CARE International hosted three seed fairs in Ainaro District in mid-December, attracting seed vendors from several districts and more than a thousand farmers. The largest fair was in Maubisse, a major market town in Timor-Leste's central highlands south of Dili. In the week before the Maubisse seed fair, CARE staff distributed coupons worth $7.50 to more than 700 poor families who farm more remote areas above the hill town.

CARE encouraged vendors who attended its seed fairs earlier in the season to bring their seeds the extra distance to Maubisse. They brought two types of corn seed (a local yellow variety and an introduced white variety), mung and soy beans, peanuts, and potatoes (a favorite at the higher altitudes around Maubisse). Packets of vegetable seeds, including cabbage, carrots, mustard greens, and tomatoes, sold out so quickly that the vendor who brought them sent a motorbike courier to get more from his base two districts away.

After checking the quality and seed germination rates of vendors' stock, CARE selected six vendors to attend the Ainaro seed fairs. Jacinta Da Silva, one of the vendors, brought 160 bags of corn in two rented trucks. Despite the transportation costs, she said that still makes money--she estimates that her profit from CARE's seed fair in Edi the previous week was $900. The seed fair business is so good that Ms. Da Silva plans to attend all of CARE's events, and interest from farmers has convinced her to sell her remaining stocks at local markets. Ms. Da Silva started her seed business with a loan from a CARE-partnered microfinance project last year.

CARE's Jill Salmon said she expects the seed fair idea to take off on its own. The next step will be for CARE to facilitate the seed fairs without a distribution of coupons, she explained. Once the links between vendors and buyers are established, she believes that the markets will develop on their own.

USAID supports CARE's activities with a grant of $98,835 over three and a half months to host six seed fairs in two of the poorest districts in Timor-Leste and to conduct a nutritional survey that will provide a clearer picture of the nutritional situation for vulnerable groups. CARE's seed fairs encourage wider distribution of suitable seed, improve farmers' seed stocks, broaden marketing opportunities for vendors, and expand the range agricultural commodities available around the country.

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