Review and Improvement of Farm-Based Post-Harvest Handling and Seed Storage Technologies
Training workshop with farmers in Makueni District (Kenya)
This project is one of a series in the theme the ‘Post harvest technology’.
Phase 1 of the Kenya Seeds for Life (SfL) project gathered information on the constraints that face communities in their efforts to conserve and utilise indigenous plants in three arid and semi-arid land Districts: West Pokot, Makueni and Mbeere. Seed-related problems including issues relating to timing of seed collection, seed security and seed use were identified. This project aims to address some of these problems. Successful seed storage is key to farmers’ seed security and may also enable communities to generate income through collecting, storing, selling and propagating native plant species. The project will use participatory methods to gather information about and develop, test and validate traditional seed drying and storage technologies, with the objective of improving the quality of seeds available to communities for on-farm use in the three focal districts.
Outputs will include a database/literature review of a) farmer seed drying and seed storage practices, and b) improved seed drying and storage technologies for small-scale farmers; documentation, subject to PIC from participating communities, of seed management technologies used by farmers in the three focal districts; technical publications and training materials.
Project Team
Project Leader: Gold, Kate
Seed Conservation Department
Vanessa Bertenshaw, Kate Gold, Robin Probert
Project Partners and Collaborators
Kenya
National Museums of Kenya (NMK)
The Gene Bank of Kenya (GBK) at the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI)
The Kenya Forestry Seed Centre at the Kenya Forestry Research Institute (KEFRI)
The Forestry Department (FD)
The Kenya Wildlife Service (KW)
Funders
UK
MSBP