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Dr. Louise Sperling
SeedSystem, Sherman, United States

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Journal article
Published: 25 August 2021 in Sustainability
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Postharvest management of grain and seed is a challenge among smallholder farmers. Limited information is available on how smallholder farmers in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), who have been exposed to multiple conflicts, manage grain and seed after harvest. We interviewed 690 smallholder farmers in Lubero (Baswagha chiefdom) and Rutshuru (Bwisha and Bwito chiefdoms) territories of the North Kivu province of the DRC to assess how they dried and stored their crops. Results reveal that 95% and 80% farmers produced beans and maize, respectively. About half of respondents in Bwisha grew soybean, suggesting production diversification using conflict-resistant crops to minimize thefts and looting. Rotting and theft were the major challenges during field drying, while insects (81.3%) were the most important issue during storage. Sixty-six percent of farmers did not protect their grain during storage, exposing it to insect damage. Farmers producing beans in both Bwisha and Bwito, farmers storing beans and maize, and those storing for more than three months were more likely to protect their grains during storage. More than 70% of farmers saved seed for planting the next season but suffered significant weight losses of up to 50% due to insects. Storing grain in hermetic bags for six months had an estimated return on investments of up to 63% for maize in Baswagha and 54% for beans in Bwisha. Improved drying and storage technologies would help smallholder farmers to reduce their grain postharvest losses due to mold, theft, and insects. Smallholder farmers using these improved postharvest technologies have the opportunity to secure quality grain for home consumption and sale, and seed for planting.

ACS Style

Dieudonne Baributsa; Jorge R. Díaz-Valderrama; Déogratias Mughanda; André Lubanzadio; Jean Paul C. Nshombo; Louise Sperling; Ibrahim B. Baoua. Grain Handling and Storage in Lubero and Rutshuru Territories in the North Kivu Province, the Democratic Republic of Congo. Sustainability 2021, 13, 9580 .

AMA Style

Dieudonne Baributsa, Jorge R. Díaz-Valderrama, Déogratias Mughanda, André Lubanzadio, Jean Paul C. Nshombo, Louise Sperling, Ibrahim B. Baoua. Grain Handling and Storage in Lubero and Rutshuru Territories in the North Kivu Province, the Democratic Republic of Congo. Sustainability. 2021; 13 (17):9580.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Dieudonne Baributsa; Jorge R. Díaz-Valderrama; Déogratias Mughanda; André Lubanzadio; Jean Paul C. Nshombo; Louise Sperling; Ibrahim B. Baoua. 2021. "Grain Handling and Storage in Lubero and Rutshuru Territories in the North Kivu Province, the Democratic Republic of Congo." Sustainability 13, no. 17: 9580.

Journal article
Published: 09 August 2021 in Sustainability
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This article explores the informal seed business, focusing on the yellow bean in Tanzania. The yellow bean is a major bean type traded, yet little is known about the seed supply that fuels it. The survey research in 2019 encompassed larger grain traders, informal seed traders, and retailers, covered major production, distribution and sale hubs, and was complemented by GIS mapping of seed and grain flows and DNA fingerprinting of yellow bean samples. Results showed that traders buy and sell grain and informal seed: it is not one business or the other, but both. Informal seed is an important moneymaker, representing between 15 and 40% of trader business in non-sowing and sowing periods, respectively. In the year monitored, 100% of the yellow bean seed was drawn from the informal sector, amounting to $US 4.35 million just among those sampled. Nevertheless, the informal and formal sectors are clearly linked, as over 60% of the beans sampled derived from modern varieties. Informal traders prove key for: sustaining the grain business, serving the core of the seed business, and moving varieties at scale. More explicit efforts are needed to link the informal sector to formal research and development partners in order to achieve even broader impacts.

ACS Style

Louise Sperling; Eliud Birachi; Sylvia Kalemera; Mercy Mutua; Noel Templer; Clare Mukankusi; Kessy Radegunda; Magdalena William; Patrick Gallagher; Edith Kadege; Jean Claude Rubyogo. The Informal Seed Business: Focus on Yellow Bean in Tanzania. Sustainability 2021, 13, 8897 .

AMA Style

Louise Sperling, Eliud Birachi, Sylvia Kalemera, Mercy Mutua, Noel Templer, Clare Mukankusi, Kessy Radegunda, Magdalena William, Patrick Gallagher, Edith Kadege, Jean Claude Rubyogo. The Informal Seed Business: Focus on Yellow Bean in Tanzania. Sustainability. 2021; 13 (16):8897.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Louise Sperling; Eliud Birachi; Sylvia Kalemera; Mercy Mutua; Noel Templer; Clare Mukankusi; Kessy Radegunda; Magdalena William; Patrick Gallagher; Edith Kadege; Jean Claude Rubyogo. 2021. "The Informal Seed Business: Focus on Yellow Bean in Tanzania." Sustainability 13, no. 16: 8897.

Journal article
Published: 12 November 2020 in Food Policy
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COVID-19 brings new challenges worldwide, including to smallholder farmers and their seed systems. In response, an escalating number of seed projects are being planned to deliver immediate aid or to alter current seed production programs. A Statement, prepared by diverse seed system experts, aims to steer both the immediate aid (next 1–2 seasons) and more developmental planning (next 1–3 years). The Statement includes 10 short-term and 4 medium-term recommendations, placing emphasis on all seed systems smallholders use: formal, informal, and integrated. It also looks beyond seed per se to the direct information and digital systems that shape remote assessments, data sharing and inclusive feedback. The Statement is prefaced by an introduction that helps contextualize the recommendations, reviews the history of humanitarian seed aid and summarizes the varied response forms that have unfolded over the last three decades.

ACS Style

Louise Sperling; Niels Louwaars; Orlando de Ponti; Melinda Smale; Dieudonne Baributsa; Jacob van Etten. Viewpoint: COVID-19 and seed security response now and beyond. Food Policy 2020, 97, 102000 .

AMA Style

Louise Sperling, Niels Louwaars, Orlando de Ponti, Melinda Smale, Dieudonne Baributsa, Jacob van Etten. Viewpoint: COVID-19 and seed security response now and beyond. Food Policy. 2020; 97 ():102000.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Louise Sperling; Niels Louwaars; Orlando de Ponti; Melinda Smale; Dieudonne Baributsa; Jacob van Etten. 2020. "Viewpoint: COVID-19 and seed security response now and beyond." Food Policy 97, no. : 102000.

Journal article
Published: 30 August 2020 in Sustainability
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To work well and be sustainable, seed systems have to offer a range of crops and varieties of good quality seed and these products have to reach farmers, no matter how remote or poor they may be. Formal seed sector interventions alone are not delivering the crop portfolio or achieving the social and geographic breadth needed, and the paper argues for focus on informal seed channels and particularly on traders who move ‘potential seed’ (local seed) even to high stress areas. This paper provides the first in-depth analysis on potential seed trader types and actions, drawing on data collected on 287 traders working in 10 African countries. The research delves into four themes: the types and hierarchies of traders; the technical ways traders manage seed using 11 core practices; the price differential of +50% of potential (local) seed over grain, and the pivotal roles which traders play in remote and crisis contexts. Traders are the backbone of smallholder seed security and need to be engaged, not ignored, in development and relief efforts. A detailed action framework for leveraging seed trader skills is presented, with the paper addressing possible legal and donor constraints for engaging such market actors more fully.

ACS Style

Louise Sperling; Patrick Gallagher; Shawn McGuire; Julie March; Noel Templer. Potential Seed Traders: The Backbone of Seed Business and African Smallholder Seed Supply. Sustainability 2020, 12, 7074 .

AMA Style

Louise Sperling, Patrick Gallagher, Shawn McGuire, Julie March, Noel Templer. Potential Seed Traders: The Backbone of Seed Business and African Smallholder Seed Supply. Sustainability. 2020; 12 (17):7074.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Louise Sperling; Patrick Gallagher; Shawn McGuire; Julie March; Noel Templer. 2020. "Potential Seed Traders: The Backbone of Seed Business and African Smallholder Seed Supply." Sustainability 12, no. 17: 7074.

Opinion piece
Published: 26 July 2020 in Food Security
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In response to COVID-19, seed security interventions are being planned to help bolster fragile livelihoods. After 25 years of research during emergencies, there are many lessons to build on, including that seed systems, especially informal markets, prove fairly resilient and often function even in high stress contexts. As a wise first step, given the possible volatility in supply, farmers’ seed saving should be supported actively and at scale. Rigorous remote assessments will have to become the new norm for gauging seed security, with reviews recognizing that different crops might be affected in different ways by specific seed channel stress or breakdown. Well-known short-term seed security responses, for example, Direct Seed Distribution, will need to be tailored to the new COVID-19 reality, particularly in terms of altering logistics. More fundamentally, three new factors might herald a transformation in response: 1) Choice for farmers has to be the operative principle (especially as markets may fluctuate quickly); 2) Remote two-way ‘state of the art’ communication has to be built rapidly; and 3) Seed quality options might need to be liberalized, especially given the scale of possible seed security intervention. Covid-19 effects will likely linger several years or potentially six to nine seasons (depending on agricultural calendar). Now might be the time to move from stop-gap responses (and repetitive ones) to more sustainable and powerful market-led support, with particular emphasis on responses that leverage and strengthen the informal sector markets.

ACS Style

Louise Sperling. Seed security response during COVID-19: building on evidence and orienting to the future. Food Security 2020, 12, 885 -889.

AMA Style

Louise Sperling. Seed security response during COVID-19: building on evidence and orienting to the future. Food Security. 2020; 12 (4):885-889.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Louise Sperling. 2020. "Seed security response during COVID-19: building on evidence and orienting to the future." Food Security 12, no. 4: 885-889.