Cereal Banks or Seed Banks? An Experience from Makoja Arid Village, Dodoma, Tanzania

Abstract

Cereal Banks, though important, have failed to become sustainable. The banks have always been requiring close monitoring support or subsidies from an outside agency, but collapse when outside monitoring and subsidies end. Such trend has brought worries and made Cereal Banks labeled negative. Failing to become self-sustaining has called for an inventory to analyze the Cereal Bank benefits realized by the communities. In 2012, a cross section study was done involving 80 households in Makoja Village, Dodoma Region. Makoja Village communities are poor, living in arid land and are chronically food insecure. Surprisingly, significant proportion (89 %) of the respondents acknowledges the Community Cereal Bank as the source of seeds to next season. Poor Makoja Community views the Cereal Bank as the Seed Bank to ensure availability of seeds hence food availability. Cereal banks are essentially not failed attempts but rather require continuing support to ensure production and food security of engaged community. The international development community should explore various outputs realised as benefits by engaged communties before terming them unsuccessful. However, there is a need to increase a pace to promote Community Seed Production Systems to assure improved crop production and household  food security.

Keywords: Cereal Bank, Seed Bank, Food Insecurity