The impact of HIV/AIDS on seed security in southern Mozambique

Mozambican farmers in the semi-arid Limpopo Basin are dependant on own-saved seed, and informal seed exchanges with other farmers for their planting requirements. Seeds are managed by women, and the traditional knowledge associated with seed management rests with them. Male migration has increased sexual networking, heightening the risk of HIV transmission. This study looks at the impact of HIV/AIDS on the retention of traditional knowledge around seed management. It finds that local knowledge of seed is being eroded and that various obstacles exist to learning and acquiring new information. Health-related impacts of HIV means that there is less labour for agricultural production, leading to a reduced area under cultivation and reduced crop diversity.Some preliminary recommendations towards ensuring that seed system interventions contribute to strengthening community resilience and local seed systems in the face of HIV/AIDS include:information on local seed characteristics and management practices should be systematically recorded, stored, and dessiminatedSeed System Profiles being developed for disaster-affected districts should be further developed to include more information on the social factors involved in seed managementmeasures should be taken to increase the availability and accessibility of local varieties, or seed from othersources but well adapted to local agro-ecological conditionsresearch and extension should give greater focus to in-situ improvements of local varieties that, even though less productive than improved varieties, present less risk and require less labour. The specific time and labour constraints faced by women should be taken into accountrural extension programs should further facilitate the development of seed multiplication fields within local communities using traditional seed varietiespractical training programs based on local agricultural knowledge that are easily accessible to out of school youth, girls and boys should be promoted.