Knowledge Base

Partners

The CROPS4HD project is supported and implemented by a wide range of international and local partner organisations that help us achieve our goals. Together we work to improve food security and nutrition for smallholder farmers through agroecological approaches.

At the international level :

The Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture guide us with their experience on genetic diversity in India.

GRAIN contribute on the policy side, notably regarding the capacity and movement building at international level.

The Association for Plant Breeding for the Benefit of Society lead the policy advocacy at the international level, particularly in engagement with formal policy platforms.

The World Vegetable Center brings support through the bank of seed and their ability to conduct nutritional analysis on vitamins, minerals and secondary metabolites.


At the local level :
India

The three main local partners will engage with districts stakeholders and district government and private sector and seek their commitment and involvement in the project.

  • The Development Research Communication and Services Centre (DRCSC) has a focus on improving food and livelihood security of the rural poor through scientific management of natural resources and community-based initiatives. Therefore, they are supporting the field implementation of the project through their operational strategy knowledge.
  • Bhittibhumi is an NGO working, among other things, on the theme of agroecology with a focus on gender equality and organic farming. They also are supporting the field implementation.
  • Sahaja Samrudha with their work and capacity on encouraging farmers towards organic farming, they are, as well, supporting the project on the field implementation.
Niger
  • Raya Karkara is a platform that brings together a multi-actor network that works to promote agroecology, support family farming, capitalise on experiences and share and create synergies. As a partner organisation of AFSA, they are supporting the policy implementation side of the project.
  • AgriProFocus is a multi-stakeholder network for innovative entrepreneurs in agricultural value chains to link agribusiness and development. They support the project on the demand and supply implementation sides.
  • Kundji Fondo is a local NGO working on malnutrition, the health sector, nutrition, and food security sectors. Their specific interest is the nutritional education focused on functional literacy for young women and girls and their empowerment. For the project, they are supporting the demand implementation side.
  • Institut National de Recherche Agronomique du Niger (INRAN) works on the design and execution of agricultural research programmes in all areas of rural development as well as the coordination of agricultural research in the country. They support the project on the supply implementation, through the characterisation of the NUS and the valorisation of them, and on the policy side.
  • SUSTLIVES is a project coordinated by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS) that aims to foster the transition of sustainability and climate change resilient food and agricultural systems in Burkina Faso and Niger.  Given the similarity of the thematic with CROPS4HD synergies are likely to arise.
Chad
  • The Plateforme d’Echanges et de Promotion de l’Agriculture Familiale (PEPAF) is a platform that brings together a range of multi-actors that works to provide technical support for the promotion of family farming. For the project, it will support the implementation of activities on the policy and advocacy side.
  • The Institut Tchadien de Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (ITRAD) is supporting the implementation of the national agricultural research policy, contributing to the identification of rural development projects as well as carrying out scientific and technical research necessary for the development of plant, forest and fisheries production while ensuring a rational management of natural resources. For the project, they will provide support regarding the supply implementation through the characterisation of the NUS.
  • The University of Agronomy and Environment of Sarh will provide support the project in the supply implementation through the characterisation of the NUS.
  • PROFISEM (Programme d’Opérationnalisation de la fillière semencière au Tchad) is a program under the guardianship of the Ministry of Production, Irrigation and Agricultural Equipment (MPIEA) and implemented by the German International Development Cooperation Agency (GIZ InS). Its focus is on the development of the seed sector as well as the diversification and improvement of agricultural production systems in certain intervening provinces. Given the similarity of the thematic of action of the program as well as the common provinces, synergies with CROPS4HD are likely to arise.
Tanzania
  • The Tanzania Agricultural Research Institute (TARI) aims is to strengthen national agricultural research system, to enhance the development and dissemination of technologies, innovations and management practices, to address the real needs of farmers and other agricultural stakeholders. For the project, they will support on the supply implantation side with the characterisation of the NUS.
  • The Tanzania Alliance for Biodiversity (TABIO) is an alliance of civil society and private sector organizations concerned with biodiversity conservation, with an emphasis on agricultural biodiversity for livelihood security and food sovereignty. They will support the project on demand implantation side, with a support to the peasant groups related to indigenous seed and agrobiodiversity, and also on the policy implementation side.

Document Library


The right to seeds in Africa – The United Nations declaration on the rights of peasants and other people working in rural areas and the right to seeds in Africa
 February 2023 by SWISSAID, Geneva Academy and South Center
This publication looks at the implementation of the right to seed in Africa from the perspective of peasant’s rights declaration (UNDROP). 

Development and optimization of NIRS prediction models for simultaneous multi-trait assessment in diverse cowpea germplasm
 23 September 2022 by FiBL, ICAR and CIAT
This publication present the prediction models that will facilitate high throughput screening of large cowpea germplasm in a non-destructive way and the selection of desirable chemotypes in any genetic background with huge application in cowpea crop improvement programs across the world. Cowpea is a representative legume that can facilitate achieving sustainable nutrition and climate change goals. 

Proposed  legal framework for the recognition and promotion of farmer managed seed systems (FMSS) and the protection of biodiversity
10 June 2022 by AFSA
This framework aims to ensure the recognition and protection of the right of farmers to define rules, based on their habits and customs, within their communities, networks, or other collectives, for the organisation of their seed activities, as well as the need for the State to accompany them in this.

Mapping seed-system policies, frameworks, mechanisms and initiatives in Tanzania and East Africa
10 June 2022 by AFSA
This study report provides a national mapping of existing seed policies, a national mapping of seed-related laws and regulations, and a mapping of national actors involved politically, legally and technically (farming practices) in Tanzania and East Africa.

Mapping of policies, frameworks, mechanisms and initiatives related to seed systems in Chad and Central Africa
10 June 2022 by AFSA
This study report provides a national mapping of existing seed policies, a national mapping of seed-related laws and regulations, and a mapping of national actors involved politically, legally and technically (farming practices) in Chad and Central Africa.

Analytical mapping of legal and policy instruments and actors in seed governance in Niger
10 June 2022 by AFSA
This study report provides a national mapping of existing seed policies, a national mapping of seed-related laws and regulations, and a mapping of national actors involved politically, legally and technically (farming practices) in Niger.

The key to survival – farmer managed seed systems in Latin America
March 2020 by SWISSAID
This brochure provides a synthetic overview of seed systems (Community Seed Banks, Participatory Guarantee Systems – PGS) in Latin America and particularly presents the results of SWISSAID initiative ‘Semillas de Identidad’. 

The EU’s push for intellectual property rights on seeds and its impact on developing countries
29 November 2021 by APBREBES and Both ENDS
This policy brief is an abstract of the report ‘Plant variety protection & UPOV 1991 in the European Union’s Trade Policy: Rationale, effects & state of play’.

Searching for flexibility – Why parties to the 1978 Act of the UPOV Convention have not acceded to the 1991 Act
06 October 2021 by APBREBES
The study “Searching for flexibility – Why parties to the 1978 Act of the UPOV Convention have not acceded to the 1991 Act” explores the debates around plant variety protection (PVP) in nine countries that are parties to UPOV 78. 

Focus on Plant Variety Protection: A Compilation of Selected Literature on the Impact of the UPOV Convention, Alternative sui generis PVP Laws and the Effect on Farmers’ Rights
17 December 2020 by APBREBES
This publication compiles selected literature on this issue of plant variety protection (PVP) and espacially on the relevance and impact of the 1991 Convention of the International Union for the Protection of the New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) in the context of developing countries. 

Access to Seed Index Shows : Implementation of UPOV Unnecessary For the Development of a Strong Seed Market
20 September 2019 by APBREBES
This policy bried discuss the recently published Access to Seed Index data that seems to confirm that there is no causal relationship between the UPOV system and a dynamic seed sector. On the contrary countries with a non-UPOV sui generis plant variety protection (PVP) legislation or even without a PVP legislation have in some regions the most vibrant seed sector. 

A Dysfunctional Plant Variety Protection System : Ten Years of UPOV Implemtation in Francophone Africa
18 April 2019 by Mohamed Coulibaly, Robert Ali Brac de la Perrière, with contributions from Sangeeta Shashikant

Plant Variety Protection for Developing Countries. A Tool to Design a Sui Generis Plant Variety Protection System: An Alternative to UPOV 1991.
01 October 2015 by Carlos M. Correa (University of Buenos Aires), with contributions from Sangeeta Shashikant (Third World Network) and François Meienberg

Monopolies on seed: How free trade agreements threaten food security and biodiversity.
05 March 2020 by APBREBES

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