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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.
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 StyleLouise 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 StyleLouise 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.
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.
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 StyleLouise 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 StyleLouise 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.
Given that graduates of higher education institutions will be the future decision makers addressing sustainability challenges, this study assesses the effects of a transdisciplinary university learning program on sustainability attitudes, skills, and agency. We investigated these variables with a sample of 117 previous participants in the International Training Course on Organic Agriculture, which took place in Uganda. To frame the analysis, concepts of sustainability learning and transformative learning were transferred into a research instrument, building on the Graduate Study Cooperative survey, the Transformative Learning Survey, and the Environmental Attitudes Inventory. The findings showed that the training course provided a transformative experience that positively predicted 1) environmental attitudes; 2) professional and personal competencies at graduation; 3) the feeling of being able to personally influence sustainability and the perception that one's employer has an influence on sustainability. No significant relation between the transformative experience and engagement in voluntary work was found. While ex post facto studies based on self-reported perceptions have limitations, this is—to our knowledge—the first study to apply the Transformative Learning Survey combined with other instruments to a specific learning intervention. By showing that transformative university learning experiences can contribute to sustainability attitudes, skills, and agency, the findings support the case for transdisciplinary course designs rooted in real-world sustainability challenges. Further research will be necessary to firmly establish the sustainability learning potential of different educational designs.
L. Probst; L. Bardach; D. Kamusingize; N. Templer; H. Ogwali; A. Owamani; L. Mulumba; R. Onwonga; B.T. Adugna. A transformative university learning experience contributes to sustainability attitudes, skills and agency. Journal of Cleaner Production 2019, 232, 648 -656.
AMA StyleL. Probst, L. Bardach, D. Kamusingize, N. Templer, H. Ogwali, A. Owamani, L. Mulumba, R. Onwonga, B.T. Adugna. A transformative university learning experience contributes to sustainability attitudes, skills and agency. Journal of Cleaner Production. 2019; 232 ():648-656.
Chicago/Turabian StyleL. Probst; L. Bardach; D. Kamusingize; N. Templer; H. Ogwali; A. Owamani; L. Mulumba; R. Onwonga; B.T. Adugna. 2019. "A transformative university learning experience contributes to sustainability attitudes, skills and agency." Journal of Cleaner Production 232, no. : 648-656.
Noel Templer; M. Hauser; A. Owamani; D. Kamusingize; H. Ogwali; L. Mulumba; R. Onwonga; B. T. Adugna; L. Probst. Does certified organic agriculture increase agroecosystem health? Evidence from four farming systems in Uganda. International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability 2018, 16, 150 -166.
AMA StyleNoel Templer, M. Hauser, A. Owamani, D. Kamusingize, H. Ogwali, L. Mulumba, R. Onwonga, B. T. Adugna, L. Probst. Does certified organic agriculture increase agroecosystem health? Evidence from four farming systems in Uganda. International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability. 2018; 16 (2):150-166.
Chicago/Turabian StyleNoel Templer; M. Hauser; A. Owamani; D. Kamusingize; H. Ogwali; L. Mulumba; R. Onwonga; B. T. Adugna; L. Probst. 2018. "Does certified organic agriculture increase agroecosystem health? Evidence from four farming systems in Uganda." International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability 16, no. 2: 150-166.
Noel Templer; J. J. Lelei; R. N. Onwonga. Effect of Legume Integration and Phosphorus Use on Maize N and P Concentration and Grain Yield in Kabete - Kenya. International Journal of Plant & Soil Science 2017, 19, 1 -9.
AMA StyleNoel Templer, J. J. Lelei, R. N. Onwonga. Effect of Legume Integration and Phosphorus Use on Maize N and P Concentration and Grain Yield in Kabete - Kenya. International Journal of Plant & Soil Science. 2017; 19 (2):1-9.
Chicago/Turabian StyleNoel Templer; J. J. Lelei; R. N. Onwonga. 2017. "Effect of Legume Integration and Phosphorus Use on Maize N and P Concentration and Grain Yield in Kabete - Kenya." International Journal of Plant & Soil Science 19, no. 2: 1-9.