Uganda National Seed Strategy 2014/15-2019/20.

In order to operationalize the National Seed Policy (NSP) promoted in 2014 by the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF), has been elaborated this National Seed Strategy (NSS) which contains detailed activities, tasks and budgets and links them to the annual and medium term national planning and budgeting processes to be achieved over the next 5 years.
The overall objective of this Strategy towards the NSP is pursued as follows (i) providing a clear vision of where the Government wants the seed sector to be in the short and medium term; (ii) elaborating the activities and tasks that will be implemented to achieve the NSP stated objectives and strategies; (iii) explaining the expected outputs, outcomes and impacts of implementing the NSS; (iv) assigning institutions and organizations the roles and responsibilities they will play in implementing each of the activities defined; (v) providing indicative costs; and (vi) defining the implementation, monitoring, evaluation and reporting mechanisms.
The Vision of the National Seed Policy at the base of this Strategy is “A competitive, profitable and sustainable seed sector where farmers access affordable quality seed and planting materials”. The consequent Mission is “To create a well-regulated seed sector that ensures availability of and access to safe and high quality seed and planting materials under pluralistic seed systems”. The main strategic goals of the NSP regard (i) seeds quality; (ii) seed sector regulation framework; and (iii) various roles and responsibilities. The objectives of the Strategy are organized under 6 main areas as follows (1) Research and Development aiming at (i) generating new commercial and food security varieties; (2) Conservation of Plant Genetic Resources aiming at (i) sustainable utilization and protection of the national plant genetic resources and (ii) promoting the conservation of local varieties, indigenous knowledge, and practices through community genetic resource management; (3) Seed Production and Conditioning aiming at (i) multiplying and marketing high quality seed; (ii) increasing the availability of and access to quality seed of preferred varieties; and (iii) enhancing the production of quality seed within the informal system; (4) Seed distribution and Marketing aiming at (i) increasing the uptake of certified and Quality Declared Seed Class (QDS) by farmers and (ii) enhancing the national competitiveness in regional and international seed trade; (5) Seed Quality Control aiming at (i) ensuring quality control along the seed and QDS value chain; and (6) Seed Science and Knowledge aiming at (i) developing human resource for the seed sector development and (ii) enhancing participation by men, women and youth in seed marketing for Quality Declared Seed.
To help eliminate hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition, the Ministry seeks for (i) promoting and building capacity of farmers, community groups and local seed businesses to produce and market quality seed with the focus on crops and varieties that have a high food security value; (ii) supporting the development of food security crop varieties through public breeding programs; and (iii) promoting the development and use of locally adapted indigenous varieties, to provide for national food and nutrition security.
In order to make agriculture more productive and sustainable, main actions shall aim at (i) supporting and promoting development and use of new varieties for production and marketing of improved varieties and quality seed; and (ii) providing for exchange of germplasm for crop research and development purposes, while avoiding introduction of seed borne pests and diseases and undesirable plant genes that could affect agricultural production and productivity.
The Strategy highly focuses on interventions to enable more inclusive and efficient agricultural and food systems through (i) promoting the protection and preservation of indigenous knowledge of local varieties and effectively protecting the intellectual property rights of local communities on traditional varieties and traditional breeding under a new legal framework; (ii) supporting the development of community seed banks; (iii) supporting the mapping and creation of variety registers within communities and at national level; (iv) supporting Ugandan breeders to source genetic materials from international breeding institutes and /or from other countries; (v) providing for Plant Breeders Rights as provided for under the Plant Variety Protection Law, also supporting the plant Breeders Associations; (vi) promoting local seed selection and preservation methodologies; (vii) developing a system which enables different rights on public varieties through exclusive rights, shared rights or any other inclusive system that is deemed most beneficial to increase the adoption rates of new varieties by farmers; (viii) strengthening modalities for coordination of public and private research and extension service providers for effective transfer and dissemination of seed related technologies; (ix) ensuring enforcement of all regulations regarding seed production, storage processing, chemical applications and residues on the Ugandan market to create an international reputation for the country as a good source of seed; (x) supporting and strengthening linkages between seed research and plant breeding programs and farmer groups producing and marketing food security crops; (xi) promoting participatory research and variety improvement to increase productivity and market development of farmer preferred varieties; (xii) promoting and building capacity of farmer and community groups including those led by women or youth to conserve crop varieties that have a high food security value; and (xiii) facilitating youth, women and other vulnerable groups to strategically intervene in enhancing availability of quality seed.
The resilience of livelihoods to disasters shall be increased by (i) ensuring that the National Agricultural Research System (NARS) maintains stocks necessary for the conservation of introduced and local plant genetic material and improved varieties to provide for seed security and mitigate against natural disasters; and (ii) adopting clear guidelines to supply seed in case of calamities.