When Disaster Strikes: A Guide to Assessing Seed System Security
Date: 06/10/2008
Introduction: By Louise Sperling, CIAT Publication No 363, August 2008. This guide presents a seven-step method for assessing the security of farmers´ seed systems in situations of acute and chronic stress. The occasion may be a natural disaster such as a flood, drought, earthquake or insect pest invasion; or it could be a crisis of human making such as civil war, political instability or economic recession. Whatever the crisis of stress, the guide serves as a practical field manual for donor agencies, government ministries, nongovernmental organizations, and individuals charged with agricultural relief and recovery, including those with little or no expertise in seed systems. The method presented here – we call it Seed System Security Assessment, or SSSA – helps managers and field staff assess whether interventions in seed systems are needed, and if so guides the choice of relief or development actions. Our understanding of the effects of emergency seed programs has improved immensely in the past five years, and there are both flaws in current practices and much scope for improvement.
