Strength Enthusiast First, Agricultural Economist Second, I was a Content Marketer @Rogue Gym
Banning the sale and exchange of indigenous seeds I believe has more pros than cons. We will take the case of maize but first let's deal with the issue of fines or imprisonment. A govt has goals they want to achieve and they do this through policies. They want as many people to comply and they do this through coercion or consent. Coercion, in this case imprisonment or fines, is the easier path for govts. Now, there are a couple of reasons why we should use regulated seed: 1. Foreigh Exchange - We imported $1.27 Billion worth of maize in 2023. This is a burden on our exchange rate, and it's a lot of capital flight. 2. Rural Development - We recognise the easiest path out of rural poverty is agriculture. However, farmers should have enough surplus to sell to the market and that is achieved through use of HYVs which are often regulated. 3. Food Security in face of demographic challenges - We have the fastest growing population in Africa (Africa is expected to have a population of 3.9 Billion people by 2100). Agriculture HAS to grow in tandem if we are to be food secure in the future. But there are shortcomings: 1. Loss of crop diversity. 2. There's a gap in the human capacity and that some of these seeds need high human capacity to achieve the intended results. Picture someone in a semi-arid area buying a maize variety designed for the central highlands. 3. They are expensive meaning farmers have to spend often scarce resources to get the seeds.
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Did you know that you can face up to 2 years in prison or, a fine of Ksh 1,000,000 (US$7,750), or both for just selling or exchanging indigenous seeds in Kenya? Read more in this article that I contributed to The ONE Campaign’s Aftershocks newsletter and understand why we need to protect smallholder farmers instead of implementing punitive laws that hinder food sovereignty. https://lnkd.in/dS5equw9 David McNair Dr. Conrad Rein Paul Rogé Paul Newnham Jane Maland Cady Cedrick Baker Matthew Shakhovskoy Declan Kirrane Michael Sheldrick Nir Bar Dea Beatriz Jacoste Lozano Micaela Iveson Dan Zook Kenneth Quinn Kellen Edmondson Faten Aggad Ricardo Tomaz Jesper Hörnberg David Nabarro Katie Bunten-Wamaru Kristofer Hamel Inge Herbert Gunhild Anker Stordalen Corby Kummer Adam Falk doron weber Jonathan Papoulidis Zuhir Eshanta Mattijs Renden Gloria Carrión Hugh Evans Elizabeth Eckert Travis Adkins Greg S Garrett Paulin BASINGA Grant Merrick Vanessa Adams Martin Segal Neil Thorns #SeedLaws #FoodSovereignty #FoodSecurity #SDG2 #PunitiveLaws