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12 I EUROPEAN SEED I EUROPEAN-SEED.COM12 I EUROPEAN SEED I EUROPEAN-SEED.COM12 I EUROPEAN SEED I EUROPEAN-SEED.COM Judging tomato quality in the greenhouse. Photo courtesy of Enza Zaden industry can contribute. An index does so by first identifying what stakeholders expect from an industry and then evaluating whether companies meet these expectations. As such an informed dialogue can start on where companies can step up their efforts where expectations should be adjusted or others actors like governments should play their part first. Following the medicine example an Access to Nutrition Index was released in 2013. The Access to Seeds Index follows coming out the end of 2015. Each Index is fully tailored to the characteristics of the respective industry says Verhagen. Three years of stakeholder consultations including talks with the seed industry itself was put into the development of the methodology. Based on that input for instance the Access to Seeds Index focuses both on global companies as well as on regional companies. The methodology acknowledges that smallholder farmer development is complex challenging and requires more than just the availability of good seeds. In some areas seed companies can have big impact in others their potential contribution is probably limited. Still we see that companies are moving beyond their regular scope as is needed to reach the smallholder customer and open new markets. Concerns While Plantum supports and shares the wider goals of the Access to Seeds Index and its call for social responsibility of companies Louwaars wonders how organisers will evaluate their impact on smallholder farmers food security and wellbeing. Good seed can only produce wealth in combination with access to land markets and other policy areas combined with a good knowledge base that supports agricultural practices says Louwaars. We look forward to the first index and call on the organisers to interpret their findings with utmost care. Keller suspects that ISF members who expressed concerns over the relevance of the index at the outset will remain critical of the initiative particularly as the Access to Seeds Index has decided to publish the index on the basis of publicly available information. In his view ISF members will have to decide for themselves whether they want to participate in the exercise. The research for the first Access to Seeds Index started in March 2015. The evaluation is based on publicly available information as well as additional data provided by companies themselves. The response rate is high. Based on first evaluation of the incoming data we are confident that the index will show what and where the sector is already doing well and how individual companies are leveraging their strengths says Verhagen. With the findings of this index we will be able to identify inspiring examples of innovative ways by which companies are supporting smallholder farmer productivity. Peanuts in Malawi. Photo M. Bruins Hot Pepper trials in Thailand. Photo M. Bruins Presentation of the Access to Seeds Index to the Ministers Conference of the FAO on 18 June 2013. FAOGiulio Napolitano.