Taking notes from Asia: transforming vegetable farming in tropical Africa through private sector initiative

Transcription

1 Taking notes from Asia: transforming vegetable farming in tropical Africa through private sector initiative Page 1 Bert van der Feltz, CEO, East-West Seed AFSTA Nairobi, Kenya 1 March 2016

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3 East-West Seed Multinational company with 30+ years experience Specializes in tropical vegetable varieties Introduced market-oriented plant breeding in Southeast Asia Local markets and local needs Strong R&D (15 stations in 7 countries). Quality driven. Smallholder farmers are our main clients. Our mission is to increase their income. Page 3

4 East-West Seed today Tropical zone East-West Seed holds leading market positions in the most important Southeast Asian markets. It has also expanded its business activities in India, China, Latin and South America, and Africa. It has 15 research centers in 7 countries. It has about 4,000 Page employees. 4

5 The opportunities we saw in Asia >30 years ago Vegetables are important in the Asian diet Growing population and economy Seed markets largely undeveloped Big potential for added value Page s Today same same Fast growing seed industry 250 million Asian farmers growing vegetables 85% of the world s smallholder farmers are in Asia

6 Smallholder farmers have a unique and important role in the world food system 1.9 hectares the average farm size in Africa Page 6 in Asia, it s 1.1 hectares

7 The challenges of smallholder farmers in Africa are the same in Asia Weak functioning of value chain Lack of access to inputs Smallholder farmers Lack of knowledge Lack of financial resources Small land holding Page 7

8 Increasing the income of smallholder farmers Access to quality seeds Better farm practices Higher income and productivity Page 8 8

9 East-West Seed in Africa R&D / breeding (Afrisem) Extension (SEVIA, GhanaVeg, 2SCALE, VSO-CASH, FairPlanet, NAFAKA, ICCO) Sales / distribution Page 9

10 R&D and Innovation Develop varieties appropriate to agronomic conditions and market preferences Local breeding programs Transfer knowledge to local breeders Opportunity to coordinate with local agricultural universities in variety development Field trials under farmer conditions Page 10

11 500 billion number of seeds sold in million number of Value Packs sold in 2014 High quality seeds offered in a range of packaging sizes that are suitable to farmers of different professional levels More than 30 million Happy Farmers

12 Market-based approach demand-driven production higher profitability for small-scale vegetable farmers Page 12 Market alignment and disseminating production know-how enables increased competitiveness

13 Case 1: Hot pepper in Myanmar Higher yields Ease of harvest Tolerant to stress and disease 13% hot pepper area East-West Seed variety Producing 450,000t/yr Generating USD 75m/yr at farm gate Doubling the incomes of 30,000 farmers (USD2,500 profit/farmer) Page 13

14 Case 2: Developing the TH corn market Sales volume of 300 MT seeds which can produce 360,000 MT fresh corn _ Niew Taptim 2013 BW Page 14 SW VW SW V 2010 Magic Sweet 2012 Farm gate value: 2.5 billion baht/yr or USD 70 M

15 Quality Seed Multiplier Comparison of profitability between local and hybrid cucumber in Cambodia Page 15 Variable Before introduction After introduction Seed Cost (USD/ha) U$25 U$131 Other inputs (USD/ha) U$750 U$1662 Marketable Yield (kg/ha) 16,000kg 26,000kg Farm gate price (USD/kg) U$0.13 U$0.163 Total Gross Income (USD/ha) U$2,080 U$4,225 Total Net Profit (USD/ha) U$ 1,225 U$ 2,431 Quality Seed Multiplier = 11 For every additional U$ spent on hybrid cucumber seeds, the farmer earns an additional U$11 profit compared to using the old variety

16 Agriculture extension is a precondition to opening and sustaining markets Smallholders as main clients Promoting technical rather than product info Changing farming practices to more profitable, sustainable techniques Creates foundations for future sales Page 16

17 Promoting good practices through key farmers Peer managed demonstrations Built up from traditional practices Long-term commitment Profitable and sustainable techniques Outreach through training events and field days Page 17

18 How can extension be made more effective? Public sector; facilitate, regulate and enabling environment Private sector; skills and technology NGO s; cost sharing, facilitation and trust building Page 18

19 Conclusion The private seed sector s role in transforming vegetable farming in tropical Africa Access to improved seeds + knowledg e Variety improvement through R&D Link food demand and supply (value chain) Extension & knowledge transfer Page 19

20 Page 20 Thank you