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CGIAR Initiative: Seed Equal

Smallholder farmers, especially women and disadvantaged groups, are particularly vulnerable to climate-related and other challenges, compromising their ability to meet their own food, nutrition, and income needs, much less contribute to local and national food security. More frequent and severe droughts and erratic rainfall due to climate change threaten agricultural production. Due to inadequate seed supply and delivery systems misaligned with user and market demand, smallholders use ‘old’ varieties or recycle seed, leaving them more vulnerable to pests and diseasesi. Productivity varies by gender, with these challenges disproportionately affecting womenii. Until gender disparities in access to information, technologies, markets and other opportunities are addressed, efforts to realize agriculture’s potential to sustainably achieve food, nutrition and income security will have limited impact.     With increasing population and climate pressure, inclusive and climate-smart intensification of food production is urgently needed for One CGIAR and partners to deliver in key impact areas—nutrition, poverty, gender, climate, and environment—and the second Sustainable Development Goal: Zero Hunger by 2030. Improved varieties, innovations, and approaches developed and promoted by CGIAR and partners have potential, when contextualized considering social, economic and political factors, to transform agri-food systems and reduce yield gaps, ‘hunger months,’ and other disparities. However, limited access to and use of affordable, quality seed of well adapted varieties with desired traits remains a bottleneck.    Achieving One CGIAR’s goals requires a long-term, end-to-end investment in CGIAR breeding driven by market intelligence, supported by partnerships that deliver genetic gains equitably in farmers’ fields. This requires enabling policy environments incentivizing varietal turnover and quality seed useiii and integrating and leveraging formal and informal seed systems to the benefit of all.     To this end, SeEdQUAL will build on decades of work on seed systems by CGIAR and partners, and leverage synergies as governmentsiv, breeders, fundersv, and communities recognize the need to accelerate demand-driven seed system development and reach farmers at the last mile. Success hinges on better understanding and responding to seed user demands, including women and young farmers, and value chain actors specializing in niche markets with high potential. Seed systems that respond dynamically to such opportunities and deploy innovative methods (e.g. ICT tools) and aligned approaches (EGS production and policies) will increase and expand the benefits of seed access and use, especially for disadvantaged groups. SeEdQUAL, together with key innovation, delivery and scaling partners, will develop and promote new technology solutions, more effective business models, and policy reforms to create sustainable and inclusive seed systems.

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