Darusalam Seed Company

Access to seeds for smallholder farmers and governance and accountability
Darusalam Seed Company has objectives for ensuring access to seeds for smallholder farmers, including objectives related to research and development, seed production, marketing of seeds and fertilizers and providing training and extension services. However, the company could develop time-bound targets for its objectives and assign oversight responsibility for its strategy to its highest governance body.

Stakeholder engagement
The company undertakes stakeholder engagement activities with organizations such as the FAO, with whom the company collaborated to develop a maize variety. The company has an opportunity to disclose how it identifies its most relevant stakeholders.

The company provides limited insight into its position and activities related to genetic resources and intellectual property management. As it is important that seed companies contribute to genetic resources and intellectual property management that supports smallholder agriculture, the company could provide more insights into its activities for others to learn from.

No relevant disclosure was found for the company in the research and development measurement area.

Seed production activities in index region
Darusalam Seed Company has seed production locations in Somalia, where it involves smallholder farmers. The company has an opportunity to extend its seed production activities to other index countries in the region.

Engaging smallholder farmers in seed production
The company involves smallholder farmers in its seed production activities. However, the company has an opportunity to disclose information on contracts offered to smallholder farmers, which include evidence on arrangements on product prices and sharing of profits and risks favourable to farmers.

Quality management in seed production in index countries
The company discloses that it is certified to ISO 9001:2015 standards. However, it has an opportunity to specify how much of its seed production is covered by this system and to disclose how the standards are ensured across its activities.

Social and labour rights in seed production
The company does not disclose a policy committing to prohibit child and forced labour nor does it disclose a commitment to respect the health and safety of workers, either when seed production is carried out by the company itself or through an intermediary. Furthermore, the company does not disclose whether it pays its workers a living wage or requires its intermediaries to do so.

Diverse portfolio
As Darusalam Seed Company has only a few varieties for all crops in its portfolio in Somalia, it can diversify its portfolio by offering more varieties per crop.

Quality assurance and after-sales
The company can increase disclosure regarding its protocols for quality assurance, monitoring its distribution network, ensuring that seeds are not sold beyond their shelf-life, preventing the distribution of counterfeit seeds and providing after-sales support programmes.

Next-generation farmers
Darusalam Seed Company founded an agricultural high school in Darusalam Village, Somalia. Since the school’s founding, approximately 100 male and female students have graduated. However, the company has an opportunity to disclose how many next-generation farmers were reached in the region since 2018.

Extension services
The company offers science and agriculture training programmes for farmers and students in universities and secondary schools. However, the company has an opportunity to specify in how many index countries these are offered and to track the number of smallholder farmers reached in the region.

Information and communications technology (ICT) and access to output markets
The company has an opportunity to offer programmes to advance the use of information and communication technology by smallholder farmers and to improve the access of smallholder farmers to output markets.

Maize
Sorghum

Carrot
Lettuce
Okra
Onion
Pepper (hot)
Pepper (sweet)
Pumpkin
Tomato
Watermelon

Download the portfolios of all companies in the 2021 index for Eastern and Southern Africa here.