IICA and CARDI launch Mobile Seed Bank initiative

THE INTER-AMERICAN INSTITUTE for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), in collaboration with the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI), engaged national authorities in Antigua and Barbuda and Dominica in dialogue, in preparation for the simulation exercises of the Mobile Seed Bank.

The initiative forms part of IICA’s broader Regional Roadmap for Disaster Response and is currently being implemented as component of a region-wide Quality Seed Project financed by IICA, which is aimed at building a more resilient, accessible, and sustainable seed system to support emergency disaster response and overall long-term food and nutrition security. A release from IICA states, “It is designed to specifically address critical gaps in the availability of high-quality seeds particularly after hurricanes and hydrometeorological related shocks, as well as catastrophic volcanic and earthquake events. It also seeks to build a reserve of quality for distribution to regional farmers in non-disaster periods with the aim of overcoming the challenge of poor-quality seeds in the region while simultaneously promoting the conservation and expansion in production of traditional heirloom seed varieties and reducing reliance on costly imported seeds”.

Providing an overview of the project, Special Affairs Coordinator for the Caribbean, and IICA representative in Suriname, Dr. Curt Delice, highlighted the region’s vulnerability to supply-chain disruptions and the urgent need to develop in-situ reliable seed sources.

“A critical component of the project is to address the issue of access to quality seeds, particularly post-disaster when there is an urgent need to immediately bring food production back on stream, and for the longer- term rehabilitation of the agricultural sector.

“Outside of that, even in non-disaster times, we have a challenge with access to quality seeds which limits the productivity of the regional agricultural sector, and this initiative,” Dr. Delice said.

Antigua and Barbuda is one of three designated regional base stations for seed production and storage, alongside Dominica and Belize. These centres will support seed production, storage, distribution, and inter-island sharing in the aftermath of disasters. Dr. Delice also noted the project’s incorporation of new technologies including agricultural drones for mapping of agricultural terrain pre- and post-disaster to aid in damage and loss assessments, seed and input distribution, and seed dispersal for reafforestation, as well as the use of utility vehicles for outreach, seed collection, and farmer education. The CARDI representative for Antigua and Barbuda and Montserrat, Junior Greene, emphasized the partnership’s forward-thinking approach, stating that the collaboration between the two institutions “represents a proactive approach to disaster preparedness and recovery”, while outlining CARDI’s role in producing, storing, and distributing climate-resilient and locally adapted seeds.