forage seed development in a historic perspective: building a case for more support diriba geleti...

Forage Seed Development in A Historic Perspective: Building a Case for More

Support

Diriba Geleti

ILRI, Nov. 30, 2015

Line up of Presentation

1. Relevant Events Related to Forage Seed Development in Ethiopia

2. Functional and Structural Dimensions of Forage Seed System in Ethiopia

3. Functional Imperfections and Systemic Problems Embedding in Ethiopian Forage Seed System

4. Conclusions and implications for the Envisaged Program Design

1. Relevant Events Related to Forage Seed Development in Ethiopia

1970-1980: CADU/ARDU: Heifers delivery + forage/forage seed

1971-1975: WADU: breeding services + forage/forage seed

1974-1991: Dairy coops in selected milk sheds + forage/seed options

1987-1991: SDDP: Heifer distribution together + forage/seed interventions

1988-1994: 4th FLDP: significant attention given to forage/forage seed

1999-2002: NLDP: remarkable investments on forage/forage seed

USDA supported ACDI/VOCA FEED-I and FEED-II Projects: forage systems; forage nurseries

2011-2015: GTP I: Feed development considered as key component of LSK extension

2012-2015: AGP-LMD Project: Improve income and nutritional status through investment in livestock value chains (meat, dairy, hides), capacity building on forage production as priority area

2013-2018: LIVES: enhanced income of farmers through increased and sustained market off-take of high value livestock commodities

October 2015: Ministry of Livestock and Fishery Resources: ambitious year 2020 feed/forage seed plans to overcome forage/seed shortages

Despite these efforts of past and present, the reality on the ground is that the vast majority of farmers do not use improved forages at present: Why?

• What were the structural and functional weaknesses of forage seed programs/systems in the past and how did these hinder the success of the programs?

• What systemic policy tools are required in the design of a successful forage seed

development programs in the future?

“...production of improved forage species ... depends on the availability of certified forage seed, delivered through a well-functioning and regulated commercial seed industry, with affordable prices...” (Concept Note, Page 1)

Sustainable access to certified forage seeds entails dynamic, inter-linked, harmonized and well coordinated structural elements of forage seed economy: structural dimensions

Who (actors); nature of actor’s interactions; rules of the game influencing interactions; supporting infrastructures

Sustainable access to certified forage seeds also requires well functioning and regulated forage seed value chains: functional dimensions

Entrepreneurial; knowledge development; knowledge exchange; guidance of the search; market formation; resource mobilization; Advocacy/legitimacy creation

Success of future forage seed schemes depends on proper detection of systemic failures that hindered the hitherto programs and determine suitable systemic instruments for future consideration:

This suggests the need for:

Analyzing the structural and functional dimensions of the past forage seed programs;

Pinpointing functional and systemic failures that constrained their progress;

And recommend appropriate systemic instruments for future consideration in forage seed development program design.

2. Unraveling systemic problems: Structural-functional analysis framework

2.Coupled functional -structural analysis

3. Pinpointing systemic problems: actors;

interactions; institutions; policy and support

structures

4. Suggest systemic policy instruments

1. Mapping structural elements and their capabilities: actors;

interactions; institutions; policy and support

structures

3. Outputs: Structural elements of Ethiopian forage seed system

Production /Entrepreneurial

Actors

Seed Technology Dissemination

Actors

Seed Technology Generation Actors

Forage Seed Demand Side Actors

Forage Seed System Support Structures

3. Outputs: Systemic problems embedding in the Ethiopian forage seed system

Absence of vibrant entrepreneurial actors in forage seed value chain = missing actor problem

Weak influence of seed system actors on the formulation and execution of forage seed agenda and lack of the culture of joint learning processes = Demand articulation failure

Actors locked into their relationships resulting in shortsightedness and blockage of external new ideas and this keeping out fruitful collaborations of forage seed system actors = Strong interaction failure

Weak interaction failure: seed system actors not well coordinated in fruitful cycles of learning and innovation

Problems associated with either laws, regulations, procedures or other formalized rules (formal institutions) hindering the progress of forage seed system = formal institutional failure

Informal rules, common habits, routines and shared norms/values (informal institutions) hindering forage seed system progress = informal institutional failure

Lack of capabilities of forage seed system actors to adapt to new and changing circumstances and opportunities = Capability failure

3. Outputs: Systemic problems embedding in the structural elements ...

• Lack of transparency in forage seed market chain; problems associated with the positions of and relations between market actors = Market structure failure

• Inadequacies of the physical, knowledge and financial support services = Infrastructural failure

• Lack of shared vision and inability of collective coordination of fragmented seed system actors = directionality failure

• Coordination and coherence problems at different policy levels in forage seed systems = policy coordination failures

• Insufficient ability of the forage seed system to engage actors in a self-governance process, to monitor progress against the forage seed transformational goals, and to anticipate and develop adaptation strategies = Reflexivity failure

3. Outputs: Functions of forage seed system identified through the perspective of structural elements of the seed system

• Entrepreneurial functions

• Knowledge development functions

• Knowledge exchange functions

• Guidance of the search (policy and strategy to target resources for enhancing forage seed system)

• Market creation functions for forage seed

• Resource mobilization function for facilitating/strengthening forage seed system

• Advocacy/lobby to counteract resistance to emerging forage seed system development: Legitimacy creation function

4. Outputs: Coupled functional – structural analysis of forage seed system

Function Pinpointed functional imperfections

Systemic problems inducing the functional imperfections

Entrepreneurial function • Limited number of private forage seed production actors

• Missing actor problem•Hard institutional failures

• limited interaction among existing entrepreneurs in the seed system

• Weak interaction problem

• Lack of market for seed of the nascent private seed producers

• Market structure failure • Hard and soft Institutional failures

• Public seed sector actors (ESE, regional seed enterprises) not eager to get involved in forage seed production

• Knowledge/physical/financial capability problems; •market failure problems; •formal and informal institutional failures;•Policy coordination failures •Reflexivity failure

4. Coupled structural-functional analysis of forage seed system



Entrepreneurial function • Lack of irrigation facilities and access to irrigable land for year round seed production

• Physical infrastructure problem•Demand articulation problem• institutional problem•Policy enforcement problem

• Majority of farmers practicing traditional livestock feeding systems • Knowledge intensive nature of forage seed crop husbandry

• Informal institutional failure (locked in traditional practices) • Knowledge infrastructure problem

• farmers lack capital to purchase improved forage seed

• financial infrastructure problem




Forage seed knowledge generation functions

• Seed research capacity of national research entities underdeveloped

• physical/knowledge/financial capability failure

• Narrow research focus on seed technology generation and dissemination

• Hard/soft institutional failure

• inadequate knowledge on institutional arrangements for coordinating complementary sources of knowledge for forage seed sector

• knowledge/skill capacity failure• Coordination failure • Soft institutional failure

• little attention given to organizational innovations to forage seed technology generation

• knowledge/skill capacity failure• Soft institutional failure




Knowledge dissemination function

• extensionists lacking access to adequate knowledge of forage seed production technique

•Knowledge capability failure; financial capability failure

• inadequate capacity of the public extension system in forage seed related knowledge diffusion

•Knowledge/financial/physical capacity failure

• lack of coordination between knowledge dissemination actors

• weak/strong interaction failure• Directionality failure•Policy enforcement failure

• Budget constraints for extension agents to run seed development related activities

• financial infrastructure failure

• Poor quality extension service delivery

• hard/soft institutional failure • capability failure


Function Pinpointed functional imperfections Systemic problems inducing the functional imperfections

Policy and strategy (guidance of search) function

• weak/poor law enforcement•Lack of articulated forage seed strategy

• Hard institutional failure• Soft institutional failure • Directionality failure• Policy coordination failure

•limited recognition given to forage seed subsector

•Minimal focus on provision of resources and operationalisation of forage seed sector plans

• Policy coordination failure

•Soft institutional failure

• Resource mobilization failure

•Limited attempt to joint vision creation and coordination of forage seed system structural elements

•Interaction failure•Policy coordination failure•Reflexivity failure•Capability failure

•Poor quality public extension service delivery

• knowledge/skill capacity failure




Creation of legitimacy function

• Public seed production actors not interested in forage seed production

• knowledge infrastructure failure•Market failure•Soft institutional failures •Policy coordination failures

• Forage seed production investment plan pushed to peripheral regions

•Physical infrastructural failures•Policy coordination failures•Reflexivity failures

• Allocation of prime quality land in the highland areas to forage seed business is not likely

•Hard institutional failures •Physical infrastructure failure

• Weak professional society actors for advocacy/promotion of forage seed sub-sector

•Missing actor problem•Interaction problem•Coordination




Policy and strategy (guidance of search) function

• Weak forage seed quality and certification procedures/regulations

•Hard institutional failures •Knowledge infrastructure problems•Financial infrastructure problems

•Insufficient forage seed market incentive mechanism to encourage private seed production actors

•Market failure•Directionality failure•Policy coordination failure• informal institutional failure

Market formation function

• Markets for quality forage seeds are very thin

• Market structure failures•Hard institutional failure•Soft institutional failure

Resource mobilization function

• Forage seed development interventions hitherto are dependent on external financial support where long term commitment is questionable

• Financial infrastructure failure

5. Conclusion and implications for the design of the envisaged forage/forage seed development program

• The current analysis of past forage seed development programs of Ethiopia, among other, indicated that the following problems are widespread:

– Limited capacity of existing actors; inadequate infrastructure; limited interaction between actors; poor coordination of system functions and missing actors problem to be widespread in the programs implemented/some of them being implemented;

– The analysis also showed that structural weaknesses in the seed system have hindered the development of the seed system function. Also, a weakness in one of the system function in turn would have a knock-on effect on other functions leading to a general dysfunction of forage seed system;

– The implication, thus, is that there is no single, all encompassing intervention that would address all the problems in the forage seed system. A combination of classical policy tools and systemic policy instruments have to be employed to deal with complex problems embedding in forage seed development program.

– Based on the findings from this analysis, the following issues are suggested to be considered in the envisaged forage/forage seed development investment program of Ethiopia

Suggested areas of investment interventions for strengthening and scaling up of forage/forage seed

industry • Enhance seed system actors’ capability through training;

• Trigger attitudinal and behavioral change of actors through establishment of dialogue platforms that enable information and idea exchange;

• Stimulate actors’ interaction for enabling learning activities and creating dynamic seed system; • Facilitating the existence of accommodating formal institutions (laws, regulations, procedures);

• Strengthen knowledge/physical/financial infrastructures for sustainable seed system development;

• Adopt participatory and interactive paradigms for forage seed development;

• Develop incentive systems to reinforce the culture of inter-organizational collaboration;

• Circumvent dishonest and corrupt inclinations of public service providing actors at all levels;

• Strengthen seed quality testing facilities for ensuring supply of quality forage seed to users.

Suggested areas of intervention

• Suggested program components

– Support to institutional strengthening (formal): procedures, regulations, etc..; interventions on informal institutions;

– Support to piloting alternative institutional models for forage technology piloting;

– Support to technology generation related activities– Support to value chain and agri-business development– Program management (M and E and Learning)

forage seed development in a historic perspective: building a case for more support diriba geleti...

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