KENYA: ROADMAP FOR RICE SEED DEVELOPMENT
Advancement in rice sector is increasingly becoming important to Kenya’s core strategies
on poverty reduction and economic development. Rice is largely cultivated by smallholder
farmers under such diverse production environments as irrigated and rain fed (upland and
lowland) ecosystems. Owing to a rapid growth in consumption demand for rice, Kenya annually
imports about 450,000 tons of milled rice from other rice producing countries. National Rice
Development Strategy (NRDS) aims to increase the domestic rice production by 9.3% per year
in order to attain self-sufficiency.
Good quality seed is one of the vital inputs that can significantly improve total factor productivity
of rice crop even in smallholder farms. Enhancement of production and supply of quality rice
seeds hence constitutes a major strategic intervention identified under the NRDS. The purpose
of this document is to assess the challenges and issues across the rice seed value chain and
set out a roadmap for developing the rice seed sub-sector that shall augment the envisaged
national rice production.
Kenya has recently (2011) amended its Seed and Plant Varieties Act (Cap 326; 1972) and classified
rice as one of the scheduled crops for which certification of seed is compulsory. Rice seed is
typically produced through a minimum of four stages of sequential multiplication. The breeding
institutions which develop the variety produce small amount of initial source of seed (breeder
seed) using which pre-basic, basic and certified seed of a given variety are produced. Under the
current regulations, certified seed can be further multiplied for up to a total of 4 cycles.
Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (KEPHIS) is the leading regulatory authority for assuring
the quality of seed available in the country. The national policies recognize breeders’ rights
and promote active participation of private sector in production and supply of certified seeds.
While the role of public institutions are limited to development of varieties and maintenance
of the genetic integrity of the released public varieties, the commercial production of rice seed
is carried out by registered business units of public institutions such as KALRO, NIB and private
companies and rice farmers’ cooperative societies.
Although the laws and policies require rice seed to be produced and distributed through a
formally recognized system, the self pollinating nature of rice crop prompts the risk-averse
smallholder farmers to often recycle a portion of the harvested grain as seed. By inhibiting
the demand for certified seed, this predicament poses one of the biggest challenges to
advancements in rice seed value chain. Nonetheless, trends in seed production suggest strong
growth in demand in the recent years although the exact quantification of demand for certified
rice seed is not yet made.
Most of the rice seeds of all classes are invariably produced by growers in smallholder farms.
Insufficient technical appropriations, low levels of technological adoption and demographic
pressure on land intrinsically exert pressure on the volumes and quality of rice seeds produced.
Limited human resources and infrastructural and logistical constraints for inspection and seed
testing by KEPHIS, inconsistencies in standards set for field inspection and seed testing, and
lack of regional harmonization of seed regulations clout the certification processes.
vi Roadmap for Rice Seed Development 2016-2026
Inadequate infrastructures for seed processing and storage, lack of coordination of utilization of
existing facilities, and poor adherence of the seed production contracts by the parties stifle the
timely availability of seed. Higher costs involved in packing, labeling and logistics exert pressure
on the uptake of certified rice seed. Lack of an effective platform for dialogues between the
different stakeholders also curbs the potential of the rice seed value chain.
This roadmap aims to increase the use and supply of certified seed from the presumed level
of 40% to 75% by 2030 by (a) promoting the adoption of certified rice seeds of improved
varieties by smallholder farmers; (b) improving the timeliness, availability, affordability and
accessibility of certified seeds; (c) enhancing the quality of seeds through technical reviews and
regional harmonization of seed regulations; and (d) building human- and technical capacities of
stakeholders along the rice seed value chain.
Under this roadmap, discrepancies in the current national standards of purities of field
population and seed lots for the different seed classes will be reviewed. Inventory on
existing drying, storage and processing facilities will be conducted, and effective utilization
of such infrastructures and facilities will be promoted through public-private partnerships.
Linkages between seed producers, agro-dealers, farmers and grain buyers/processors will be
strengthened by establishing a forum for stakeholders engaged in rice seed value chain under
the guidance of National Rice Seed Consultative Committee.
Through analytical surveys, the dynamics of demand, supply and prices of rice seed of different
varieties in different rice growing regions will be established. Production of the different seed
classes of the different rice varieties will be accordingly coordinated so that a critical mass of
source seeds is constantly available. Rice shall be included as one of the commodities under
the strategic grain reserve program in order to scale out the uptake of certified rice seeds
through National Accelerated Agricultural Input Access Program.
Rice varietal catalogs will be refined and updated with descriptors of Basmati, Sindano and other
popular traditional varieties. Training on seed production, field inspection and internal seed
quality control measures by private seed companies shall be routinely organized. Awareness on
good agricultural practices, benefits of using certified rice seeds and safety hazards in handling
dressed seeds will be disseminated to farmers. New recruitments of inspectors in rice seed
producing regions and capacity building of staffs engaged in production and inspection through
short- and long term courses will be organized.
The roadmap will be implemented through the existing organizational structure for NRDS under
Rice Promotion Unit. Periodic monitoring of the progress and implementation of this roadmap
will be performed by the National Rice Seed Consultative Committee based on inputs and
feedback from stakeholders and technical assistance from rice seed taskforce. Funds for the
implementation of this roadmap will be sourced from the government, development partners
and other public- and private .. Read More: https://riceforafrica.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/SS_Kenya-2016-2026.pdf