1 March 2011, Rome – Small seed enterprises are the best way of
ensuring the availability and quality of non-hybrid seeds for
food and feed crops in developing countries, said FAO in a
policy guide published today. According to the World Bank, up to
50 percent of crop yield increases have come from improved
seeds, while farmers' access to quality seeds is a key factor
for better food and nutrition in poor countries. In recent
years, however, a large number governments in the developing
world reduced public investment in the seed sector, the
expectation being that the private sector would fill the gap. In
many places, especially Africa, this has not happened as medium
and large seed companies tend to concentrate on producing hybrid
seed for high value crops grown by larger farmers and market
them in more fertile, wealthier areas. Sharing not enough As a
result, only about 30 percent of smallholder farmers in
developing countries use seed of improved varieties of variable
quality — in Africa the percentage is s