The Business of Plant Breeding: Market led Approaches to Plant Variety Design in Africa

By Rowland Chirwa, Agyemang Danquah, Erik Yirenky Danquah and 9 more

The Business of Plant Breeding is the result of a study on demand-led plant variety design for markets in Africa, sharing best practices from private and public sector breeding programmes worldwide that are applicable to improving tropical crops in Africa.

Beginning with an overview of the principles of demand-led plant breeding, the book then discusses aspects such as understanding the demands of clients and markets in rural and urban areas, foresight in setting product profiles and breeding targets, and determining breeding strategy and stage plans. It also covers measuring success and making the business case for future investments in breeding programmes that will deliver new varieties to meet market demands. The book:

- Brings together the experience of plant breeders around the world, representing universities, national plant breeding programmes, regional and international agricultural research institutes, and private seed companies, showcasing how to respond to changing market demands;
- Provides educational resource materials within each chapter;
- Includes templates for use as planning tools by plant breeding programs for determining priority traits that meet market demands.

An important read for professionals and students of plant breeding and genetics, this book is also a useful resource for anyone interested in developing and disseminating new, market-led technologies to increase productivity and profitability in tropical agriculture.

The study was sponsored by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research, the Crawford Fund and the Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture, and managed by the University of Queensland.

• Language: English
• Publisher: CAB International
• Release date: Apr 15, 2019
• ISBN: 9781786393821

Book preview

1    Principles of Demand-led Plant Variety Design

P

AUL

M. K

IMANI

*

Plant Breeding and Biotechnology Program, Department of Plant Science and Crop Protection, University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya

*E-mail: [e-mail]

Executive Summary and Key Messages

Objectives

1.  To understand the current status and challenges facing African agriculture.

2.  To review modern variety adoption in Africa.

3.  To understand the principles of demand-led plant variety design and how this approach is similar to and different from current breeding practices.

This chapter discusses the status and challenges of agriculture in Africa and ways of transforming the agricultural sector into a modern, commercially oriented sector within the countries of Africa. It reviews the adoption of new plant varieties, where there has been about 35% adoption of modern varieties for many food crops across sub-Saharan Africa over the past 15 years Table 1.1. This contrasts with about 60% adoption of new varieties in Asia and 80% in South America. The low adoption rates in Africa are attributed to a range of micro- and macro-level factors, including the availability of seed and access to credit, and acceptance by farmers and consumers. The chapter also describes the advantages and disadvantages of the methods used to measure varietal adoption. Further, it identifies the key principles of demand-led variety design: how this differs from and complements other approaches; its relationship to innovation systems and value chains; the role of public policy and social dimensions; and the benefits and risks of implementing a demand-led breeding programme. The chapter also defines the role of the plant breeder and the rationale for breeders to adopt more demand-led variety design, including the setting of breeding goals, consideration of trait trade-offs and measurement of progress.

Table 1.1. Adoption of modern varieties of food crops in sub-Saharan Africa. Data from Walker et al. (2014) and Walker and Alwang (2015).

How is demand-led variety development different from current practices?

•  Broader client focus. Demand-led approaches put farmers, other clients and consumers at the forefront of new variety design and development.

•  Value chain. Demand-led approaches build on and go beyond farmer-participatory breeding. They include consultation on needs, not only with farmers, but also with all other clients across the entire crop value chain who are making buying and selling decisions about crops and their products, as well as with the stakeholders who determine the enabling environment in which the business of plant breeding and crop production takes place.

•  Markets and drivers. Plant breeders need to understand markets and client segmentation to be able to prioritize their breeding targets. Current practices tend to put more emphasis on technology-based approaches and achieving numbers of varietal registrations, rather than focusing on market drivers, including partnering with the private sector to ensure that new, marketable varieties reach farmers.

Implications for the role of the plant breeder

•  Leadership role. The breeder is the main actor in demand-led variety design and carries the responsibility for coordinating, facilitating and linking actors and audiences with diverse interests. Success is highly dependent on the breeder championing a demand-led approach.

•  Building expertise. Plant breeders will need to learn new skills, especially in the business domain, and work with a range of non-traditional allies for the success of their programmes. They will also need to train and mentor a new generation of young breeders in demand-led breeding approaches.

Key messages for plant breeders

Outlook for African agriculture

•  Key challenges. Breeders need to understand the current supply and demand challenges facing African agriculture.

•  Policy and science agenda. Breeders, including postgraduate students, need to understand how demand-led approaches fit with Africa’s science agenda, government policy and research and development (R&D) investment plans in their own country and region.

Modern variety adoption in Africa

•  Limited adoption. There is limited adoption of many registered varieties of food crops in Africa. The application of demand-led approaches to variety design can improve adoption levels, and the private sector seed industry succeeds or fails based on designing varieties that clients want and need.

•  Variety design. This is an important component that affects adoption, along with the availability and affordability of seeds, farmer awareness and risk perception.

•  Measuring adoption levels. Several methods can be used but all have advantages and disadvantages. The overriding issue is data quality and reliability. Data accuracy can be significantly improved if breeders incorporate phenotypic and genotypic identity markers into their variety designs.

Breeding goals

•  Customer preference. This is a significant factor in the adoption of new varieties. The core goals of a breeding programme should be based on what consumers want and the type of products that will improve the livelihoods of farmers.

•  Breeding performance and tracking adoption rates. A breeder’s goals, incentives and rewards should go beyond the number of new varieties registered and also include the extent of adoption of new varieties by farmers and the performance of these varieties in the field. Adoption monitoring methods should be fully understood, so that appropriate monitoring can be built into a post-registration plan to monitor adoption and performance of new varieties, with attribution of success.

Demand-led approaches – ten key points

•  Understanding clients. Understanding clients is central to demand-led variety design and improving the adoption of new varieties. Before starting a breeding programme for a particular crop, it is necessary to be clear on: who the clients are; what factors influence their buying decisions; and what the needs, preferences and problems of each client are.

•  Farmer adoption. Demand-led approaches increase the likelihood of new varieties being adopted by farmers.

•  Value chains. Demand-led approaches build on and go beyond farmer-participatory breeding. They include consultation not only with farmers, but also with all clients and stakeholders along the whole crop value chain.

•  Urban and rural consumers. Breeders must consider the needs and preferences of consumers living in both rural and urban environments. Rapid (rural and urban) appraisals can be extended to gathering information not only from farmers but also from consumers and clients who live in towns and cities.

•  Markets and client segmentation. Breeders need to understand markets and client segmentation to be able to prioritize their breeding targets.

•  Market research and intelligence gathering. The gathering of market research at the start of a breeding programme needs to be complemented by regular consultations with stakeholders at key decision points along the development stage plan from new variety design to post-market release. The primary objective is to gain new insights, test assumptions, demonstrate and obtain feedback on new variety/lead germplasm performance and stimulate demand.

•  Breeding entrepreneurship. This can contribute to economic growth, better livelihoods for farmers and increased food security. Improved varieties can change lives.

•  Market creation. To maximize market creation and nurture innovation, a balance is required between using demand-led approaches and enabling new technologies to drive innovations. Both approaches have value and they complement one another.

•  Role of the plant breeder. Plant breeders do more than make crosses and lead selection programmes. A breeder must also be an integrator of inputs and be able to assimilate information and incorporate a broad range of views, including those of non-technical experts. This requires assimilating data, looking at its implications and making decisions based on information from diverse areas, including agricultural economics, markets, market research and the core scientific functions of breeding.

•  Breeding experience. Demand-led approaches retain emphasis and put value on the breeder’s eye and experience.

Key messages for R&D leaders, government officials and investors

Outlook for African agriculture

•  Strategic agriculture and the food security agenda. Demand-led approaches can contribute to achieving national, regional and pan-African agricultural development and food security targets and priorities.

Modern variety adoption

•  Tracking adoption and performance of new varieties. Breeders should aspire to and be supported by R&D management and investors to monitor the adoption of their varieties by farmers and by the actors along the value chain.

•  Financial support for monitoring variety adoption. Finance should be included for use after registration as part of the financial investment in breeding programmes in order to measure progress.

Breeding goals

•  Clients. Client needs and preferences should drive the setting of breeding objectives. The incorporation of demand-led approaches into the setting of breeding goals and objectives will contribute to smallholder farmer livelihoods by enabling them to enter markets for the sale of surplus produce. This will increase the success and reputation of the breeder. It will also increase investors’ confidence in continued support for the breeding programmes.

Demand-led approaches

•  Demand-led versus technology push. A balance is required between the use of demand-led approaches and technology/innovation push so that market creation is maximized for new varieties.

•  Change management. Demand-led approaches require significant changes to the way that current breeding goals and objectives are set, new varieties are designed and developed, and their performance is measured. Support is sought from institutional management, government officials and investors to assist breeders to adopt more demand-led approaches and to find solutions to problems that may arise during the transition to these new approaches.

•  Private sector connections. Public sector breeders should be encouraged to connect with the private sector along the whole value chain from seed distributors to retailers in order to seek inputs and stimulate demand. This requires that management and government officials create an enabling environment and facilitate a public/private dialogue.

•  Market and crop information. Governments and management need to provide reliable national statistics and data sources for breeders and other R&D scientists to use.

•  Market research. Investors should encourage, expect and finance market information gathering as a key part of breeding programme proposals and business plans.

•  Professional development of plant breeders as integrators. R&D leaders need to support and finance breeders to undertake professional development in knowledge integration and to expand their skills in project management and project planning.

Introduction

The objectives of this chapter are:

1.  To understand the current status and challenges facing African