Purdue Improved Crop Storage Workshop Accra GHANA April

Purdue Improved Crop Storage Workshop Accra GHANA April 10 – 12, 2012 Improving Cowpea Seed Quality through Hermetic Storage Tom Remington Principal Agriculture Advisor Mireille Barbier West Africa Agriculture Advisor

Presentation Outline 1. CRS 2. Background 1. 2. 3. 4. Cowpea Vouchers Hermetic Storage Farmer Managed Seed System 3. Results & Discussion 4. Conclusions & Recommendations

Catholic Relief Services • Catholic – United States Catholic Conference of Bishops – Option for the Poor • Relief – Responding to disaster – ‘saving lives’ – US Food Aid Partner • Services – From providing Goods & Services to supporting Sustainable Service Provision – From Recovery to strengthening Resilience

CRS Scale & Scope • 2012 Operating Budget of $750 million – Increase from $250 million in 1994 • Agriculture currently largest sector at $185 million • Working in 100 countries – Headquarters in Baltimore, Maryland – Seven Regional Offices (4 in Africa) • Reaching over 1 million farm households with seed vouchers the past ten years

Cowpea Exports (2010) Exports (1000 MT) 1600 1400 1200 1000 800 600 400 200 0 Burkina Niger Cameroon In 2010, Nigeria imported 1, 871, 000 MT Senegal Mali

Creative Use of Vouchers The Basics • Vouchers are a subsidy • Vouchers need to be understood as a flexible marketing tool • Vouchers can connect farmers to input suppliers and create customers for suppliers • Vouchers can be used to increase supply, increase demand, increase quality, increase price • Vouchers can support or undermine markets – it depends on how they are used!

What Farmer Customers Want from Input Providers – Wide Choice – Low Risk – Trust – Social Event – Short Distance – Free Stuff A. O’Conner Funk (2007) Observations & Recommendations from the Perspective of a Seed Company Manager

CRS Hermetic Storage Experience • 1996 • 1997 -2007 • 2007 - Grain. Pro – Reducing Food Aid Losses Maize Metal Silos in Kenya with SDC On farm Hermetic Grain & Seed Storage with a focus on the pulses Support from USAID/OFDA

Supporting and Empowering Farmer Seed Managers Once farmers have the variety, the economic gains from using certified seed of the self pollinated crops usually does not justify the investment. Moreover, certified seed is not always better quality than the seed reproduced by a farmer (Almekinders & Louwaars, 1999)

Seed Voucher Data Country Niger Voucher Type Cash Burkina Faso Commodity Seed Quantity Beneficiaries Seed x Variety 42 kg (2 kg cowpea) 15, 000 Market Seed of Mixed Crops + Varieties 1 -3 kg 20, 000 Certified Seed of Improved Cowpea Varieties Cash Voucher has greater fungibility – used at fairs to empower farmers to make own choices Commodity Voucher is a Coupon restricted to a specific product – used to promote a specific new variety

Cowpea Varietal Performance in Burkina Faso Variety Cycle IT 98 K-205 -8 65 days 926 kg/ha Extra Early Called ‘Hunger Stopper’ KVX 396 -4 -4 70 days 1012 kg/ha Drought resistant KVX 745 -11 P 70 days 637 kg/ha Dual purpose grain and fodder Semi-runner Local • • --- Yield Observations 321 kg/ha Average Seed Rate of 7 -8 kg/ha Average Multiplication Rate of 35 Interest in KVX 745 -11 P for both grain and fodder Expected and (2011) yield: • Grain 500 (266) kg/ha • Fodder 3000 (519) kg/ha

Hermetic Storage Containers in Burkina Faso in 2009 Type Number Weight Price/kg PICS 179 100 $1. 70 $0. 02 Veg. Oil 22 25 $3. 00 $0. 12 Veg. Oil 446 20 $2. 50 $0. 13 Vegoil 2, 115 5 $1. 24 $0. 25 Mineral Water 1, 484 1. 5 $0. 25 $0. 17 • Size of container based on amount of seed to be saved • • PICS Sacks and 5 liter containers new from Faso. Plast Other containers reused Farmer preference for PICS and 20/25 liter containers Price also dependent on replacement rate

Hermetic Storage Containers in Niger • Cash Voucher Value of $2. 30 – 11, 700 PICS Sacks – 4, 200 20 liter containers • 17 vendors with an average profit of $128 each

Adoption of Hermetic Cowpea Seed Storage 100 90 80 70 % 60 50 Men 40 Women 30 20 10 0 2009 Year 2010

Change in Germination Rate from R 1 to R 2 100 90 80 70 % 60 R 1 50 R 2 Lo 40 R 2 Hi 30 R 2 Av 20 10 0 KVX 396 -4 -5 -2 D KVX 61 -1 KVX 745 -11 P Cowpea Variety KVX 396 -4 -4

% Farmer Maintenance of R 2 Varietal Purity 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 KVX 396 -4 -5 -2 D KVX 61 -1 KVX 745 -11 P KVX 396 -4 -4 Cowpea Variety KVX 414 -22 -2 No verification of purity of certified seed of the five varieties Based on Grow Outs by INERA

Farmer Managed Security Parameter Comment Availability Supply of own saved seed not a problem due to low seed rate and high multiplication rate and in the local market Access Good quality seed of a range of varieties is often accessible in the local markets Certified seed, though available, remains accessible only through seed programs and not retail Seed Quality Cleanliness is non an issue with hand sorting of seed. Farmers able to maintain viable seed with hermetic storage. No apparent ‘degradation’ of saved seed. Varietal Quality New varieties outperform current varieties Farmers able to maintain pure seed of new varieties No known premium product pricing of cowpea grain

Hermetic Seed Storage Conclusions • Vouchers can support and strengthen existing supply chains • All sizes of hermetic containers effective without insecticide • Farmers adopt hermetic storage • Farmers storing relatively small quantities of seed • PICS sacks with larger volume attractive for primary aggregators • Stored cowpea grain used for a range of end uses – including seed (3 – 6%)

Allocation of Cowpea Production 1 5 36 Consumption Sale Seed Gift 57

Hermetic Storage A Cowpea Value Chain Asset • • • Cowpea is the lead export crop from the Sahel Attractive new varieties are available Cash & Commodity Vouchers are effective Farmers are competent seed managers Hermetic storage controls insect pests Hermetic storage is an incentive to prevent varietal mixing in seed management

Suggestions for the Future • Exploit Vouchers and Fairs • Educate the farmer as both a manager and a customer • Give greater hermetic product choice • Promote combined grain & seed storage • Improve market cowpea seed vendor storage • Address drying with hermetic storage in the humid tropics • Embrace storage along the value chain from producer to consumer

Thank You! CRS/Niger CRS/Burkina Purdue INRAN INERA USAID/OFDA