Seed Security Assessment Methodology Training Course

Course overview

Humanitarian and development programmes often distribute seed without sufficient evidence that the right crops, varieties, quantities and delivery channels match farmers’ needs. A market may appear to have seed available while poorer households cannot afford it, preferred varieties may be absent, or seed quality may be compromised by storage, conflict, drought or counterfeit supply. This course equips practitioners to assess these conditions systematically before recommending seed aid, market support, seed fairs, vouchers, local procurement or longer-term seed-system recovery measures.

Participants learn the Seed Security Assessment methodology across the four core dimensions of availability, access, quality and varietal suitability. They practise defining assessment questions, mapping formal and informal seed systems, selecting representative locations and respondent groups, designing household, trader and agro-dealer tools, and triangulating quantitative and qualitative evidence. The course also covers seasonal calendars, market price analysis, seed-source profiling, quality-risk screening, gender and social inclusion analysis, and decision rules for selecting an appropriate intervention.

Delivery combines instructor-led technical sessions with a running humanitarian case study based on a drought- and displacement-affected farming area. Participants work with KoboToolbox forms, sample datasets and seed-system maps, then conduct a simulated assessment analysis and response-planning workshop. Each participant leaves with a completed Seed Security Assessment protocol: a terms of reference, sampling plan, data-collection tools, analysis matrix, findings structure and intervention recommendation suitable for adaptation within their own programme.

The course is designed for professionals who already contribute to food security, agriculture, emergency response or resilience programming and need to make defensible seed-related decisions. It is particularly valuable where agencies must justify why seed distribution is appropriate—or demonstrate that market-based, cash-based or seed-system support is the lower-risk option.

Course objectives

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Define Seed Security Assessment questions using the availability, access, quality and varietal suitability framework
• Map formal, informal and community-based seed systems for priority crops and farmer groups
• Develop a seasonal assessment plan that aligns seed demand, planting windows, harvests and market cycles
• Design household, trader and agro-dealer questionnaires in KoboToolbox with coded response options
• Construct a purposive and representative sampling plan for locations, households, markets and seed suppliers
• Analyse seed availability, price, access and source data using a triangulation matrix
• Assess seed quality and varietal suitability risks using supplier, storage, packaging and farmer-use evidence
• Produce an evidence-based intervention recommendation and Seed Security Assessment report outline

Benefits of attending

Target competencies

Who should attend

• Food Security Programme Managers — who must approve seed-response options and defend programme choices to donors
• Agricultural Livelihoods Officers — who design crop, input and resilience activities for crisis-affected farmers
• Humanitarian Assessment Specialists — who need to integrate seed-system evidence into multi-sector needs assessments
• Seed System Development Advisors — who analyse local seed markets, community seed producers and formal supply chains
• MEAL Officers — who develop field tools, sampling approaches and data-quality procedures for agricultural assessments
• Procurement and Supply Chain Officers — who need evidence on local seed availability, supplier capacity and quality risks

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have practical familiarity with food security, livelihoods, agricultural or humanitarian programme work and understand basic concepts such as crop calendars, household vulnerability, market access and survey interviews. Experience using spreadsheets to review tabular data is expected; prior use of KoboToolbox or QGIS is helpful but not required. Participants should be comfortable interpreting simple counts, percentages and price comparisons. This is not a plant-breeding or laboratory seed-testing course, so prior agronomy qualifications, statistical software expertise and seed certification experience are not required. A laptop with spreadsheet software and web access is strongly recommended.

Training methodology

The five-day programme uses short technical briefings followed by structured application to a single crisis-affected seed-system case. Participants map seed actors and flows, build crop and market calendars, configure questionnaire sections in KoboToolbox, review sample household and trader data, and test findings against interview excerpts and market observations. Small groups present competing intervention recommendations and defend them using an assessment evidence matrix. On the final day, each participant adapts the methodology into an application plan for an upcoming seasonal assessment, programme review or response-design decision.

Course outline

Day 1: Seed security concepts and assessment framing

• Seed security versus household food security
• Availability, access, quality and varietal suitability dimensions
• Formal, informal and community-based seed systems
• Seed-source pathways and farmer seed acquisition behaviour
• Crisis impacts on seed production, markets and storage
• Assessment purpose, scope and decision-use questions
• Ethical interviewing and do-no-harm considerations in seed assessments

Workshop: Participants develop an assessment problem statement and decision-question set for a drought-affected farming district.

Day 2: Assessment design and field data collection

• Crop calendars, planting windows and seed-demand timing
• Geographic stratification and market-shed selection
• Household, trader, agro-dealer and key-informant sampling
• Questionnaire modules for seed sources and acquisition costs
• KoboToolbox form structure, skip logic and validation rules
• Qualitative interview guides for seed-system actors
• Enumerator briefing, piloting and field data-quality controls

Workshop: Participants build a sampling frame and configure core household and trader questions in a KoboToolbox assessment form.

Day 3: Availability, access and market analysis

• Seed availability indicators by crop, variety and location
• Market inventory observation and supplier-capacity assessment
• Seed price collection, unit conversion and seasonal comparison
• Household purchasing power and affordability analysis
• Physical access barriers including distance, insecurity and mobility
• Seed vouchers, cash and fairs as access-response mechanisms
• Triangulating market data with household acquisition evidence

Workshop: Using a sample dataset, participants create a seed access and market-availability matrix for three priority crops.

Day 4: Quality, varietal suitability and evidence synthesis

• Farmer-defined seed quality and preferred variety criteria
• Packaging, labelling, storage and handling risk checks
• Supplier due diligence and counterfeit-seed risk indicators
• Germination, purity and moisture concepts for non-laboratory screening
• OECD Seed Schemes and ISTA testing-rule reference points
• Gender, disability and displacement considerations in seed access
• Evidence triangulation and confidence-rating methods

Workshop: Participants complete a quality-and-suitability risk assessment and assign confidence ratings to conflicting evidence sources.

Day 5: Findings, recommendations and operational planning

• Seed Security Assessment findings narrative and visual evidence
• Decision rules for seed distribution and local procurement
• Appraising vouchers, seed fairs, cash and market-support options
• Response feasibility, timing and procurement lead-time analysis
• Risk mitigation measures and monitoring indicators
• Stakeholder validation with farmers, traders and authorities
• Assessment report structure and management decision briefing

Workshop: Participants produce and present a Seed Security Assessment recommendation package containing priority findings, response options, risks and an implementation timeline.

Tools & standards covered

KoboToolbox, ODK Collect, QGIS, OECD Seed Schemes

A typical training day

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in the East Africa Time zone, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

How you can take this course

Certification

Participants who complete the full five days receive the Skillset Development Certificate of Completion, stating the course title, course code, dates and delivery format — suitable for professional-development records and employer reimbursement.

Frequently asked questions