Immediate aim of the Working Group: to develop a workplan for immediate seed needs, focused on spring and fall planting in 2002, in both rainfed and irrigated areas, to build on what FAO is already doing, and consider longer-term activities for developing the seed system and improving crop production.
 
Time frame: calendar year 2002. 
 
Available resources: US$ 2.5 million. Seed purchase will be limited; foundation seed can be provided from Centers and some seed can be contracted from farmers, but other actions also need to be financed. USAID have provided FAO with funds for seed relief so we do not have to finance seed purchase from this budget. This project should provide foundation seed as the basis of a future seed system.
 
Seed supply/demand: As the grant is provided from USAID's Office for Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA), immediate action is needed. Decisions must be based on the best scientific assessment, informed opinion and information currently available.

• We know the area and therefore the seed requirement. The FAO seed program is capable of providing 7-8000 MT wheat for a limited area in the country. FAO data and seed replacement rates (SRR) are provided in Dr. Tunwar's paper. Dr. Tunwar reported that most of the spring sown area will be planted by March and it is unlikely that we can get seed there in time.
• It must be accepted that whatever the Consortium can provide this year will be minimal. We cannot expect to substantially develop seed stocks before 2003/2004.
• If we are talking about food security in the country, then we must also consider yield potential and pest and disease control. Therefore, a workplan is needed where in 2-3 years time Afghanistan can produce the seed required through its own multiplication programs, etc. We should provide seed only of material that we want to see diffuse through the system.
• Seed alone will not be sufficient. Appropriate machinery for harvesting, processing and production of quality seed for multiplication will be needed.

Crops: Priority is wheat and focus should be on irrigated wheat for spring planting. Rice and maize for summer planting. If aim is to diversify cropping systems, then this also has implications for provision of seed. Supply should be broadened to other crops: forages, legumes, potatoes as well as wheat, maize and rice. Criteria should be crops for which seed supply is currently a problem together with dietary needs of the population (food security).

Immediate Action: Sub-group of germplasm scientists will identify varieties and quantities for spring and fall planting. (Dr. Wassimi is already developing this)

Needs assessment: it was agreed that a diagnosis of the existing seed system is needed. It is already apparent that there are differences between irrigated and rainfed sectors:

• Irrigated sector: material has already been tested and evaluated; we know what varieties are suitable. Demonstration and distribution needed to move this through the system. 
• Rainfed systems need further problem diagnosis and action research. 

The two can be started in parallel: moving seed of material that we know is suitable through the system, together with diagnostic assessments.
 
This should not be a one-off rapid needs assessment (RRA) but should be a broader diagnostic analysis to determine the direction of future activities and continuous monitoring and feed back.
 
NGOs and other organizations have extensive network of staff, many trained in PRA and other methodologies. However it is accepted that field surveys are constrained by accessibility and the security situation. In the meantime we can build on what FAO has already started including their assessments. The major crop production areas and target farmers are known to those working in the country. Action in seed provision cannot wait for the detailed needs assessment.
 
In meantime, any available information (published and "grey literature") could be assembled and made available (e.g., in CD Rom). Possible sources of information were identified as the 8 Volumes produced by Swedish Committee for Afghanistan and other reports available in Peshawar.

Immediate Action: Terms of reference for a needs assessment/diagnosis will be developed by a sub-group.

Policy/regulation issues: need to provide assistance (policy/regulatory guidelines) in coordinating the mechanisms for seed delivery. Currently, those involved in seed delivery have no agreed defined standards/rules of conduct. At some point we will need to establish a "committee" to determine policy issues and set standards and guidelines for seed delivery and distribution (price, delivery methods, etc.). A workshop should be held within next three months, in Afghanistan if possible, with all parties concerned and with qualified resource persons, to establish these guidelines and standards. It is advised that we should bring in some level of authority (government) at that point.

Immediate Action: Terms of reference for "coordination committee"/workshop will be developed by a sub-group.

Institutional strengthening and capacity building: The research farm close to Kabul could be a starting point for technical training and rebuilding of research capacity. Three other research stations could also serve as centers including Herat, Konduz and (?). We could also use the six existing sites (representing six main regions) currently used by FAO and contribute to their strengthening.
 
Activities: activities together with partners are listed separately for crop specific/varietal aspects and seed system aspects in the tables attached.
 
Next steps: based on these discussions, and output from the sub-groups, ICARDA will develop a work plan to be circulated to all participants.

Table 1: Crop specific/varietal activities

Table 2: Cross-cutting seed system activities