Access and benefit-sharing policies for climate-resilient seed systems.

The synthesis report is part of a series of papers on Integrated Seed Sector Development (ISSD) in Africa’s thematic working group on Matching national realities with global commitments. The thematic working group addressed the main question on how African governments implement their global commitments while fostering a viable pluralistic sector. The main hypothesis was that making these commitments more coherent with the practices and realities of farmers and creating an enabling environment for strengthening multiple seed systems will increase farmers’ access to quality seed. Three main topics were discussed under this theme: access and benefit sharing for climate resilient seed systems; national and regional seed laws that support the development of a robust, integrated seed sector that supports smallholder farmers' needs; and creating room for informal and intermediary seed systems in a UPOV '91 informed Plant Variety Protection system. This study provides an overview of climate related changes in past, present and future and the challenges to access to and exchange of genetic resources for climate change adaptation through different access and benefit sharing regimes in 4 countries – Zambia, Zimbabwe, Rwanda and Uganda. Findings from the studies indicate that most African countries face challenges in accessing required PGR for climate change adaptation because they do not have online accession-level documentation; they have not fully implemented international commitments related to ABS and national and regional seed laws hamper the flow of seeds and genetic resources. As a way forward the paper proposes capacity development for mutually supportive implementation of the ITPGRFA, Nagoya protocol and seed laws in ways which reflect the reality and diversity of different seed systems

Access and benefit sharing policies for climate resilient seed systems: matching global commitments with national realities.

This synthesis paper provides a summary of main findings on climate resilient seed systems and access and benefit sharing of case studies from Uganda, Rwanda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. This study analyses what is actually happening at the national and subnational levels in terms of climate change, its impacts on particular crops, what experiences countries have had to date in terms of accessing, using and sharing benefits derived from genetic resources for climate change adaptation, and what kinds of ABS policy initiatives or reforms could help those countries to make better use of genetic diversity for climate change adaptation in the future. This study is designed to analyze how these different ‘threads’ come together at national and subnational level in the four countries. Findings from these studies indicate that countries are already facing climate change which is affecting farmers and shaping their needs in terms of suitably adapted seed. As a result, the countries are embracing (inter and intra specific) crop diversification as a means to adapt to climate changes. This depends upon accessibility, availability and use of inter and intra specific crop genetic diversity from local, national and international sources. The proportion of PGRFA in the countries’ national genebanks that is potentially adaptable to that country’s changing climate is decreasing over time (as climates change more). National level research and the development of new varieties is also not sufficient to meet these demands. Countries are therefore becoming more interdependent. There are also significant constraints on ability to access, use and share benefits associated with materials in other countries as a result of the lack of on-line accession level documentation (and linked implementation of ITPGRFA and Nagoya Protocol) and lack of proper polices, legislation and guidelines on ABS. The study therefore recommends that international partnerships and programmes are important mechanisms for the exchanges of genetic resources into and out of the four countries for agricultural research and development especially at regional level and that the ITPGRFA and Nagoya Protocol are not self-executing agreements but need to be proactively implemented. In addition, considerable investment in capacity building is necessary for stakeholders – including farmers – to be able to exchange genetic resources in a way that makes seed systems more resilient

Risk factors for non-communicable diseases in rural Uganda: a pilot surveillance project among diabetes patients at a referral hospital clinic

Introduction: Despite an increasing recognition of non- communicable diseases (NCDs) in sub-Saharan Africa, there is lack of well established surveillance systems for these diseases. In an effort to understand burden of NCDs in low-resource settings, the African Field Epidemiology Network launched a pilot project in 2009 to routinely capture patient data in the diabetes clinic of Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence and, the gender- and age- specific distributions of common NCD risk factors among diabetic patients attending a referral hospital in rural Uganda. Methods: A relational Access database was designed to collect information on NCD risk factors. These included smoking, alcohol use, family history of diabetes, hypertension and body mass index. Univariate analyses were done and differences in proportions tested using chi-square P-values in STATA version 10.0. Results: A total of 1,383 patient records were analyzed, with 61% being female and mean age of 39.6 years (SD 15.8). About 24% had a family history of diabetes. Smoking and alcohol use were more prevalent among males (16.6 % vs. 8.3%; p<0.0001) and (30.7 vs. 13%; p<0.0001) respectively. Overweight, obesity and hypertension were more prevalent in women (18.6% vs. 9.7%, 8.6% vs. 2.6%; p<0.0001, and 40.3% vs. 33%, p=0.018) respectively. Conclusion: This pilot project shows that use of hospital-based data is a valuable initial step in setting up surveillance systems for NCDs in Uganda. Risk factors for NCDs were both age and gender-specific and predominantly related to lifestyle. This suggests the need to design gender-sensitive prevention interventions that target lifestyle modification in this setting

Looking outside the box : access and benefit sharing for family farmers in Zimbabwe

What is successful access and benefit sharing’ for smallholder family farmers? This contribution argues it is not about legal contracts or mechanisms that regulate the international transfer of plant genetic resources. It is about farmers’ access to seed diversity and the ability to share in the benefits of the continuing cycles of seed conservation and development. The Community Technology Development Trust in Zimbabwe supports mechanisms that, in practice, do result in substantial access to and benefit sharing of local and modern varieties

Community seed banks: sharing experiences from North and South.

Note full title of report is: Community Seed banks: Sharing experiences from North and South. Report from a side event held 1 November 2017 during the Seventh Session of the Governing Body of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture in Kigali, Rwanda. Paris: DIVERSIFOOD. The number of community seed banks is rapidly increasing, in response to the growing demand for greater diversity of crop genetic resources among farmers and gardeners around the world. Two major studies shed light on this development, enabling a closer look at the differing approaches, methods, outreach and achievements. These studies were presented and illustrated with examples at a side-event at the Seventh Session of the Governing Body of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (Plant Treaty) in Kigali, Rwanda, in 2017, aimed at sharing experiences. This report presents the contents of the side-event as well as key decisions from the Governing Body Session of relevance for community seed banks

“COMING TOGETHER” (Batanai): Learning from Zimbabwe’s experiences with community biodiversity conservation, participatory crop improvement and climate change adaptation

This brief presents the findings and lessons learned of a study tour by a team from the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of South Africa to neighbouring Zimbabwe, to learn about the roles of Farmer Field Schools, functions and operations of community seedbanks and various forms of participatory crop improvement, promoted by the Community Technology Development Organisation of Zimbabwe

Extent of compliance with COVID-19 prevention and control guidelines among supermarkets in Kampala Capital City and Mukono Municipality, Uganda

Background Despite the development and enforcement of preventive guidelines by governments, COVID-19 continues to spread across nations, causing unprecedented economic losses and mortality. Public places remain hotspots for COVID-19 transmission due to large numbers of people present; however preventive measures are poorly enforced. Supermarkets are among the high-risk establishments due to the high interactions involved, which makes compliance with the COVID-19 preventive guidelines of paramount importance. However, until now, there has been limited evidence on compliance with the set COVID-19 prevention guidelines. Therefore, this study aimed to measure compliance with the COVID-19 prevention guidelines among supermarkets in Kampala Capital City and Mukono Municipality Uganda. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted among selected supermarkets in Kampala Capital City and Mukono Municipality in September 2020. A total of 229 supermarkets (195 in Kampala City and 34 in Mukono Municipality) were randomly selected for the study. Data were collected through structured observations on the status of compliance with COVID-19 prevention guidelines, and entered using the KoboCollect software, which was preinstalled on mobile devices (smart phones and tablets). Descriptive statistics were generated to measure compliance to the set COVID-19 Ministry of Health prevention guidelines using Stata 14 software. Results Only 16.6% (38/229) of the supermarkets complied with the COVID-19 prevention and control guidelines. In line with the specific measures, almost all supermarkets 95.2% (218/229) had hand washing facilities placed at strategic points such as the entrance, and 59.8% (137/229) of the supermarkets surveyed regularly disinfected commonly touched surfaces. Only 40.6% and 30.6% of the supermarkets enforced mandatory hand washing and use of face masks respectively for all customers accessing the premises. Slightly more than half, 52.4% (120/229) of the supermarkets had someone or a team in charge of enforcing compliance to COVID-19 measures and more than half, 55.5% (127/229) of the supermarkets had not provided their staff with job-specific training/mentorship on infection prevention and control for COVID-19. Less than a third, 26.2% (60/229) of the supermarkets had an infrared temperature gun for screening every customer, and only 5.7% (13/229) of the supermarkets captured details of clients accessing the supermarket as a measure to ease follow-up. Conclusion This study revealed low compliance with COVID-19 guidelines, which required mandatory preventive measures such as face masking, regular disinfection, social distancing, and hand hygiene. This study suggests the need for health authorities to strengthen enforcement of these guidelines, and to sensitise the supermarket managers on COVID-19 in order to increase the uptake of the different measures

“Every Newborn-INDEPTH” (EN-INDEPTH) study protocol for a randomised comparison of household survey modules for measuring stillbirths and neonatal deaths in five Health and Demographic Surveillance sites

Background: Under-five and maternal mortality were halved in the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) era, with slower reductions for 2.6 million neonatal deaths and 2.6 million stillbirths. The Every Newborn Action Plan aims to accelerate progress towards national targets, and includes an ambitious Measurement Improvement Roadmap. Population-based household surveys, notably Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) and Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys, are major sources of population-level data on child mortality in countries with weaker civil registration and vital statistics systems, where over two-thirds of global child deaths occur. To estimate neonatal/child mortality and pregnancy outcomes (stillbirths, miscarriages, birthweight, gestational age) the most common direct methods are: (1) the standard DHS-7 with Full Birth History with additional questions on pregnancy losses in the past 5 years (FBH+) or (2) a Full Pregnancy History (FPH). No direct comparison of these two methods has been undertaken, although descriptive analyses suggest that the FBH+ may underestimate mortality rates particularly for stillbirths. Methods: This is the protocol paper for the Every Newborn-INDEPTH study (INDEPTH Network, International Network for the Demographic Evaluation of Populations and their Health Every Newborn, Every Newborn Action Plan), aiming to undertake a randomised comparison of FBH+ and FPH to measure pregnancy outcomes in a household survey in five selected INDEPTH Network sites in Africa and South Asia (Bandim in urban and rural Guinea-Bissau; Dabat in Ethiopia; IgangaMayuge in Uganda; Kintampo in Ghana; Matlab in Bangladesh). The survey will reach >68 000 pregnancies to assess if there is ≥15% difference in stillbirth rates. Additional questions will capture birthweight, gestational age, birth/death certification, termination of pregnancy and fertility intentions. The World Bank's Survey Solutions platform will be tailored for data collection, including recording paradata to evaluate timing. A mixed methods assessment of barriers and enablers to reporting of pregnancy and adverse pregnancy outcomes will be undertaken. Conclusions: This large-scale study is the first randomised comparison of these two methods to capture pregnancy outcomes. Results are expected to inform the evidence base for survey methodology, especially in DHS, regarding capture of stillbirths and other outcomes, notably neonatal deaths, abortions (spontaneous and induced), birthweight and gestational age. In addition, this study will inform strategies to improve health and demographic surveillance capture of neonatal/child mortality and pregnancy outcomes.Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF