Seed Security Solution Package | economic-wellbeing

Seed selection is one of the most important and high impact climate adaptation actions that a farmer has available to them. Strong seed systems are critical to ensure farmers have access to appropriate and high quality seeds at the right time. In fragile contexts when those systems are disrupted, it further threatens vulnerable populations by limiting their access and options for seeds—they often are forced to use lower quality or less appropriate varieties for changing climatic conditions.

In Northeast Syria specifically, the effects of chronic drought, a sharp decline in water flow into the Euphrates and other rivers, the destruction of vital agricultural infrastructure, rampant inflation, and an 11-year war have produced a negative feedback loop wherein seeds are decreasing in quality and availability and escalating in price season after season. 410,000 people across Syria and 110,000 people in Northeast Syria alone are now in need of food and agricultural assistance and farmers agree that if nothing changes a disaster is imminent. Within this context of generalized urgency and severe need, it is essential to make special considerations for women given their expanding role as bread-winners and heads of household in Northeast Syria but their more limited access to agro-inputs and information as compared to men.

To increase seed quality and availability in Northeast Syria and enhance the resilience of agricultural livelihoods, we have developed a package of three solutions which leverage contests, prizes, field experiments, and collaboration and mentorship models to 1) test seed varieties to identify those best adapted to the climatic conditions, 2) multiply the identified higher yielding and more climate-resilient varieties, and 3) enhance women’s participation in the agricultural sector. Importantly, all three solutions in the package are rooted in local communities and market actors to both promote the acceptability of the solutions and to enhance their resilience to potential political shocks and contextual changes. According to our preliminary modeling, this solution package has the potential to reach 18,368 farms and provide 94,550 people with improved access to quality seed within five-years.

The solution package fills a gap where current bread and butter seed solutions are insufficient. Current approaches, such as cash for seeds interventions (which provide farmers cash to purchase the inputs they need most in the local market) or trainings in climate adapted agricultural practices, don’t work when the seeds available in the local market are of low quality or are non-existent. Community level approaches, such as seed banking, are also not common in Northeast Syria as there was a centralized agricultural system prior to the war. Supply side interventions, such as those proposed within our package, are therefore necessary to promote an enabling environment wherein cash for seeds programming and trainings can be more effective.

Solution Package Deep Dive

A more in depth description of each of the three solutions in the package is included below.

1. A competition to test new seed varieties: The end-users of the first solution in the package are clients who work in the dual role of both agro-dealer or agro-pharmacist and farmer. An agro-pharmacist in Syria would have a degree in agricultural engineering and trade a range of chemical products, such as fertilizer, pesticides, herbicides etc. Agro-dealers trade seed, which does not require a formal qualification. Through this solution, clients are directly invited by the IRC to participate in a competition that involves testing wheat varieties in their own fields (field experiments) to identify those that are more resilient to drought and that are higher yielding. Participants get the agricultural inputs for free (including seed varieties for testing and fertilizer) along with a workbook with some guidelines to be able to experiment independently. They share progress and information during the season in a WhatsApp group, which is supervised by an agricultural expert in field experimentation. They learn how the same seed variety performs in other locations and different conditions.  Participants keep the harvest from their experiments and, if successful, will receive a prize. The more experiments participants try, the higher their chances of winning a prize. An example of a prize may be a voucher for a solar panel installation for irrigation or other agricultural equipment (e.g. seeder machine, sprinkler irrigation system).
    
2. Seed multiplication as a collaborative and rewarding process: The end-users of the second solution in the package are clients who are farmers. Through this solution, clients can sign up for a seed multiplication program, aiming to increase the supply of quality seed in the region. Participants receive both in-kind and cash support to cover their needs for: seeds, fertilizer, and fuel for irrigation at the right times in the seasonal calendar. They will benefit from free expert support via an initial training, twice monthly field visits and ongoing WhatsApp groups. To participate in the program they need to be willing to work on their own land for the entire season (leveraging otherwise unused land - in 2020 and 2021, 60% of wheat and barley plots were left unharvested across Al-Hasakah and Ar-Raqqah), have access to a water source (irrigated land), and to commit to donate from their production (at least the same amount of seed that they receive) to other farmers. The agricultural expert will facilitate problem-solving and sharing of information and tips through the WhatsApp groups. Successful and engaged groups will be recognized and rewarded. Rewards could be agricultural inputs (e.g. seed, fertilizer) that can be shared among the group members.
    
3. Empowering women as seed multipliers and entrepreneurs: In addition to identifying strategies and approaches to promote the full participation of women in solutions 1 and 2, we are exploring a third solution that will specifically target women as the end-users, who are most often responsible for vegetable and barley production. Through this solution, clients participate in a women-to-women network which is focused on vertical integration of multiplying barley seed for fodder, producing fodder and other horticultural crops, processing of products, and marketing produce and seed for sale. During the first prototyping phase, we focused on solutions 1 and 2, and will leverage the learnings and insights from those solutions to inform and refine the design of solution 3.

What’s Next

The pilot for this solution package will launch in October 2022 and will run for approximately 12-months during which we will directly work with 30 expert farmers in seed testing activities and 100 farmers in seed multiplication activities in Trbaspiyah and Ar Raqqa. The project’s seed multiplication activities have the potential to provide access to quality seed for 680 farms in the first year alone.

While this pilot phase is focused specifically on Northeast Syria, where we have identified a population of 110,000 in need of food and agricultural assistance, we have additionally already conducted design research across Pakistan, South Sudan, and Niger, where we have identified a combined population in need of nearly 3 million. While solutions for each of these three countries will need to be generated with their unique constraints, barriers, opportunities, and other contextual factors in mind, lessons learned through the pilot in Northeast Syria will inform design sprints and the generation of solutions across each of the other three priority countries.