Naggita (left) with Jane Nalunga and Denis Tabaro at the dialogue
Farmers and experts have warned that the increasing reliance on hybrid and imported technology seed is a danger to the country’s independence, culture and traditions.
More farmers are abandoning the indigenous seed in favour of “improved” seed, which is believed to be more high-yielding.
Denis Tabaro, Founding director of the African Institute for Culture and Ecology (AFRICE), said that farmers have been made to believe that the hybrid seed is more productive, but have not been told how costly it is.
According to Tabaro, apart from the cost of buying seeds, the chemicals used as fertilisers and the pesticides, not only have the short term cost in terms of money spent, but also the destruction of the environment as well as soil degradation.
Tabaro calls on the government to help the local farmers in the production of organic manure and markets for their produce to keep them in the market.
He was speaking at a media dialogue on the Role of Community Seed Knowledge and Indigenous Seed Practices Towards Fostering Food Sovereignty and Protection of Bio-Cultural Diversity.
The Dialogue was jointly organized by the African Biodiversity Network, SEATINI-Uganda.
Tabaro says, the indigenous seed is performing poorly in some parts of the country because pollinating insects have been exterminated by the chemicals which have also destroyed the naturally–occurring soil nutrients.
He noted that the sad thing is that some of the indigenous seeds are culturally tied, whereby without a certain foodstuff, a traditional activity does not happen.
This, he says can be an advantage where culture can be helped to preserve seed.
“Indigenous seeds are more than just crops; they are a vital part of our culture and heritage, yet, when farmers talk about these connections, they are often dismissed,” said Tabaro.
Rose Naggita, a smallholder farmer in Mityana District said they are increasingly finding it harder because the government programs are all knitted around hybrid seed, which also has a direct impact on indigenous farms though seed contamination and cross-field pollination, among others.
She appealed for increased sensitization of both farmers and leaders on the importance on indigenous farming.
Specifically, Naggita called for the establishment of seed banks around the country to protect local seeds and also enable the farmers know where to find them when in need, as well as build markets for indigenous fresh produce to encourage more farmers go indigenous.
According to the International Centre for Tropical Agriculture, between 80 to 90 percent of the world’s seed is derived from the informal seed system, which shows how critical it is to boosting agricultural production, promoting structural change and enhancing livelihoods.
In Uganda and the EAC, Agriculture is responsible for the livelihood and food security more than 80 percent of the citizens , yet there is a strong notion that “A nation’s agriculture is as strong as its seed system.”
Uganda has two seed systems; the locally known system of indigenous seed and the commercial seed system.
Jane Nalunga, the Executive Director SEATINI Uganda, says the commercial seed system that is being given the advantage, cannot sustain economic growth because the small-holder farmer cannot afford it.
Her other concern is that farmers put in a lot more, yet the output, especially for the staple food and cash crop, maize, the prices of the produce usually falls far below the investment, leading to losses to the farmer.
She says the country faces a risk of sanctions and stiff regulations from the export markets which must be avoided.
Nalunga suggests that it is time for the country to decide between the two seed systems to protect the agriculture sector, and that adequate money should be allocated to promote the informal seed system.
Both Nalunga and Tabaro say by focusing on the promotion of agriculture based on commercial seed systems, at the expense of local or indigenous systems, the country is surrendering its sovereignty to other countries whose manufactured seed is being imported and sold to farmers expensively.
-URN