November 1995. In Europe and North America, seed supply is usually in the hands of private enterprise. In the WANA (West Asia and North Africa) region, it's not. But this is changing, as countries move more and more to privatize their seed industries.
Now a workshop is to take place in Tunis during 16-21 November 1995 to review the privatization of the industry in WANA. There will be 40 participants from a number of countries, including 16 in the region.
The workshop is being mounted with generous assistance from the German technical cooperation organization, GTZ, which has been involved in ICARDA's work to strengthen the seed sector in WANA for a number of years.
The 16 WANA countries will each give a presentation on how privatization has fared in their own systems, covering the prospects for privatization, government policies, constraints to privatization, and their suggested future plans for improvement.
Several countries in the region are already in the process of privatizing their national seed industries. Turkey and Morocco have made considerable progress, while others are at intermediate stages. Countries such as Yemen, Syria and Jordan are still mainly reliant on state-owned seed-production activities, although Ethiopia is moving towards a market-oriented seed sector.
The WANA countries will not only be able to compare their own experiences, but will also hear about how private seed industries have functioned in more technically developed countries.
"Expansion of national seed industries into the private sector can improve seed supply and substantially increase national crop yields," says Dr Tony van Gastel, head of ICARDA's Seed Unit. "At least, that's the experience of seed industries in many parts of the world. The workshop will be an opportunity for members of the private seed industry in those areas to share that experience with their colleagues from further south."
To this end, presentations will also be given on three European countries-France, The Netherlands and Germany.
Both ICARDA and Germany have done much to develop the seed sector in WANA over the last few years. ICARDA has contributed improved crop varieties and seed since its creation in 1977. In 1985, ICARDA established its Seed Unit; this focuses on training in the seed industry, but also on networking. Now ICARDA hosts the secretariat for the WANA Seed Network, made up of representatives of the seed sectors in the WANA countries. Each country takes responsibility for a specific activity, and a steering committee meets every year to review progress and set the agenda. The Network as a whole is a good example of cost-effective, collaborative research and development.
Germany has also had a long involvement with the seed sector in WANA. Most support was initially to the public seed industries, but in Morocco the Germans helped build up a mainly state-owned company which operates like a private business. They are now helping Egypt to privatize its seed supply. Assistance has also been given to the Jordanian national industry. GTZ staff from all three projects, as well as from Germany, will attend the workshop.
"I am especially optimistic about this workshop because it is an example of development cooperation in both a north-south and a south-south direction," says Dr van Gastel. "Moreover, we are drawn from all sorts of organizations: state sector; private sector; parastatal-FAO will be there as well as ICARDA; and development cooperation agencies. It promises to be a useful exchange of experience."