East-West Seed

Notable Findings

• The company demonstrates leadership in public policy advocacy, particularly in South and Southeast Asia, by participating in multi-stakeholder initiatives and engaging in public and industry dialogue that supports smallholder farmers and access to seeds. It discloses several initiatives covering many countries in South and Southeast Asia and involves senior management in some of these initiatives.

• East-West Seed is the only global company with both a smallholder-centric business model, whereby its entire corporate strategy is geared toward this client group, and headquarters in an index country (Thailand). Smallholder farmers make up 98% of the company’s clients, and 19 million smallholders have reportedly been reached through sales and 100,000 through agronomic training via the company’s Knowledge Transfer foundation.

• The company’s code of conduct, called ‘7 essentials’, addresses various topics including anti-corruption and social and labor standards. It contains an online quiz with real-life case studies to test employees’ knowledge of the code.

• The company recognizes the breeders’ exemption on its PVP-registered varieties and farmers’ right to save, use, sow, re-sow, exchange, share and sell farm produce, including seed from a protected variety under the Plant Variety Protection Act. The only restriction is that farmers are not allowed to sell branded seed of the protected variety for commercial purposes.

• With its focus on tropical agriculture, East-West Seed pays particular attention to regional pests and diseases in its breeding program. For instance, to fight a polerovirus attacking bitter gourd in the Philippines, East-West Seed developed a hybrid with a high level of resistance to the disease.

• The company conducts variety trials in 32 index countries, about two thirds of all index countries it has sales activities in.

• The company’s research and development efforts include local crops in all index regions except Latin America, with the highest number in its breeding program reported for South and Southeast Asia. The company tries to conserve and introduce rare indigenous crops on the brink of disappearance.

• In India, Myanmar, Tanzania, Thailand and Vietnam, the company works directly with smallholder farmers in its seed production activities, formalizing farmers’ involvement with contracts. In the Philippines, cooperatives set up by EastWest Seed are in charge of seed production. In Indonesia, a decentralized system exists of ‘key farmers’ who liaise and guide smallholder farmers in seed production while taking care of postharvest treatment and payments.

• The company puts particular emphasis on India under its No Child Labor initiative, although its child labor policy is applicable to all of its subsidiaries. The company organizes meetings and awareness campaigns in villages and schools to discuss labor standards and education. Audits are carried out to ensure compliance with this policy. In addition to child labor, East-West Seed has standards and monitoring systems addressing health and forced labor under its five-step Social compliance program in seed production.

• East-West Seed has established distribution channels in 48 out of 65 index countries, even serving remote areas through individual ‘promoters’ or its foundation, Knowledge Transfer. These promoters tour a region or sub-region, meeting farmers along the way. Typically, the company’s distribution channels are structured around agro-dealers and sub-retailers.

• The company spends the equivalent of 8% of its seed sales on field demonstrations and related marketing campaigns, making this the core of its marketing strategy. In Thailand, the largest field day attracted 13,000 people in 2017. In Tanzania, promotional demonstrations were held under the Seeds of Expertise for the Vegetable Sector of Africa (SEVIA) project, co-organized with Rijk Zwaan and Wageningen University & Research.

• The company offers a high proportion of its portfolio in all countries, with an average of 16 global vegetable crops on offer out of the 17 in its general portfolio. Notably, East-West Seed is the only global index company that is active in the Central African Republic and Mauritania, offering all of its crops in these countries.

• The company’s foundation, Knowledge Transfer, is in charge of most extension services and capacity building activities, particularly in pre-commercial areas, in South and Southeast Asia and East and Southern Africa. As an example, Knowledge Transfer established two projects in Cambodia to support young farmers: with USAID to transform the local vegetable sector, and with the NGO World Vision to train young farmers to become agronomic and technical experts within their cooperatives.

• One of the few companies to have capacity building activities in Myanmar, East-West Seed has partnered with MEDA, an international economic development organization, to launch ADVANCE Myanmar in Kayin State to train 60 women lead farmers over a two-year period.