95
constraints and how to overcome them (BMGF and USAID 2015). A host of recommendations by country and crop have been proposed to help address the relevant issues, including partial or full subsidization of EGS production costs for
crops such as beans. In the Kenya country report released as part of the BMGF
and USAID EGS studies, one of the main bottlenecks identified in the common
bean EGS supply system is “inadequate supply of breeder seed from public sector
breeders” which “precludes private sector involvement in EGS production and
limits EGS production overall” (Context Network 2016, p. xvii). The second case
presented here illustrates this constraint. The recommendation is for a publicprivate partnership (PPP) to reduce production burdens on the public sector and
costs imposed on the private sector in an effort to improve the availability of EGS
for common bean (Context Network 2016). Given the existing lack of trust
between actors, there is a role for a neutral broker to help bring stakeholders
together and facilitate the development of such a partnership.
The Pan-Africa Bean Research Alliance (PABRA), a long-running research
consortium led by CIAT, comprises hundreds of actors and is active in 31 African
countries (PABRA 2018). Along with its successes in breeding, variety release
and dissemination, the alliance has learned lessons about breeding and seed production. As described by Buruchara et al. (2011, p. 241), “[p]ublic sector research
has to commit to producing breeder seed—as an integral part of the variety development process. There is no sense in releasing a variety (or engaging in breeding)
if that variety is not set on a course for multiplication.”
Getting the actors represented in the top left of Fig. 8.1 to work in harmony
with other stakeholders and building trust is key to overcoming the constraints of
EGS supply. Clearer seed regulation policies within national governments and
their agencies on the maintenance and supply of EGS would assist in overcoming
such barriers. More commercially viable licensing options, particularly in cases
where one supplier has a monopoly on a variety that has high value for cultivation,
would also be useful. While there is a government-recommended royalty in Kenya
(3%), this does not prevent the addition of other licensing fees and costs that drive
up the expense to procure breeder seed and begin production (pers. comm.).
Stronger commitment from those funding breeding programmes to take the new
varieties through all the stages to commercialization (instead of stopping at
release) would also help overcome the EGS hurdle.
The research-for-development community, national governments and private
sector actors need to work together. New crop varieties are costly to produce, and
leaving them uncommercialized is a waste of public research money (Rubyogo
et al. 2010). According to Muthoni and Andrade (2015), funding for bean improvement alone at CIAT peaked at US$13.8 million in 1990 and recently stabilized at
about US$5.5 million per year. The funders of breeding programmes should have
specific goals in mind, including the ways in which any varieties that are developed will ultimately reach farmers, either through commercial processes or with
public support for multiplication and distribution. Crops such as the common
bean that have low multiplication rates and high transport costs require public
8 Access to Early Generation Seed: Obstacles for Delivery of Climate-Smart Varieties
constraints and how to overcome them (BMGF and USAID 2015). A host of recommendations by country and crop have been proposed to help address the relevant issues, including partial or full subsidization of EGS production costs for
crops such as beans. In the Kenya country report released as part of the BMGF
and USAID EGS studies, one of the main bottlenecks identified in the common
bean EGS supply system is “inadequate supply of breeder seed from public sector
breeders” which “precludes private sector involvement in EGS production and
limits EGS production overall” (Context Network 2016, p. xvii). The second case
presented here illustrates this constraint. The recommendation is for a publicprivate partnership (PPP) to reduce production burdens on the public sector and
costs imposed on the private sector in an effort to improve the availability of EGS
for common bean (Context Network 2016). Given the existing lack of trust
between actors, there is a role for a neutral broker to help bring stakeholders
together and facilitate the development of such a partnership.
The Pan-Africa Bean Research Alliance (PABRA), a long-running research
consortium led by CIAT, comprises hundreds of actors and is active in 31 African
countries (PABRA 2018). Along with its successes in breeding, variety release
and dissemination, the alliance has learned lessons about breeding and seed production. As described by Buruchara et al. (2011, p. 241), “[p]ublic sector research
has to commit to producing breeder seed—as an integral part of the variety development process. There is no sense in releasing a variety (or engaging in breeding)
if that variety is not set on a course for multiplication.”
Getting the actors represented in the top left of Fig. 8.1 to work in harmony
with other stakeholders and building trust is key to overcoming the constraints of
EGS supply. Clearer seed regulation policies within national governments and
their agencies on the maintenance and supply of EGS would assist in overcoming
such barriers. More commercially viable licensing options, particularly in cases
where one supplier has a monopoly on a variety that has high value for cultivation,
would also be useful. While there is a government-recommended royalty in Kenya
(3%), this does not prevent the addition of other licensing fees and costs that drive
up the expense to procure breeder seed and begin production (pers. comm.).
Stronger commitment from those funding breeding programmes to take the new
varieties through all the stages to commercialization (instead of stopping at
release) would also help overcome the EGS hurdle.
The research-for-development community, national governments and private
sector actors need to work together. New crop varieties are costly to produce, and
leaving them uncommercialized is a waste of public research money (Rubyogo
et al. 2010). According to Muthoni and Andrade (2015), funding for bean improvement alone at CIAT peaked at US$13.8 million in 1990 and recently stabilized at
about US$5.5 million per year. The funders of breeding programmes should have
specific goals in mind, including the ways in which any varieties that are developed will ultimately reach farmers, either through commercial processes or with
public support for multiplication and distribution. Crops such as the common
bean that have low multiplication rates and high transport costs require public
8 Access to Early Generation Seed: Obstacles for Delivery of Climate-Smart Varieties