NGO helps 68,000 households acquire seeds

Catholic Relief Services, an NGO active in Burundi, has initiated a seed fair project to help up to 68,000 families to acquire seeds at affordable prices, the organisation has announced. CRS and its partners injected US $400,000 into local agricultural markets in the seed fair project targeting households in the provinces of Bubanza, Gitega, Kirundo, Muyinga, Rutana and Ruyigi. In a statement, the NGO said the drought-stricken northern provinces of Kirundo and Muyinga were a particular focus of this seed intervention. "We served 30,000 households in the communes of Busoni, Kirundo and Bugabira in Kirundo Province, and a total of 15,000 households in the communes of Buhinyuza and Mwakiro in Muyinga Province," CRS reported. Under the seed fair approach farming families are assisted to access seeds, especially as they lack adequate income and resources to undertake planting. This involves supplying needy farming households with vouchers to enable them to acquire seed from local traders. The traders then redeem the vouchers for cash. CRS said choice and individual empowerment were the watchwords for seed vouchers and fairs. During a seed fair, the recipient farming family negotiates for seed with a number of traders and then selects the crops and varieties that best meet their needs. The resulting relief package is determined in consultation between the voucher holder and the seed traders. CRS' seed fairs have had an impact within and beyond Burundi. In February 2004, based on semi-structured interviews with seed fair traders in Burundi, a CRS food security team - in collaboration with the Centre for International Agriculture in the Tropics - published a case study titled "Drought, Civil Strife, and Seed Vouchers & Fairs: The Role of the Trader in the Local Seed System". "This report will help seed aid practitioners gain a better understanding of the role of local seed systems in meeting seed demand," CRS said. CRS' partners in Burundi, involved in the seed fair project, include Caritas Burundi - through the diocesan development offices of Bubanza, Gitega, Muyinga and Ruyigi, as well as the NGO Tear Fund UK. "We are able to execute our seed fair work under the coordination of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization [FAO] and with funding from the United States Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance/USAID, Caritas Germany and ECHO [EC Humanitarian Office]," CRS said.