Ep 41 | Francine Sayoc on the Importance of Seed and Partnerships

In this new episode, we go to the beginning of the food system to talk seeds with Francine Sayoc, Executive Director of The Asia and Pacific Seed Association (APSA). The seed is the start of life, and Francine highlights the importance of educating farmers on the legalities of seeds and the tools that would help farmers with their livelihood. Also, learn about how public-private partnerships are essential in agriculture, both to the farmer, and the food supply chain in this episode.

Transcript

Duke: Hi everybody, I'm Duke Hipp, host of Asia's Farm to Fork: Five Good Questions podcast. A terrific guest is lined up again for us and we're excited about having her and welcome her to the show. We have with us Francine Sayoc, executive director for The Asia and Pacific Seed Association. Hi, Francine.

Francine: Hi Duke. Thanks for having me. Pleasure to be here.

Duke: We're thankful again that you've joined us. So if it's okay, we'll jump into the five questions.

Francine: Great idea.

Duke: Okay, well, I thought with the first question today, a good place to start is around the topic of beginnings, specifically in agriculture. So much of the food we eat, frankly, begins with the seed. It really is the common denominator across the food value chain. Given the importance of seeds in agriculture, what regulations or policies are currently missing in our region to ensure our farmers have access to quality seeds?

Francine: Well, Duke, you said it perfectly. Seed is indeed the starting point of all food production, and our sector is right at the very beginning of the food value chain. And technology delivered in the form of improved seed is, I think, one of the best means to make our food systems more resilient. But that's a fact that much of society and policymaking seem to pay little attention to. 

I listened to another podcast recently where Beth Bechdol, deputy director general of FAO, is speaking and she said that we have become so far removed from agriculture generationally. And I agree with that. And I think we do need to put seed front and center in any discussion about food security, in any discussion about sustainability. 

And to go back to your question on what policy gaps there are currently. I think it's three things. Policies that encourage seed movement and trade. There's a lot of work now being done to harmonize phytosanitary measures under ISPM 38. And the goal of all of this is really to simplify and make more efficient seed trade and seed movement, and make policies proportionate to risk. So that's one seed movement. 

The other one, I think, are policies that encourage innovation. Right now, the current hot topic is genome editing and future proofing regulation so that the seed sector is able to access all of the latest tools to make plant breeding more precise and quicker. And I think these technologies can only go at a faster pace in the future. Therefore, policymaking needs to be future proofed to be able to sustain the pace of innovation. 

And lastly, I think the last policy pillar that needs to support the seed sector would be protecting those innovations. So policies that ensure the continued delivery of innovation, like plant variety, protection and a respect for intellectual property. So I think just with those three policy pillars would be in a good shape and would make great impact for the seed sector to continue what it does best.

Duke: Well, the next question, I wanted to kind of continue on with the last portion of your last answer around the issue of seeds and ensuring that they're genuine, they're authentic and not illegal. That's a big issue for this region and around the world. I know, and we talk about the tools in the toolbox for farmers, and of course, central to that is making sure they are genuine and not counterfeit, obviously. So, issue of illegal seeds. Can you share a bit about the work that APSA is leading to address that issue here in this region?

Francine: I'm glad you brought that up, Duke, because indeed, illegal seed practices is a big issue, not just in this region, but globally. And it's very difficult to see the full extent of this problem. I understand for some markets, up to 30% of the vegetable seed market suffers from illegal seed practices, and they come in many forms, either falsely labeled seeds or theft of parentals, or now with the rise of e-commerce, there is also a rise of unlicensed sellers of seeds. But whatever form illegal seed practice may take, ultimately the impact is the same. It's a financial loss to the farmers and it's erosion of trust onto the seed system. 

So on that end, what APSA wants to focus on and what our members are doing at the moment is really focusing on farmer education. Especially in this region, where a lot of growers are smallholder farmers, there is a great opportunity to educate farmers, to give them access to information on seed quality, on finding legitimate and trustworthy sellers. And also on this end, APSA has joined forces with 13 other organizations, CropLife included. And the task of this coalition really is first to see the scope or the extent of the problem, and also maybe later on, work with law enforcement to build the capacity of our law enforcement to fill regulatory gaps and train them how to prosecute violators. Because I think not every country has specialized courts to deal with the problem of illegal seed practices in case a company or farmers want to go after violators. I mean, where do you start? 

And lastly, I think for APSA, within our own industry, I think we also have some work to do to improve awareness and to cultivate respect for intellectual property, even within our own midst. I think that's a message that we need to constantly deliver to our own sector as well.

Duke: Makes sense. Thanks, Francine. Well, next question. I wanted to pivot to a topic that comes up a lot on this podcast, and it's not a new one certainly, but climate change, and we see it all around us, the impacts of climate change all through the region, particularly with erratic weather patterns and intense heat, increase of floods and droughts. And for the agriculture sector, and specifically for the smallholders that you just referenced, of course, it can be devastating - more pests, weeds and diseases to contend with as a result of that, not just to mention, of course, the erratic weather. So I wanted to get your thoughts on that particular topic, in the respect of, again, the actions you think that are needed to help our farmers cope better here in Asia, both in the near term as well as the long term.

Francine: Well, on behalf of the seed sector, I would say that access to input, access to quality seed, is of course a first step to help farmers cope with the impact of climate change. As you said it yourself, varieties that help farmers cope with increasing pressures, pest and disease pressures, or whether it's drought or flooding or salinity. The private seed sector has done a lot in the way of developing improved varieties that respond to those needs. But coupled with that, I think aside from access to improved seed, there needs to be access to information about better cultivation practices or even information on markets. And especially, I think, in this region, there's still a lot of gaps in terms of farmers access to information to make informed decisions about their crops, about their land, about their labor. And I think in all of this, we need to remember that farmers are economic agents, not just in their communities, but in society in general. And my personal take on it is that farmers should be viewed with progressive lens, and we need to find the best way to support them, to give them choice of inputs like seeds, and access to knowledge to make those informed decisions.

Duke: Good answer. Thank you for that. You participated not that long ago in a CropLife Asia event. There was an agricultural symposium that was connected just, I think in June of this year. And at that event you mentioned specifically how food systems are really more than ever interconnected and really intricate. And it really is, it lends itself to the discussion around not going it alone, but creating partnerships or working together in that collaborative spirit. Could you share a bit about the partnerships? I know APSA has been involved with both the positive impact they're having on agriculture in the region and then maybe some learnings from some of those partnerships and what they've been able to bring to bear.

Francine: Yes, well, partnerships are so important for APSA in achieving common goals, not just with our members, but also with like minded organizations. We have knowledge partners like CropLife, ISF, like UPOV, like ISTA, but we also have advocacy partners. And quite recently we held a regional workshop in Hanoi on seed sector development to ensure food security. And this was done together with the Mekong-US partnership, which is of course supported by the USDA and the American Seed Trade Association. So I think those kinds of partnerships really allow APSA to do its work in a more effective way and with a broader reach. 

But I would say the most important partnership for us at the moment is partnering with the public sector, partnering with governments, with regulators, and deepening understanding and awareness of topics that make such a huge impact to the industry. Like the ones I said earlier on policy gaps like seed movement, innovation, intellectual property. I think there is a lot of opportunity for partnerships to zero in on those topics and really accelerate development of policy through partnerships with public sector.

Duke: Makes a lot of sense. Well, we've talked about some pretty serious topics in climate change, seed movement, illegal seeds and various aspects of the food system. So with the last question, we'd like to lighten it up a little bit. But it actually may be the hardest of all of these.

Francine: Should I be scared?

Duke: Well, no. No reason to fear. But it is a tough question. It has to do with food.

Francine: Oh

Duke: Yeah. We're asking folks like you, we're asking if you could think about the cuisine, the various variety. The variety and the various dishes across Asia. Is there one in particular you might point to as being your favorite, your favorite asian food?

Francine: That is indeed a very difficult question because choosing just one is next to impossible. But I've had the privilege of living in Thailand, which is amazing for food. It would be, again, very difficult to say one, but I would tell you what I'm currently craving, and it would be this dish called pak boong fai daeng, which is a stir fried kangkong or morning glory, cooked in a very high heat in a very hot wok, very quickly stir fried with garlic. That's, it just goes really well with rice. That would be, I think, what I'd be looking for for dinner tonight.

Duke: That sounds great. And I think, I don't think we've had that answer yet. And I also think we might want to explore a cookbook. Right. A five good questions cookbook. We've got a lot of good dishes to include.

Francine: I'd be very interested to hear what the other answers are.

Duke: Yeah, we'll have to put those together. Well, Francine, thank you for doing this once again. Appreciated the chance to have this conversation and look forward to talking again soon.