Enabling a Private Sector-Led Seed Industry: Policy Perspectives
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Few industries encounter such barriers and yet are as critical for food security as the seed sector. The Enabling Agricultural Trade (EAT) Project, a USAID initiative, has partnered with Iowa State University’s Seed Science Center to produce a brief that informs policymakers and donors interested in agriculture sector reform about this key pillar of agricultural growth.
The brief finds that for a vibrant and healthy seed industry to develop, policies should focus on offering initial support to the private sector while enabling it to adapt to the market and develop independently through a transparent, rules-based legal and regulatory system, rather than advancing government control and supervision.
The paper is organized around three key principles necessary to develop the seed industry as a successful business: the elements necessary to set up a legal and regulatory framework and remove unnecessary barriers to private seed sector growth; the policy interventions needed to build up market capacity for the private seed industry; and the interventions required by governments to implement regional harmonization agreements.
At this seminar, Joe Cortes of Iowa State University outlined the findings of the brief; panelists Mark Huisenga of USAID’s Bureau for Food Security and Judy Chambers of the International Food Policy Research Institute discussed the findings; and EAT’s Nate Kline moderated and engaged the audience in a question and answer session on the topic of seed policy.
Moderated by:
Speakers
Joseph Cortes
Iowa State University
Dr. Joseph Cortes received his B.S. in Agricultural Engineering from the National University of Columbia and went on to the University of Campinas, Brazil, to conduct his M.Sc. studies in Post-Harvest Technology. At Mississippi State University, he completed his Ph.D. in Seed Technology. He was also at the Seed Unit of CIAT for 7 years as a Research and Training Associate, covering all of Latin America. He has served as the Program Leader of the Global Seed Program at Iowa State University since 1991, after serving for four years in Peru as a leader in a seed systems USAID development project.
He is active in the harmonization of seed policies and regulations in Southern Africa, which includes 14 SADC-Countries. He is also active in the ECOWAS region under the West Africa Seed Alliance, where he is the Iowa State University concept co-developer and implementing partner for regional seed policy harmonization and seed industry development for 17 West African countries. In 2010-2011, he has also been involved in seed policy harmonization for the 19 COMESA countries with EU support.
In 1999, he was recognized by the American Seed Trade Association for his vision and work in Latin America for seed regulatory systems reform resulting in an improved global trade environment. In 2000, he was also recognized by the Central American Organization for Regional Plant and Animal Health for his technical assistance in the harmonization of seed policies and regulations.
Mark Huisenga
USAID Bureau for Food Security
Mark Huisenga specializes in the due diligence of agricultural investments, including commercial, legal and regulatory assessments of the agriculture sector on AgCLIR assessments in Ghana and Tanzania. Currently he serves as Senior Program Manager at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Bureau for Food Security. Prior to joining USAID, he was an agriculture value chain consultant, advising among others the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, Market Access Program’s business plan. Formerly he served as director of Agriculture and Rural Economy for the Millennium Challenge Corporation, including oversight of MCC’s investment in Ghana’s seed sector reform, as well as investments in Burkina Faso, Lesotho, Morocco and Mozambique. As sector coordinator and associate at ARD, Inc. director of new business development and as a market analyst for Cargill Technical Services, he worked on a broad range of agribusiness projects worldwide. As associate director at the IRIS Center, Department of Economics, University of Maryland (United States), Huisenga advised on institutional and regulatory reform programs in Asia. He earned a master’s degree from the American University’s School of International Service, Washington, D.C., and a bachelor’s degree in earth science and agriculture from Montana State University.
Judy Chambers
International Food Policy Research Institute
Judith A. Chambers currently serves as Director of the Program for Biosafety Systems (PBS) at the International Food Policy Research Institute in Washington, D.C. PBS is an international program funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development to assist emerging nations in the development and implementation of science-based regulatory systems to permit the responsible introduction of genetically enhanced crops and organisms. Prior to assuming her role at PBS, she was the President of Emerging Market Solutions, a Virginia-based consulting company targeted to assist private and public sector organizations in the areas of market development, issues management and public-private sector program collaboration in the developing world.
She received a Ph.D. in molecular biology from the University of Pennsylvania where she specialized on the analysis of retroviruses, which are the class of viruses responsible for HIV/AIDS. She completed her post doctoral program at Ecogen, Inc., a start-up biotechnology company, whose product focus was in the development of biological pesticides for agricultural applications.
She has had a diverse career which has included appointments in both government (U.S. Agency for International Development) and industry (Monsanto Company) where she held, respectively, senior advisory and corporate affairs positions with a focus on Africa and other developing world regions. Her expertise centers on strategic issues related to corporate social responsibility, sustainability, brand management, technology acceptance and agribusiness development for both domestic and emerging global markets, with a specialization in the area of biotechnology.
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