Private Seed Sector Development (PSSD)

The Private Seed Sector Development (PSSD) project is a market systems project that aims to increase the production and incomes of 178,000 farmer households in Burundi. The project works with private and public sector partners to promote the development of a private sector-led seed industry that is able to provide farmers with sustainable access to high-quality seed and agricultural advisory services.

Funded by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Burundi, PSSD activities will run from 2018 to 2022.

PSSD aims to increase the production and incomes of 178,000 farmer households in Burundi.

Incentivizing Seed Sales Innovation

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The project incentivizes and supports Burundian and international seed companies to pilot innovations related to seed production and sales. The project will focus on the development of sales strategies that are tailored to farmer household requirements, including:

The sale of seeds in micro-packs.
Development of last-mile distribution capabilities such as rural points of sales and mobile sales agents.
Micro-demonstration plots.
Consumer education-focused communication strategies tailored to farmers.
Development of specialized promotional materials tailored to farmers.

Increasing Production Efficiencies

PSSD will furthermore support initiatives to improve the business-enabling environment to foster the development of a private sector-led seed industry in Burundi. Work will include:

Strengthening of the Burundian national seed producer association.
Facilitation of dialogue between public and private sector stakeholders on seed sector-relevant regulations in order to promote policy and regulatory coherency.
Promotion of seed distribution strategies that help, rather than hinder, the development of a private sector-led seed industry in Burundi.
Increasing the efficiency and sustainability of seed certification and packaging processes.
Improving knowledge transfer between research institutions and the private sector to ensure that technologies are transferred from lab to farm.

Contribution to the SDGs

In 2015, the Kingdom of the Netherlands (KoN), together with the other 192 United Nations (UN) member states, committed to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The Agenda outlines 17 interlinked Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that are intended to make the world a better place by 2030.

The PSSD project aims to contribute to the KoN commitments in relation to SDG 2:

End hunger, achieve food security and improve nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture.

The project aims in particular to contribute to the KoN’s commitment to Objective 2.3:

By 2030, double the agricultural productivity and incomes of small-scale food producers, in particular women, indigenous peoples, family farmers, pastoralists and fishers, including through secure and equal access to land, other productive resources and inputs, knowledge, financial services, markets and opportunities for value addition and non-farm employment.