IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jfpoli/v35y2010i3p195-201.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Persistent myths about emergency seed aid

Author

Listed:
  • Sperling, Louise
  • McGuire, Shawn J.

Abstract

Seed interventions are the major agricultural response during emergency and recovery phases of humanitarian relief. They are implemented by diverse agencies, and widely promoted: for instance the FAO alone managed 400 such projects between 2003 and 2005. However, seed aid suffers from a lack of critical attention, perpetuating widespread myths among practitioners, policymakers, and the larger humanitarian community. This paper challenges five predominant myths about seed aid: (1) seed aid is needed whenever food aid is; (2) seed aid can do no harm; (3) disasters wipe out seed systems; (4) effective implementation is a straightforward logistical exercise, and; (5) improved seed is the best form of aid. These myths are juxtaposed with recent empirical work across a range of countries, particularly in Eastern and Southern Africa. The perpetuation of such myths highlights a serious absence of scrutiny of emergency seed aid, and helps explain why such aid is repeated year after year in many sites, with little apparent positive effect. The paper argues that the invisibility of seed aid is a major cause for the lack of oversight and concludes that donors and farmer beneficiaries must become centrally involved in seed aid governance.

Suggested Citation

  • Sperling, Louise & McGuire, Shawn J., 2010. "Persistent myths about emergency seed aid," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 195-201, June.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:jfpoli:v:35:y:2010:i:3:p:195-201
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306-9192(10)00011-4
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Langyintuo, Augustine S. & Setimela, Peter, 2009. "Assessing the effectiveness of a technical assistance program: The case of maize seed relief to vulnerable households in Zimbabwe," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 377-387, August.
    2. Louise Sperling & H David Cooper & Tom Remington, 2008. "Moving Towards More Effective Seed Aid," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(4), pages 586-612, April.
    3. Tripp, Robert & Louwaars, Niels, 1997. "Seed regulation: choices on the road to reform," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 22(5), pages 433-446, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ola Tveitereid Westengen & Kristine Skarbø & Teshome Hunduma Mulesa & Trygve Berg, 2018. "Access to genes: linkages between genebanks and farmers’ seed systems," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 10(1), pages 9-25, February.
    2. Coomes, Oliver T. & McGuire, Shawn J. & Garine, Eric & Caillon, Sophie & McKey, Doyle & Demeulenaere, Elise & Jarvis, Devra & Aistara, Guntra & Barnaud, Adeline & Clouvel, Pascal & Emperaire, Laure & , 2015. "Farmer seed networks make a limited contribution to agriculture? Four common misconceptions," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 41-50.
    3. Nelson, Munyaka & Upenyu, Mazarura & Brighton, Mvumi, 2017. "A compelling case for seed enterprises as a tool for rural development in the smallholder farming sector," African Journal of Rural Development (AFJRD), AFrican Journal of Rural Development (AFJRD), vol. 2(2), June.
    4. J.P.B. Lillesø & C. Harwood & Abayneh Derero & L. Graudal & J. M. Roshetko & R. Kindt & S. Moestrup & W. O. Omondi & N. Holtne & A. Mbora & P. van Breugel & I. K. Dawson & R. Jamnadass & H. Egelyng, 2018. "Why institutional environments for agroforestry seed systems matter," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 36(S1), pages 89-112, March.
    5. Yingjie Song & Qiong Fang & Devra Jarvis & Keyu Bai & Dongmei Liu & Jinchao Feng & Chunlin Long, 2019. "Network Analysis of Seed Flow, a Traditional Method for Conserving Tartary Buckwheat ( Fagopyrum tataricum ) Landraces in Liangshan, Southwest China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(16), pages 1-14, August.
    6. Sperling, Louise & Louwaars, Niels & de Ponti, Orlando & Smale, Melinda & Baributsa, Dieudonne & van Etten, Jacob, 2020. "Viewpoint: COVID-19 and seed security response now and beyond," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Fredrick Bagamba & Proscovia R. Ntakyo & Geoffrey Otim & David J. Spielman & Bjorn Van Campenhout, 2023. "Policy and performance in Uganda's seed sector: Opportunities and challenges," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 41(3), May.
    2. Adrien Hervouet & Marc Baudry, 2011. "Promoting innovation in the seed market and biodiversity: the role of IPRs and commercialization rules," Post-Print hal-02012239, HAL.
    3. Tripp, Robert & Rohrbach, David, 2001. "Policies for African seed enterprise development," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 26(2), pages 147-161, April.
    4. Adu-Gyamfi Poku & Regina Birner & Saurabh Gupta, 2018. "Why do maize farmers in Ghana have a limited choice of improved seed varieties? An assessment of the governance challenges in seed supply," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 10(1), pages 27-46, February.
    5. Spielman, David J. & Kolady, Deepthi E. & Cavalieri, Anthony & Rao, N. Chandrasekhara, 2014. "The seed and agricultural biotechnology industries in India: An analysis of industry structure, competition, and policy options," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 88-100.
    6. J.P.B. Lillesø & C. Harwood & Abayneh Derero & L. Graudal & J. M. Roshetko & R. Kindt & S. Moestrup & W. O. Omondi & N. Holtne & A. Mbora & P. van Breugel & I. K. Dawson & R. Jamnadass & H. Egelyng, 2018. "Why institutional environments for agroforestry seed systems matter," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 36(S1), pages 89-112, March.
    7. Kamanda, Josey & Birner, Regina & Bantilan, Cynthia, 2017. "The “efficient boundaries” of international agricultural research: A conceptual framework with empirical illustrations," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 78-85.
    8. Langyintuo, Augustine S. & Setimela, Peter, 2009. "Assessing the effectiveness of a technical assistance program: The case of maize seed relief to vulnerable households in Zimbabwe," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 377-387, August.
    9. Barriga, Alicia & Fiala, Nathan, 2020. "The supply chain for seed in Uganda: Where does it go wrong?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 130(C).
    10. Spielman, David J. & Kennedy, Adam, 2016. "Towards better metrics and policymaking for seed system development: Insights from Asia's seed industry," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 111-122.
    11. Barriga, Alicia & Fiala, Nathan, 2018. "The supply chain for seed in Uganda: Where does it all go wrong?," Working Paper series 290139, University of Connecticut, Charles J. Zwick Center for Food and Resource Policy.
    12. Coomes, Oliver T. & McGuire, Shawn J. & Garine, Eric & Caillon, Sophie & McKey, Doyle & Demeulenaere, Elise & Jarvis, Devra & Aistara, Guntra & Barnaud, Adeline & Clouvel, Pascal & Emperaire, Laure & , 2015. "Farmer seed networks make a limited contribution to agriculture? Four common misconceptions," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 41-50.
    13. Spielman, David J. & Byerlee, Derek & Alemu, Dawit & Kelemework, Dawit, 2010. "Policies to promote cereal intensification in Ethiopia: The search for appropriate public and private roles," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 185-194, June.
    14. Spielman, David J. & Smale, Melinda, 2017. "Policy options to accelerate variety change among smallholder farmers in South Asia and Africa South of the Sahara," IFPRI discussion papers 1666, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    15. repec:fpr:export:1343 is not listed on IDEAS
    16. Baudry Marc & Hervouet Adrien, 2016. "Innovation in the Seed Market: The Role of IPRs and Commercialization Rules," Journal of Agricultural & Food Industrial Organization, De Gruyter, vol. 14(1), pages 51-68, May.
    17. Tun, Than & Kennedy, Adam & Nischan, Ulrike, 2015. "Promoting Agricultural Growth in Myanmar: A Review of Policies and an Assessment of Knowledge Gaps," Food Security International Development Papers 230983, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.
    18. Spielman, David J. & Zambrano, Patricia, 2013. "Policy, investment, and partnerships for agricultural biotechnology research in Africa: Emerging evidence," IFPRI book chapters, in: Falck-Zepeda, Jose Benjamin & Gruère, Guillaume P. & Sithole-Niang, Idah (ed.), Genetically modified crops in Africa: Economic and policy lessons from countries south of the Sahara, chapter 7, pages 183-205, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    19. Ola Tveitereid Westengen & Kristine Skarbø & Teshome Hunduma Mulesa & Trygve Berg, 2018. "Access to genes: linkages between genebanks and farmers’ seed systems," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 10(1), pages 9-25, February.
    20. Yigezu A. Yigezu & Zewdie Bishaw & Abdoul Aziz Niane & Jeffrey Alwang & Tamer El-Shater & Mohamed Boughlala & Aden Aw-Hassan & Wuletaw Tadesse & Filippo M. Bassi & Ahmed Amri & Michael Baum, 2021. "Institutional and farm-level challenges limiting the diffusion of new varieties from public and CGIAR centers: The case of wheat in Morocco," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 13(6), pages 1359-1377, December.
    21. Takeshima, Hiroyuki, 2014. "Importance of rice research and development in rice seed policies: Insights from Nigeria:," IFPRI discussion papers 1343, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jfpoli:v:35:y:2010:i:3:p:195-201. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/foodpol .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.