Organizational readiness for policy implementation: An assessment of the harmonized seed regulations in Malawi

Abstract

ContextEconomic policy reforms have been implemented in African countries where studies have reported an implementation deficit resulting in poor service provision. The seed industry is one of the sectors that has undergone reforms in Malawi. This has happened through Malawi's ratification of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa and the Southern Africa Development Community technical agreements on harmonized seed regulations. Whose objective is to streamline member states' laws in variety release and registration, certification and quality assurance, and sanitary and phytosanitary measures. Malawi launched the National Seed Policy in 2018 after domesticating the technical agreements in readiness for implementation. ObjectiveBased on this, we evaluated the organizational readiness to implement the harmonized seed regulation in Malawi using an Analysis of Determinants of Policy Impact (ADEPT). ADEPT analyses policy implementation using four determinants: goals, obligations, opportunities, and resources through a provision of a detailed policy operationalization for both quantitative and qualitative usage. MethodsQuantitative and qualitative tools were used for organizational key informant interviews (N = 18) to collect data. This was followed by six focus group discussions with seed multiplication farmer groups. Snowball sampling was used for KII organizations, and farmer groups were purposively identified. Descriptive analysis was done for quantitative data in SPSS, and interpretive analysis in NVIVO 11 was done for qualitative data. Results and conclusionThe organizations reported that goals and increased private sector participation and interest positively influenced the policy process. However, they felt that obligations, opportunities, and resources negatively affected implementation. Seventy percent of the organizations said lack of infrastructure and human resources affected implementation, and 85% linked this to a lack of both political will and media support. All farmer groups reported being peripheral to the process despite being affected by poor service provision and limited participation in the value chain. The results show that the expanding private sector role in the seed value chain required equal institutional development and investment for adequate service provision and enforcement of the new policies. SignificanceWe propose a bridged transition under policy reforms to reduce unintended consequences and achieve inclusivity. In the seed sector, this may be achieved through the support for quality declared seed, a less stringent class, to accommodate existing farmer seed systems.