Ghana: Agricultural Technology Transfer
10. Ghana, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal: Seed Scaling: Cowpea for West Africa (CG)
11. Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal: Seed Scaling: Stress Tolerant Rice for
Africa (CG)
12. Global: Rice Science Partnership (CG)
13. Global: Roots, Tubers and Bananas for Food Security and Income (CG)
14. Guatemala: MasFrijol (CG)
15. Kenya: One Acre Fund
16. Malawi: New Alliance ICT Extension Challenge Fund Malawi
17. Malawi: Improved Seed Systems and Technologies (CG)
18. Mali: Deploying Improved Vegetable technologies to Overcome
Malnutrition and Poverty (CG)
19. Nepal: Hill Maize Research Project (CG)
20. Nepal: Knowledge-based Integrated Sustainable Agriculture and
Nutrition
21. Nigeria: Maximizing Agricultural Revenue and Key Enterprises in
Targeted Sectors
22. Rwanda: Private Sector Development – Agriculture
23. Senegal: Economic Growth Project
24. Sub-Saharan Africa: World Vegetable Center (CG)
25. Tajikistan: Potato Production Support (CG)
26. West Africa: West Africa Seed Program
27. Uganda: Agricultural Inputs Activity
Source: Measuring the Effectiveness of Crop Improvement
Research in Sub-Saharan Africa from the Perspectives
of Varietal Output, Adoption, and Change: 20 Crops, 30
Countries, and 1150 Cultivars in Farmers’ Fields, July, 2014
USAID Seed Projects with “Quality” or
“Quality Declared” components
Of 27 relevant projects, 15 are with CG Centers

9. Feed the Future projects with a focus on
scaling seeds – monetizing R&D
ProjectTitle Countries Category Partner organization
Climate Resilient Maize
Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi,
Mozambique, Zambia
Cereals CIMMYT
Stress tolerant rice for Africa Senegal, Liberia, Ghana, Nigeria Cereals Africa Rice
Stress tolerant rice for Asia Cambodia, Nepal Cereals IRRI
Household Vegetable Seed kits Liberia, Cambodia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda Horticulture AVRDC
Cowpea for West Africa Senegal, Mali, Ghana, Nigeria Legume IITA
Groundnut in West Africa Mali, Ghana, Nigeria Legume ICRISAT
Barley and Faba in Ethiopia Ethiopia Specialty Market ICARDA
CSISA Wheat and Lentil in Nepal Nepal Cereal/Legume CIMMYT
MasAgro Guatemala Guatemala Cereal CIMMYT
Scaling Seeds & Technologies
Partnership
Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi, Mozambique, Senegal,
Tanzania
Field crops AGRA
Partnering for Innovation Various Various Fintrac
Mission Scaling Plans and Projects FtF Focus Countries Various Various

10. • Six countries: Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi,
Mozambique, Senegal, Tanzania
• 38 technologies are being
commercialized, especially seeds of
improved varieties of quality materials
• +10,000 demo plots
• 42 field days/seed fairs
• 100,000 households reached by ICT-
enabled extension services (radio,
mobile, low cost video, TV)
• On-line COMESA Regional Plant Variety
Catalog
• Support to local seed companies
SCALING SEEDS & TECHNOLOGIES PARTNERSHIP WITH THE
ALLIANCE FOR A GREEN REVOLUTION IN AFRICA (AGRA)

11. Seed Scaling Projects
Three examples of the strategies determined through stakeholder meetings:
Climate Resilient Maize – Drought negatively influences the
willingness of farmers to purchase inputs. The project works
through SMSE’s to increase availability and adoption of improved
seed. Project interventions include national and regional marketing
campaigns and technical support, small grants and cost recovered
foundation seed to SMSE’s.
Stress Tolerant Rice for Africa – Stakeholders
decided the investment needed to promote
adoption was in purifying lines and training
companies on quality seed production.
Cowpea for W Africa – The project emphasizes seed production by community
based organizations as out-growers for small seed companies and as
independent producers. It focuses on relieving constraints to early generation
seed access, increasing awareness of improved varieties and reducing
postharvest loss to make investment in improved varieties more profitable.

12. Senegal Case Study: Naatal Mbay
12
Better Seeds: Naatal Mbay promotes varieties like NERICA rice
(Yields up to 3X higher & seeds require less water)
Better Partnerships:
• Funding seed labs
• Promoting PPPs to establish private seed processing centers
• Training community farmers as certified seed producers
Better Results: 10,000 tons of certified rice, maize and millet seed –> meets the needs
of 180,000 small cereal farmers

13. www.feedthefuture.gov