A two-day seed policy consultation workshop organized by SPC and Pacific Seed for Life (PS4L), in partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Forestry, Fisheries and Bio-Security (MALFFB) begin today in Port Vila.
The seed policy will help the Agriculture sector in Vanuatu to ensure that farmers have access to affordable quality seeds and planting materials of the most suitable crop varieties is essential for improving food security and nutrition as well as the livelihoods of farming communities.
In many countries, there is a lack of adequate seed policies – i.e. principles that guide government action and define the roles of stakeholders.
The absence of such policies weakens countries’ capacity to provide smallholders with adequate access to quality seeds of the crops most suited to their farming systems, conditions and needs.
The Pacific Community stated the Pacific Seed for Life initiative to bring together governments, international research organizations, the private sector, communities and key far stakeholders to strengthened seed systems in the pacific.
The PS4L aims to ensure resilient food production systems to enhance sustainable food and nutrition safety.