The designations employed and the presentation of the material in this document do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the United Nations or the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations concerning legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. In any discussion of agricultural development strategies, the subject of seed has a unique capacity to draw attention and interest.
Seed is the primordial input, the embodiment of past harvests and the promise of future ones.
It is not surprising that seed is a prominent feature of many proposals for programmes and projects concerned with improving the productivity of limited-resource farmers. In addition, efforts to strengthen the private sector in developing country agriculture often target the seed industry. However, these various seed initiatives have had relatively little impact on the majority of resource-poor farmers. In recognition of the potential threat to crop genetic resources arising from modern crop improvement, countries will need to be assisted to enhance their germplasm conservation practices to safeguard adapted local and improved varieties. Essential factors necessary to establish an enabling environment for the development of the seed industry in SSA, especially the growth of the private seed sector, are relevant and effective seed legislation including provisions for intellectual property rights and seed quality control.