This webinar took place on: Wednesday, January 21, 2026
Emergency seed aid is key for helping farmers recover after a disaster. Its use has increased enormously over the last decade, with large investments across a growing number of countries. If done well, such aid serves as a powerful assistance tool to help farmers sow and harvest themselves. If done poorly, seed aid can increase vulnerability, waste farmers’ land and labor, and stifle development of sustainable farmer-managed seed systems and commercial seed businesses.
Mercy Corps and SeedSystem, through the ISSD Africa programme, have released a new paper: Seed Policy and Law: an Underexplored Factor in Emergency Assistance in Africa. The paper reviews key policies and laws of six African countries, along with relevant global and regional agreements, to determine the extent of official guidance. The base questions guiding the paper are: Do such policies exist at all; If so, do they block effective seed aid response —or do they enable positive, effective humanitarian action?
The webinar discussions explored this crucial issue— centering on the possible roles of governments to take stronger leads in shaping critical emergency assistance. While the core of the paper includes a rigorous legal analysis of what is- or isn’t- detailed in existing policy and legislation, the work ultimately aims to improve practice. Concrete recommendations are put forward to spur better governance of emergency seed assistance—for multiple stakeholders.
Presenter:
Niels Louwaars, Fellow, Law Group, Wageningen University
Commentators:
Chris Ojiewo is the Chair of the African Union Commission’s African Seed & Biotechnology Partnership Platform. Chris is also the Lead, of the Inclusive Delivery Area of Work of CGIAR’s Breeding for Tomorrow Science Program, as well as Lead, Seed Systems, Dryland Crops Program, CIMMYT.
Astrid Mastenbroek currently serves as the First Secretary of Water and Food Security at the Royal Netherlands Embassy in Bamako, Mali. Astrid has previously also coordinated national seed sector development programmes and activities.