partnerships and value expansion for inclusive seed systems (pave)

PAVE Pakistan is a 2.5 year (2017 – 2020) business inclusive project jointly funded by DFAT (Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade) Australia and Engro Fertilizers, with MEDA as the monitoring partner. Through PAVE, Engro aims to develop the seed value chain of rice, wheat and vegetables in Pakistan, making it more inclusive for smallholder farmers by building on their capacities and creating market linkages for them.

background

In Pakistan, 75% of seed in the seed system/value chain is uncertified and sold through informal channels. Although seed is the principle input in crop production, on which the quality of the produce largely depends, majority of the seed supply does not meet the minimum criteria of purity and quality, resulting in poor yields and poor-quality harvests. This low-quality seed is primarily used by the smallholder farmers, who constitute 80 +% of the farmers in Pakistan, leading to low yields and returns from farming. The remaining 20% is used by big resourceful farmers, who produce this seed in collaboration with seed companies. For these resource-poor and risk-averse smallholders to prosper, it is vital to build their capacity as users and producers of quality seed first.

vision and mission

The goal of the PAVE project is to increase the income of smallholder farmers by training them on modern farming techniques and building their capacity as quality seed producers. At the same time, Engro intends to improve its seed sales, increase revenues and broaden its seed procurement base by incorporating smallholders as seed suppliers into its seed multiplication network.

PAVE Pakistan seeks to increase participation of men and women smallholder farmers in the seed value chain and enhance livelihoods, skills, expertise, seed mindedness, crop yields, farming practices and empowerment. The project targets more than 200 villages in Districts of Sheikhupura and Gujranwala in Punjab and integrate 4,000 smallholder farmers into the seed value chain out of which 400 will be women farmers.

This initiative addresses the major challenges in the agricultural seed business of rice, wheat and vegetables. The total seed industry size for Pakistan is about Rs. 124 billion or AUD $1.5 billion (informal industry Rs. 70 billion and formal industry Rs. 54 billion). The social challenge is that small-holder farmers including women farmers are excluded from this value chain. More than 500 private sector seed companies and large public sector seed corporations are the exclusive seed producers in the country who have developed about 15,000-20,000 seed minded farmers in Punjab. These large-scale, commercial farmers dominate the market excluding smallholders completely from any benefits. This presents a great opportunity for commercial seed players to build partnerships with smallholders as customers and producers of quality seed while at the same time making access to modern farming and seed production techniques easier for smallholders.

key facts:

Key Partners	Engro, DFAT Australia, MEDA Canada
Number of Beneficiaries Enrolled	4,400 (700 women)
Number of Farmer Groups/ Learning Alliances Formed	205 (41 women)
Crop Focus	Rice, Wheat and Vegetables
Geographical Focus	Sheikhupura and Gujranwala districts, Punjab

strategy

Build the capacity of 4,000 smallholder farmers (including 400 women) around quality certified seed use and seed multiplication. This includes:

Implementation of rice and wheat-related Best Crop Management Practices (BCMP’s) and Seed Production trainings to improve their knowledge, skill set and expertise;
Targeted results for improving their practices, adoption, conversion to certified seed use, yields, profitability, income, livelihood, empowerment and entrepreneurship;
Increasing the likelihood of the participants in the seed programs on a sustainable basis.
Improve the readiness of 1,640 smallholders, to participate in a seed multiplication process to a level that commercial companies find it technically viable to work with them.
Convert 300 smallholder farmers, to registered seed suppliers for Engro’s seed business.
Develop approximately 60 enterprising smallholder farmers as Master Trainers to produce their own quality farm-saved seed for further exchange, distribution and selling among fellow farmers in nearby villages.

awards and recognition

Best Shared-Value Project Through Cross-Sector Partnership

PAVE Pakistan won the award for the Best Shared-Value Project Through Cross-Sector Partnership at the 2019 Asia Pacific Shared Value Awards, Melbourne, Australia. This award highlights PAVE’s contributions towards the socio-economic empowerment of smallholders in Pakistan

Asia Responsible Enterprise Award 2019 (AREA)

PAVE Pakistan initiative won the Asia Responsible Enterprise Award 2019 (AREA) for its efforts to create a socially and economically inclusive Seed Value Chain in Pakistan. With over 200 submissions from companies across Asia, this was the first time that a Pakistan based organization/initiative bagged this award.

Best Story of the Aik Sath story competition

PAVE’s Success Story awarded the Best Story of the Aik Sath story competition organized by AusAid and ACIAR.

partnership with the (UAF)

Engro, through its PAVE Pakistan Project, partnered with the University of Agriculture Faisalabad (UAF) to develop four Community Outreach Centers in Gujranwala and Sheikhupura districts. These centers are part of a joint effort of UAF and Engro to develop an “Integrated E-learning system for Agricultural Technology Transfer by Using Hybrid Approach” – a project funded by HEC (Higher Education Commission) through its Technology Development Fund (TDF).

MoU Between UAF And Engro Fertilizers.

Online Agri Advisory Launched For Farmers.