Enhancing seed production by smallholder farmers
Innovation Type:
Water-Energy-Food
Product Segment:
Other
Country of Incorporation:
Mozambique
Country of Implementation:
Mozambique
Company Stage:
Stage 1: 0 to 100 end-users
Seeking Investment:
Yes, $1 million USD
Financing Goals:
Seeking equity (angel investor, venture capital or private equity)
Seeking debt (commercial or DFI)
Seeking combination of debt and equity
Seeking hybrid (convertible debt or similar)
Seeking corporate investors
Contact Name:
Josephat Rushinga
Contact Email:
Website:
Challenges
It is believed that only 20% of smallholder producers in Mozambique use some form of certified seed. The rest use retained seed to grow new crops resulting in low yields of poor quality and inbreeding. Most smallholder farmers fail to produce enough to sustain their families throughout the year.
Global warming is increasingly causing frequent droughts and prolonged mid-season dry spells that negatively impact yields. Thus, staple food production is constricted, resulting in poor nutrition and health, mostly the rural populace – smallholder farmers.
Solutions
Phoenix Seeds’ innovation is to improve smallholder producers’ access to certified seeds. They focus on increasing local production of well researched drought tolerant seed varieties that are adaptable to local growing conditions. The innovation entails engaging small out-grower farmers and providing technical support to produce certified seed that can then be sold to the ever-increasing number of small-scale farmers throughout Mozambique.
By serving smallholder farmers with more drought-tolerant certified seed, boosting agricultural production, improving farmer returns, and enhancing livelihoods in the smallholder growing communities, households are able to produce enough to feed their families and sell excess production to the open market. This increases the income available for use for other household requirements, such as paying for education, medication, etc.
