ISSD Briefing Note April 2013 Ethiopia Seed Entrepreneurship Assessment

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1 ISSD Briefing Note April 2013 Ethiopia Seed Entrepreneurship Assessment How does ISSD approach seed entrepreneurship? In September of 2012, the Integrated Seed Sector Development (ISSD) programme in Africa published briefing notes assessing the seed sectors in eight countries 1, aimed at informing policy-makers and practitioners on the realities of farmers, with the intention of influencing seed policies and programmes in becoming more coherent with the practices of farmers, and thereby more effective in addressing the diverse range of demands among seed consumers. ISSD recognizes the relevance of informal seed systems. It aims to better link informal and formal seed systems, and balance public and private sector involvement. ISSD endorses and supports a pluralistic approach to seed sector development, by identifying and characterizing a range of seed systems and work within these systems according to the structure of the seed value chain. The aim is to promote market orientation and entrepreneurship, and foster an enabling environment for the emergence of a diversity of international, national, and local seed businesses to contribute their strengths and operate in their specific niches. The driving forces are food security, biodiversity management, economic development, and the promotion of agricultural entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship is a strong incentive for investment and development in the seed sector, and can be a catalyst to improve the functioning and performance of seed value chains. Strengthening entrepreneurship in the seed sector requires an enabling environment for different types of seed systems, differing in operators and service providers. In order to support the design of seed programmes and policies that promote and/or strengthen entrepreneurship in a range of seed systems, decision-makers need to be able to recognize entrepreneurship in all its existing and potential forms. Assessing seed entrepreneurship in Africa Guided by the assessments of national seed sectors, experts from across all ISSD Africa countries were involved in the design of an approach to assess seed entrepreneurship in different clusters of seed systems, namely: the informal, intermediary and formal systems. In Ethiopia, the informal cluster involves the farmersaved seed system, with farmers producing, saving and exchanging seed amongst themselves. The intermediary cluster consists of local seed business, in which farmer groups produce seed for the local market, as well as certified seed on contract for larger suppliers. The formal cluster involves public seed enterprises, private seed producers and emerging private seed companies; all producing certified seed. See the previous Ethiopia seed sector assessment briefing note for more details. In each cluster, two indicator crops were selected for identifying value chains through which opportunities for entrepreneurship emerge. An assessment of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats relevant to the different forms of entrepreneurship is then carried out; and finally, projects and programmes aimed at promoting and/or strengthening seed entrepreneurship are evaluated according to the specific requirements of those entrepreneurs identified. 2 Accordingly, this note presents the seed entrepreneurship assessment in Ethiopia. Defining seed entrepreneurship Table 1 provides the descriptions of entrepreneurship according to the three different seed systems clusters in Ethiopia. 1 Briefing notes on Burundi, Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Uganda and Zambia are available at: 2 For further details on the assessment and the methodologies applied, reports are available upon request. See also, ISSD Africa Newsletter 3, December 2012, available at: Briefing Note: page 1

2 Table 1: Key topics identified by actors of the different clusters of seed systems Cluster Formal Intermediary Informal Focal crops Maize and wheat Potato, barley, and chickpea Teff and grain legumes (chickpea, faba bean and field pea) Key topics seed entrepreneurship Innovation and organization Enhanced service provision and social responsibility Profit orientation and risk management Organized group action and collective resource pooling Services for members Opportunity seeking and risk taking Innovation and adoption Livelihood and social value boosting Sensing opportunities and managing risk Description Creativity in variety selection according to agro-ecology and value chain opportunity Considering dynamism in seed demand Shopping around for new and appropriate technologies Appropriating new practices in seed production and marketing Exploiting untapped areas for demand creation and business Continuously engaging in enhancing competitiveness Providing improved services that satisfy end users Practising social responsibilities, which include: o aligning with public policies and strategies such as contributing to food security, and meeting the seed supply target set by the Growth and Transformation Plan of Ethiopia ( ), o supplying raw materials to agro-industry, and o creating jobs Managing risks related to market, social, environmental, and also policy dynamics Legally organized (governed by internal bylaws, having a recognised organizational structure and clear division of labour) Autonomous and accountable Willing to cluster lands and mobilize resources (including labour, capital, and agricultural inputs) Members' livelihood improvement through: o having a better investment and savings opportunity, o diversification of production and earnings, and o cooperation and capacity building in seed production for business Having the ability to envision the future Bridging the formal and informal domains Aspiring to professionalise and enter into formal domain Having market orientation Accessing opportunities for knowledge and skills acquisition Seeking mutual benefit Calculated risk taking Promoting new ideas and practices Being creative by doing things differently (e.g. teff row planting, reduced seeding rate) Being good observers Promoting livelihoods and social responsibility at community level Seeking a mechanism for diversifying income sources Undertaking profitable seed-related activities Considering community interests Looking for existing opportunities in farmers, agro-industries and/or export markets seed demands Taking calculated risks Promoting strong commitment in doing business Being trustworthy The key common topics defining entrepreneurship identified by all three clusters of seed systems are generalised as: (i) entrepreneurial skills and capacities; (ii) focus areas of engagement for good entrepreneurs; and (iii) the need to consider social responsibility and accountability for effective seed entrepreneurship. These perspectives are largely shared by relevant seed-related development programmes in Ethiopia. Key topics in defining seed entrepreneurship as identified by relevant programmes are: (i) actor-related, defining the characteristics and capacities of entrepreneurs, including professional, autonomous, well-organised and marketoriented; (ii) product-related (as an important area of engagement for good entrepreneurs) highly associated with innovating through introducing new varieties, crops and practices; and (iii) activities-related, including accountability and sustainability in terms of demand creation, risk management, and both social and environmental conscientiousness. Briefing Note: page 2

3 Seed value chains in the different clusters Table 2: Informal cluster seed value chain for teff and grain legumes (chickpea, faba bean and field pea) Operators (farmers, traders) Variety source (Basic) Seed source Own, relatives or neighbours, local market, and/or pre-extension and extension improved crop varieties demonstrations Often dominated by model farmers (both men and women) Improved varieties do reach farmers through markets, exchange, and/or pre-extension and extension demonstrations Services Local knowledge on varieties conservation and utilisation Enabling environment National Biodiversity Strategy encourages local germplasm conservation and utilisation (IBC) Although infrequent, participants of preextension crop technology programmes (NARS) and those contracted to public seed enterprises receive services Seed production and multiplication Seed dissemination and marketing (Model) Farmers Farm-saved, local informal markets, research-extension linkage (NARS), and extension (MoA/BoA) Shared/exchanged/ bartered with relatives and/or neighbours Often with important role for women No or very limited extension service provision Seed policy recognises co-existence of informal and formal seed systems Local information sharing Farmers are freely permitted to exchange seed The seed value chains for the informal, intermediary and formal seed system clusters are presented in Tables 3, 4, and 5, respectively. The key operators associated with each are: farmers themselves; primary cooperatives, unions and emerging local seed businesses; and public seed enterprises (ESE, ASE, OSE and SSE) and private seed companies, respectively. The seed value chain in the informal cluster is characterised by the dominant role of farmers themselves as the prevailing source, multiplier and disseminator of varieties and seed. In the Ethiopian context, there is great opportunity for accessing improved crop varieties through the vast variety demonstration and popularisation activities of the National Agricultural Research System (NARS; which incorporate the Ethiopian Agricultural Research Institute and the Regional Agricultural Research Institutes) and the extension services of the Ministry of Agriculture through the regional state Bureaus of Agriculture (BoAs). including training in seed production. Although the seed produced is mainly targeted for distribution among members and to local farmers, seed that achieves certification can enter into the formal systems. The formal production and dissemination of improved varieties of maize and wheat is dominated by the public seed enterprises, namely: Ethiopian Seed Enterprise, and the three (at present) regional seed enterprises of Amhara (ASE), Oromia (OSE) and Southern Nationalities,Nations and Peoples Region (SNNPR; known as South Seed Enterprise). Private seed companies also contribute to supply, and these can be grouped according to those that market their own varieties: Pioneer Hi-Bred and Seed-Co; and those dependent on the supply of public varieties: Agri-Ceft, Avallo and Anno. The contract seed multiplication schemes of both public and private seed companies are another important source for seed of improved varieties. The intermediary cluster of seed systems is considerably associated with the research and extension services of NARS and BoA, and is playing an increasingly important role in Local Seed Businesses (LSBs) development, through predominantly seed producer cooperatives. They provide farmers with recommended inputs and services, Briefing Note: page 3

4 Table 3: Intermediary cluster seed value chain for potato, barley and chickpea Operators (primary cooperatives, unions, and emerging local seed businesses) Services Enabling environment Variety source (Basic) Seed source Seed production and multiplication NARS NARS Farmers organised in groups (primary cooperatives, Local Seed Businesses [LSBs], Farmer Research Groups [FRGs], and other) Information on variety disseminated through pre-extension demonstration and popularisation activities of NARS; and through BoA extension services General crop research (NARS) and selected crop research by ESE Quality management by NARS Seed law and implementation rules and regulations are in place Variety release mechanism is in place Existence of plant breeders rights law, but implementation not yet in effect Seed policy allows NARS and licensed private seed companies to produce basic seed of publically released varieties Private seed companies permitted to produce basic seed of their own varieties that are officially released and/or registered Input supply through cooperatives BoA facilitated (through DAs) training on best agronomic practices Cooperative facilitated trainings Quality management by BoA extension and inspection services Seed quality control provisions are given by the seed law, rules and regulations, but with considerable challenges to enforcement due to the limited implementation capacity of MoA/BoA Financial services governed by credit law Seed dissemination and marketing Seed is sold through primary cooperatives to unions, NGOs and/or contractors (ESE, RSEs) Seed marketing services of primary cooperatives with limited storage and value addition Storage, value addition and marketing services of unions, NGOs and/or contractors Markets and marketing information linkages facilitated by extension Cooperative Promotion Agency supports seed producer cooperatives, including LSBs, through financial auditing services, organization management, facilitating market linkages and also access to credit through unions Licensing for seed sales is permitted by seed law, but yet to reach full effect Distribution and marketing regulations governed by agriculture policy, and both trade and seed law Credit law for output financing Seed entrepreneurship incentives The key incentives identified, which are believed to promote seed entrepreneurship in Ethiopia, irrespective of seed system, are: (i) pre-extension and wide demonstration of improved crop varieties by the public research and extension systems; (ii) virtually free access to public varieties for both public and private seed companies; (iii) the possibility of retaining seed for own use especially for contract growers; (iv) arrangement of value chain actors engagement in the seed sector, which is said to ensure mutual benefit; (v) attainability of better or premium prices for quality seed; and (vi) provision of capacity building both in terms of human capacity building, through training and experience-sharing visits, and also through construction of physical assets and infrastructure. Pre-extension demonstration activities promoted by the NARS have been a key incentive for all three clusters to engage in the production of seed for a wide range of crops and varieties. The most successful example in this regard is the nation-wide pre-extension and pre-scaling up activities of NARS in promoting the new teff variety Kuncho, which has generated considerable demand all across teff-growing areas of the country. This in turn has created a good opportunity for different actors to Briefing Note: page 4

5 Table 4: Formal cluster seed value chain for maize and wheat Operators (Public seed enterprises and private seed companies) Service providers Enabling environment Variety source Public research (NARS) provides companies access to improved varieties Pioneer Hi-Bred and SeedCo private seed companies have their own hybrid maize varieties NARS information on publically released varieties Companies knowledge on varieties (Basic) Seed source NARS and ESE, and some private companies like Pioneer Hi-Bred and SeedCo have their own access to basic seeds Sourced through NARS and/or within company Quality management of basic seed, subject to internal and external regulation (certification) Seed law and implementation rules and regulations are in place Variety release mechanism is in place Existence of plant breeders rights law, but implementation not yet in effect Basic seed production and quality management governed by seed law, rules and regulations Seed production and multiplication Public seed enterprises (ESE and RSEs) and private seed companies Seed companies provide inputs, training, and seed inspection services to their growers Companies also develop financial institutions for credit provision BoA evaluates the competency of private seed producers and awards certificates, provides certification services, and avails inspection reports from the regional seed laboratories Certification based upon seed quality standards as specified in seed law, regulations and standards Seed dissemination and marketing Through cooperatives and their unions Pioneer Hi-Bred and SeedCo private seed companies have their own marketing networks and dealerships Formal markets established, regulated and developed Seed import and export Financial institutions for credit provision carrying government guarantee Extension and promotion of quality seed and varieties (BoA and NARS) BoA certifies quality Licensing in seed trade & sales competency (provided by seed law), but not yet reaching full effect of implementation Export/import permits provided (Ministry of Trade) Phytosanitary certification (MoA) Distribution and marketing regulations governed by agriculture policy, and both trade and seed law Piloted direct seed marketing is also introduced and gaining acceptance by many seed value chain actors and policy makers engage in the production of quality seed of the Kuncho variety to fulfil demand. In Ethiopia, public research is the main source of varieties and current practice allows all actors in the seed system to access these released varieties at nominal prices (slightly higher than the prevailing certified seed price). There is also the case that selected private and public companies have become licensed to produce basic seed for the production of certified seed of a number of hybrid maize varieties. The improved access to different varieties has promoted seed entrepreneurship by creating a range of suitable options available for myriad agro-ecological and farmer preferences. All the public seed enterprises (ESE, ASE, OSE, and SSE), and many of the private companies too, are Briefing Note: page 5

6 engaging in contractual outgrower arrangements. These contracts make the provision of allowing farmers to retain seed for their own use, which has helped incentivise participation in commercial seed growing. The same holds true for seed producer cooperatives and local seed businesses, which all permit the retention of seed for individual use. Contract seed production arrangements between the public seed enterprises and farmers' cooperative unions are executed in a manner that reportedly ensures mutual benefit among actors. In addition, such arrangements promote seed entrepreneurship through the increased volumes of quality demanded seed, supplied to members of the cooperatives and also to the customers of the seed enterprises. It has allowed cooperative unions to produce seed and yield economic benefits through sales, to supply locally produced seed to its members, and to achieve better crop yields from the use of improved seed. However, this scheme faces the challenge of declining rates of recovery of the seed produced by participating farmers. Cooperative members limit their supply to cooperative unions, which in turn have to default on their agreed contracts with public seed enterprises. Cooperative members are increasingly dissatisfied with the prices offered to them. Whilst more attractive prices has been identified as an incentive for seed entrepreneurship, considering the current example, which operates under a semi-regulated seed price-setting mechanism, the potential for more attractive price setting is systemically challenged. Another key incentive identified for the promotion of seed entrepreneurship in Ethiopia is the dedication to capacity building in agriculture by a range of (non-) governmental and international organisations. Training and experience-sharing visits promote seed business opportunities and management, and support the widescale demonstration activities of NARS, which aims at improving the national demand for quality seed. The construction of agricultural industrial facilities and infrastructure, especially those key to seed businesses, such as storage facilities, is a strong incentive for engagement in the seed sector. Value chain support is also provided for such staple food crops like maize and wheat, as well as cash crops like chickpea, durum wheat, malt barley and sesame, from different projects/donors stimulating seed entrepreneurship in the country. Improving seed production and services through entrepreneurship The key interventions identified in promoting seed production through entrepreneurship especially in the informal and intermediary clusters are related to: (i) the promotion of group action; and the (ii) diversification and expansion of the type of crop varieties for which seed is produced. Case study 1: Local seed business (LSB) development for diversifying and improving crop production in Ethiopia Promoting group action among small-scale farmers is identified as a promising organisation for seed entrepreneurship in Ethiopia. This is especially so for the production of seed of crop varieties for which there is presently limited commercial interest by private seed companies, and which public seed enterprises cannot address due to resource constraints. To this effect, the ISSD Ethiopia Programme has organized 34 LSBs during in Amhara, Oromia, SNNPR and Tigray regional states of Ethiopia. The ISSD programme has the vision that these LSBs are technically capable in preand post-harvest practices of seed production; marketoriented in producing locally demanded crop varieties; well-organized in business management; and have the necessary infrastructure and strategic linkages to input and service providers for overall self-reliance in their entrepreneurship. The programme has as target to organize an additional LSBs during the period in Ethiopia, through strategic partnerships with key organisations. Key partners include universities, research centres, and NGOs. It is interesting to note that an additional 120 LSBs have subsequently been organised thus far in the four regional states where ISSD operates. The LSBs are engaged in seed production of cereals, pulses, oilseeds, seed potato and onion. The LSBs are able to supply quality seeds of potato, groundnut, and open-pollinated maize, which are not commonly produced by private and public seed enterprises. The overall volume of seed supplied by LSBs to the national supply of cereals, pulses and oilseeds during the period was over 5.5%. Potato seed tubers are available in Ethiopia largely due to the involvement of LSBs in their production. The success of local seed businesses in Ethiopia is highly associated with the organisation of farmers in clustering their land for seed production, and in gaining the necessary expertise for ensuring seed quality and associated business management. Linked to their area of engagement in the seed business is the diversification of their crop variety portfolio for improved adaptation to local and changing agro-ecologies. Local seed businesses in Ethiopia should promote quality seed utilisation of, predominantly, early maturing and also superior crop varieties that tolerate diverse abiotic and biotic stresses. This can most effectively be achieved by local seed businesses, whereby entrepreneurial farmers organisations produce the seed of those varieties most favourable for production in that local context. Key to achieving their ambition is the reliable and cost-effective access to early generation seed of the latest and most diverse range of suitable varieties for crops in demand, among other important input and service supply linkages. Briefing Note: page 6

7 Improving service provision to seed value chains through entrepreneurship For those actors in the informal and intermediary seed systems that have limited financial and technical capacities, but are nevertheless interested in engaging in the seed business, capacity building in agribusiness is a key intervention area. In addition to accessing a wide range of varieties for building their competitiveness in the seed business, as argued in the case study above, local seed businesses require additional support services for building their entrepreneurial capacities and greater commitment in raising internal resources for investments in their businesses. Government and non-government led facilitation of infrastructure development is found to be an important factor in promoting seed entrepreneurship with particular regard to hardware in irrigation, storage and seed processing. Improved access to such infrastructure is complementary to supporting entrepreneurial initiatives in the intermediary and informal seed systems, by reducing the costs (and risks) associated with the seed business. Whilst such capacity development is perhaps a more obvious priority, capacity building in agribusiness skills is linked to the above-mentioned area of intervention in local seed business promotion (first case study). Case study 2: Business development services for building agribusiness capacities in the informal and intermediary seed systems Business Development Services (BDS) is identified as a relatively absent, but important service delivery area for supporting seed entrepreneurship in Ethiopia. Building capacity of actors in the informal and intermediary seed systems to invest in and manage their seed business, by combining both technical seed production skills with the know-how for improving their market orientation and business strategy, and planning, is a key area of engagement for the agribusiness consulting services sector. One of the key considerations in BDS for the development of the informal and intermediary seed systems is guidance to emerging entrepreneurs in targeting strategic market niches, with respect to unnecessary competition with established private and public seed producers. Ideally, there should be complementary business integration across these three systems. Frequent promotion of newly released varieties into the farming system will make the informal system more resilient, contributing to on-farm agrobiodiversity conservation. The latter point can be strengthened by making more and more participatory plant breeding a common practice, empowering farmers in variety development and variety release processes. Practising participatory plant breeding (PPB) has already demonstrated that locally adapted barley varieties are successfully released and widely adopted by farmers in a short period of time in the Tigray region of Ethiopia. Participatory variety evaluation and selection (PVS) by local seed businesses has significantly increased their crop variety portfolio, contributing to local food security and income generation from sales of seeds. Still, there is more to do in PPB and PVS given the diversity of farming systems and types of crops grown in the country; and at the same time, there are a number of actors (research centres, universities, NGOs and GOs as well as development partners) to materialize these efforts. What is required is partnership and integrating efforts and resources. There is a strong need to invest in local seed businesses as much as possible, instead of emergency seed by actors. Policy makers need to align seed sector actors towards this investment pathway. Impact of the enabling environment on seed entrepreneurship The policy issues that are identified as positive promoters and/or supporters of seed entrepreneurship in Ethiopia are: (i) the clear recognition of the importance and acceptance of the informal cluster, which would allow greater farmer-to-farmer seed exchange; (ii) the biodiversity regulations of the country that support the conservation of local varieties, mainly linked with strengthening the informal cluster; (iii) the cooperative law, which promotes group action in the seed business; (iv) the variety release and maintenance regulations, which allows seed actors to appropriate better performing varieties; and (v) the access and benefit-sharing law also promotes speciality markets for many crop varieties in the country such as indigenous root and tuber crops and crops having unique culinary significance. The seed law along with its regulations and directives provides the general framework for the operation of the formal seed systems, including all regulatory aspects. The seed law lays the grounds for fair competition, quality regulation, pricing and marketing behaviour, which is crucial to the design and implementation of actor-level entrepreneurial activities. A key example is the increased engagement of all private seed companies in developing and privately owning varieties that are superior and/or unique in the market, as compared to those companies marketing publically released varieties. Currently, two private seed companies (Pioneer Hi-Bred and SeedCo) market their own hybrid maize varieties according to their specific seed marketing strategies. The ubiquitous exchange of seed from farmer to farmer plays an important role in the implementation of biodiversity regulation in Ethiopia. Managing the conservation of genetic resources, especially for crops for which the country is the centre of origin and diversity, is an ever important feature in seed outgrower schemes involving small-scale farmers. The ex-situ genetic resources management programmes with smallscale farmers by the Institute of Biodiversity Conservation (IBC) and the seed bank-based local seed management programme promoted by Ethio-Organic Briefing Note: page 7

8 Seed Action (EOSA), a local NGO, are some of the examples for entrepreneurial opportunities in addressing the (agro)biodiversity issue. The relatively strong variety release and maintenance regulations positively influence entrepreneurial opportunities as they allow operators to identify with confidence preferred varieties based upon release parameters. For example, if one considers the existing bread wheat varieties released for highland agroecology with resistance to rust disease, there are more than five (including Danda'a, Kakaba, ET-13A2, Madda Walabu, and Digelu) with close productivity potential and differentiation in other attributes. Since there is a relatively strong release mechanism, the varieties released are unique in one or more attributes; once these are released, there is strong regulation of the maintenance of these varieties by NARS, thus generally one can easily attain the source seed of the variety preferred. This is one of the enabling factors to promote a market-based seed business in Ethiopia. The existence of cooperative law and cooperative promotion services in the country are important enabling factors, as they support the establishment of seed producer cooperatives based upon defined principles mainly linked with the mechanism of governance and resource sharing. This has paramount importance in promoting group action among smallscale farmers, which is key in terms of financial and physical resource mobilization, ease of access to public services and finance, knowledge sharing and increasing bargaining power linked to economies of scale. Recommendations for making policies, programmes and practices more effective in promoting and strengthening entrepreneurship The assessment of seed entrepreneurship in Ethiopia conducted with the support of the ISSD Africa and ISSD Ethiopia programmes, from which this briefing note has been synthesised, focused on how seed entrepreneurship is understood among different actors within selected clusters of seed systems in the country. In addition, the assessment sought to find opportunities through which seed entrepreneurship can be promoted and supported for the improved performance of the seed sector in Ethiopia. Accordingly, key recommendations are drawn towards ensuring that policies, programmes and practices become more effective in promoting and strengthening seed entrepreneurship in Ethiopia. In terms of promoting seed entrepreneurship through the provision of incentives, it is recommended to strengthen the following mechanisms, which are believed to have brought about cases of success: (i) pre-extension and the wider demonstration of improved crop varieties for demand creation; (ii) access to public varieties for all seed entrepreneurs; (iii) arrangement of the engagement of value chain actors in a manner that ensures shared benefits; (iv) provision of better/premium prices for quality seed; and (v) capacity building both in terms of human resources and infrastructure across the seed value chain. In order to promote seed production and service delivery through entrepreneurship, especially in the informal and intermediary clusters of the seed system, the following recommendations are identified: (i) promote group action; (ii) support the diversification and expansion of crop variety portfolios; (iii) facilitate the required infrastructure developments mainly in irrigation, storage and seed-processing facilities; (iv) build capacity in business development services; (v) facilitate market development and market linkages; and (vi) improve access to credit. Promoting and strengthening seed entrepreneurship in the informal, intermediary and formal clusters: The following intervention strategies for addressing key gaps in the policy and enabling environment are crosscutting. a) Develop agribusiness skills of operators in the seed business through training and experience-sharing; b) Promote the contribution of each of the three clusters in fulfilling the huge unmet demand for different crops and varieties at the national level; c) Improve access to capital, especially for the intermediary and formal sector operators; d) Strengthen the linkage among all three clusters on a complementary basis. Strategies in promoting and strengthening seed entrepreneurship in the informal cluster: a) Promote more localised and robust seed systems for improving the diversification of crops and varieties for which the intermediary and formal clusters are not involved and for building resilience to climate and environmental change; b) Promote cost-effective seed quality assurance mechanisms; and c) Support the design and proliferation of costeffective seed storage facilities. Strategies in promoting and strengthening seed entrepreneurship in the intermediary cluster: a) Promote more autonomous and professional cooperative-managed local seed businesses; b) Facilitate the development of decentralised facilities for improved seed value addition, including: cleaning and differentiated packaging (also according to packaging size); and c) Mechanise seed production through different approaches, including machinery purchase, hire and/or rotation. Briefing Note: page 8

9 Strategies in promoting and strengthening seed entrepreneurship in the formal cluster: a) Evaluate the fairness and sustainability of competition among seed entrepreneurs and consider alternative incentive-based access to varieties such as breeders and exclusive rights; b) Engage in a participatory consultative process for effectively designing regulatory systems for quality control (both internal and external), certification and seed marketing; c) Support the development of business strategies for both public and private seed companies to diversify their engagement in different markets and agroecologies; and d) Strategically position the public and national private seed enterprises in the sector, also with regard to the responsibility for producing basic seed of publically bred and released varieties. Authors: Dawit Alemu, Yohannes Tesfaye, Amsalu Ayana and Gareth Borman Picture credit: Marja Thijssen (CDI) ISSD Africa II Ethiopia task force and team: Dawit Alemu, Ethiopian Institute of Agriculture, representing the public sector Lemma Desalegn, Ethiopian Seed Growers and Processors Association, representing the private sector Shimekit Maru, Self Help Africa, representing the NGO sector Fetien Abay, Mekelle University, representing knowledge institutions Amsalu Ayana, ISSD Ethiopia II Programme, programme-director Marja Thijssen, Centre for Development Innovation, Wageningen University and Research centre (CDI), the Netherlands Gareth Borman, Centre for Development Innovation, Wageningen University and Research centre (CDI), the Netherlands ISSD Africa editorial team: Gareth Borman, Marja Thijssen, Elizabeth O Keeffe and Mundie Salm Centre for Development Innovation of Wageningen University and Research centre, the Netherlands ISSD Africa II is supported by: Briefing Note: page 9