Notes to Broadcasters on Agro-dealer Initiative:
Date Posted: December 24th, 2007
One of Farm Radio Weekly’s goals is to keep you up-to-date on news that may directly affect farmers. AGRA’s new agro-dealer initiative will certainly impact many farmers in Malawi, Tanzania, and Kenya (up to 1.6 million farming families in their estimation) – but it is not without controversy. International critics such as GRAIN worry that AGRA’s approach may displace the current dispersed seed distribution network which provides locally-adapted seeds with a more privatized and centralized breeding and seed distribution system. Dr. Roy Steiner of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation spoke to Farm Radio Weekly to clarify AGRA’s position. He said that the agro-dealer initiative is aimed at supporting and leveraging local knowledge and systems, not replacing them. “In many markets in rural Africa today, you find seeds imported from Europe,” Dr. Steiner says. “Our goal is to replace these with the seeds of African crops, developed by African breeders, and supplied by African entrepreneurs.”
If you broadcast in one of the three countries where the agro-dealer initiative will be implemented, farmers in your area may be interested in obtaining additional information and sharing their thoughts. You may consider:
-Asking a representative from one of the organizations implementing the agro-dealer initiative to participate in an in-studio discussion. (In Malawi, the initiative is led by the Rural Market Development Trust, or RUMARK; in Tanzania, the Tanzania Agro-dealer Strengthening Program (TASP); in Kenya, the Kenya Agro-dealer Strengthening Program (KASP).)
-Producing a call-in show that encourages farmers to talk about their current access to farm supplies, and any hopes or concerns that they may have about the agro-dealer program.
All broadcasters may wish to explore the issue of agricultural inputs with their listeners by asking questions such as:
-What systems do farmers and farmers’ associations in your community use to share and replicate the best varieties of seeds?
- To what extent do farmers in your area use non-commercial inputs such as manure or crop residue?
-How many small-scale farmers in your area believe they can afford to purchase commercial inputs such as pesticides and inorganic fertilizers? Would they purchase these inputs if prices were lower?
The full text of AGRA’s press release on the agro-dealer initiative, which includes details of how it will be implemented in Malawi, Tanzania, and Kenya, is available here: http://www.agra-alliance.org/news/pr121307.html.
The full text of GRAIN’s critique of AGRA, including the agro-dealer initiative, can be found here: http://www.grain.org/briefings/?id=205.
