Emergency seed aid is an essential part of humanitarian response, yet the policies and laws that govern seed systems are rarely designed with emergencies in mind. As crises become more frequent, governments and humanitarian actors are using a wider range of seed assistance approaches, including market-based responses. This new paper from ISSD Africa asks a critical but often overlooked questions:
Do existing policies or laws block effective seed aid response; and, what is needed for policies and laws to enable positive guidance towards more effective emergency seed action?
Drawing on a review of global and regional (Africa) agreements, and national seed policies and laws in six African countries, the paper examines how current regulatory environments shape emergency seed assistance and identifies possible actions
Key insights include:
- Legal and regulatory frameworks rarely address emergency seed assistance specifically;
- In practice, emergency responses often rely on informal “soft policy space,” creating uncertainty and uneven application;
- Seed policies and laws overwhelmingly prioritize the formal seed sector and with little flexibility for emergency contexts
- National, Regional and Donor systems offer untapped opportunities to strengthen emergency preparedness and implementation, including by providing clearer guidance
The paper argues that emergency seed preparedness is first and foremost a policy issue. Rather than adding rigid rules, governments and partners have an opportunity to strengthen response by clarifying legal space, embedding flexibility and aligning seed policy with evolving humanitarian practice.
Join the webinar on January 21st
Interested in the findings and what they mean for policy, donors, and aid organizations? Register now for our January 21st webinar: