Seed Systems

Version	Summary	Created by	Modification	Content Size	Created at	Operation
1		Niels P. Louwaars	--	1626	2022-12-12 15:25:21	\|
2	format correct	Conner Chen	-2 word(s)	1624	2022-12-13 09:43:09	\|

This entry is adapted from the peer-reviewed paper 10.3390/seeds1040028

Seeds are a basic input for all crop production. Good seed is crucial for the global food and nutrition security, for rural development and farmers’ livelihoods and for all green value chains. What “good seed” is depends on individual farmer’s needs. The sustainable availability of seed and seed choice is thus an essential issue for every farmer. Farmers access seeds from multiple sources. Different seed systems have their strengths and vulnerabilities, affecting their resilience.

formal seed systems farmers’ seed systems resilience seed security

1. Farmers’ Seed Systems

Farmers’ seed systems, also often referred to as informal, or farmer-managed seed systems, include the selection and production of seeds by farmers themselves, commonly as part of their normal crop production operations, storage onto the next planting season, and the sharing or local sales of seeds. Over the millennia, farmers have been selecting, domesticating, developing and conserving seeds, which have formed the basis of our global food system. To understand farmers’ seed systems, it is important to understand the shifting context and livelihood strategies, within which these particular seed systems evolve and function. Farmers’ seed systems cater to highly diverse peoples, within highly diverse agro-ecologies and diverse cropping systems. Such farmers often have small land holdings with varied tenure rights, within marginal or high potential environments. Land holdings may be parceled into two to three locations, sometimes with different soil types and micro-climates, which may require different varieties. Within a family, there are divisions of tasks between men and women, including in those related to seed. Men and women may have different access to land, seeds, market and labor engagements. As a result, men and women may have different crop and varietal preferences. Farmers may thus manage a portfolio of crops and crop varieties that may include domesticated, semi- and non-domesticated ones ^[1]. Farmers seed systems are characterized by a diversity of traditional and/or formal sector varieties that are highly adapted within specific ago-ecologies. Farmers’ selection is based on farmers’ knowledge of the diversity within aan among varieties and quality perceptions for cultivation and culturally important use traits ^[2]. Either by necessity, or because many farmers like “things to try”, they may access seeds from elsewhere ^[3]. Farmers are also generally willing to share their seeds with others when asked for a sample. This sharing and testing of the new variety may result in the replacement of the farmers’ own varieties, or it may become part of it, through admixture or natural crosses. This is also how scientifically bred varieties from the formal sector may find their way into the farmers’ seed system. As seeds are an “experience good”, the farmers’ seed systems are thus part of the social fabric of communities and relationships between them and thus highly context specific ^[4].

Farmers’ seeds systems largely cater to the complexities of about five hundred million small-holder farmers worldwide. FAO/IFAD/WFP ^[5] claim that 80% of seeds that small holder farmers access are from the farmers’ seeds systems, half of which are sourced from local grain markets, and 55% are paid in cash. This indicates that many farmers are willing and able to pay for seeds within specific conditions, which still needs to be understood. The remaining are farm-saved seeds or obtained through farmer-to-farmer sharing.

Poorly performing seeds can be devastating for the livelihood of farmers; their performance cannot always be assessed merely by looking at it, but only once they have been planted and grown. “Trust” is, therefore, a vital element in the functioning and resilience of any seed system. Institutionally, trust in seed quality and reliability of the source can be endowed through social relations and/or regulatory systems.

2. Formal Seed Systems

Seed systems involving different professionals started to develop in Europe in the 18th century ^[6]. Notably, the production of vegetable seeds, i.e., crops that are not produced for their seeds such as cereals and pulses, has created a particular challenge for farmers. Seed production is then separated from crop production. Similarly, livestock farmers are not commonly geared to producing forage seeds, creating a demand for seed produced by others. Seed markets developed, creating a further specialization of tasks as a result of technical developments in selection and seed technology. This creates a demand for seed, a “pull” for specialist producers of good quality seed of specific varieties. Both the International Seed Testing Association and the International Seed Federation were established in 1924 to support international seed trade ^[7]; the first aimed at standardizing seed testing; the second was an initiative of mainly forage seed traders, but with a widening focus to cover all seeds.

Further opportunities arose with the emergence of plant sciences. These enabled the creation of diversity and the selection within that diversity, which are the basic components of plant breeding, notably in Europe in the late 17th century ^[6]. The clarification of heredity by Mendel, which became known to the scientific community only in 1900, created a tremendous “push” from plant breeding towards more formal seed markets. A similar “push” created an interest in seed production during the Green Revolution from the 1960s onward. Large scale investments in many countries supported by agencies such as the World Bank and FAO thus created ways to obtain new plant varieties multiplied and accessed by farmers ^[8].

Both these “push” and “pull” aspects in seed chains continue to exist today with specialized breeders, seed producers, seed conditioners and marketers, jointly forming the formal seed system. The term “formal” particularly refers to the need to create rules for the marketing of seed following increasing distances between the producers and the users of seeds. The quality aspects of most seed, as well as the identity of the variety that defines expectations for yield and product quality, cannot be observed by merely looking at the seed. Therefore, a reliable label that duly informs the buyer has become increasingly essential for seeds as an “experience good”. The reliable label is based on seed testing and varietal identity preservation in the chain from breeder to seed market replaced the "trust" put on the seed seller in local seed sharing. The first official seed laboratory was established in Germany 1869 by Friedrich Nobbe ^[9]. Naming of varieties based on a detailed description became standard requirements for many crop seeds. Such standards required a degree of homogeneity in important characteristics, which also allowed for the protection of breeder’s rights. This also means that varieties had to be stable in the expression of their main traits over several generations of multiplication. Furthermore, farmers’ interest in knowing more about new varieties led to variety testing for their value for cultivation and use (VCU) and demonstration fields. Many of these functions also became regulated in order to protect and inform farmers.

There are significant differences in the distribution of tasks between the public and private sectors in formal seed chains in different geographies and crops. In Europe, plant breeding originated in the private sector and still is almost completely private even though governments invest significantly in breeding research. In the United States, on the other hand, breeding of most crops with the exception of the most commercial seed products is still performed in the public sector at the Land-Grant Universities ^[10]. Plant breeding can be performed in the private sector for those crops for which a profit margin on the sale of seeds warrants investments in research. This is also the reason why in the Global South, most breeding is performed by national public research institutions, for the major crops with support from the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR).

In most of the Global South, formal seed production started off as a public operation. There are some exceptions, such as in Kenya and Zimbabwe, where cooperatives of large farmers invested in seed production and breeding. For most other countries, state farms and government-led contract grower schemes were set up, and seed conditioning plants were erected with government or donor funding. Seed distribution was handled by the government extension schemes in many countries. Most of these seed schemes, set up with donor funds ^[11]^[12], have been privatized following structural adjustment policies in the 1990s ^[13]^[14]. Some countries invited international companies to take over the facilities (e.g., Malawi), others sold them to local investors (e.g., Uganda), and yet others put the government seed operations at some distance from public governance (e.g., Ethiopia). Despite the private nature of these companies, some “protection” by the governments remained because seed is considered a strategic good for the country.

During the process of privatization of seed production, the issue of quality assurance comes up. In many government-run seed operations, variety registration, seed testing and certification were an integrated part. However, in a privatized sector, seed quality control organizations had been developed to make independent assessments. These commonly operate within the government, but differences among countries exist with regard to compulsory and voluntary rules ^[10] and between implementation within the government organization, or by private labs performing such public tasks. It is particularly this independence of quality control and seed producers that requires a formal backing through seed regulations that shape the formal sectors ^[15].

3. Other Seed Sources

The distribution of free seed, notably by non-governmental organizations, but also by governments and intergovernmental agencies, is becoming quite significant. This is performed either as a response to crises, such as natural or human-made disasters ^[16]^[17]^[18], or in the frame of supporting farmers through free or heavily subsidized inputs ^[19].

Finally, many near-subsistence farmers do not save their own seed or obtain it in the community but rely on purchasing food grain from the local market to plant their next crop. Statistics are rare and incomplete, but FAO studies indicate that up to 20–40% of farmers in West Africa use food grain as seed ^[20]. They are too poor or otherwise unable to select and store seeds themselves.

References

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Jiggins, J.; de Zeeuw, H. Participatory technology development in practice: Process and methods. In Farming for the Future; Reijntjes, C., Waters-Beyer, A., Haverkort, B., Eds.; MacMillan: London, UK, 1992; pp. 135–162.
Almekinders, C.J.M.; Louwaars, N.P.; de Bruijn, G.H. Local seed systems and their importance for improved seed supply in developing countries. Euphytica 1994, 78, 207–216.
Sperling, L.; Loevinsohn, M.E.; Ntambovura, B. Rethinking the farmer’s role in plant breeding: Local bean experts and on-station selection in Rwanda. Expl. Agr. 1993, 29, 509–519.
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Schlegel, R.H.J. History of Plant Breeding; CRC Press: Boca Raton, FL, USA, 2018; 311p.
Le Buanec, B.; Heffer, P. The Role of International Seed Associations in International Policy Development. J. New Seeds 2002, 4, 77–87.
Evanson, R.E.; Gollin, D. Assessing the Impact of the Green Revolution, 1960 to 2000. Science 2003, 300, 758–762.
Rohmeder, E. 100 Jahre forstliche Saatgutprüfung. Forstwiss. Cent. 1969, 88, 65–72.
Louwaars, N.; Burgaud, F. Variety Registration: The Evolution of Registration Systems with a Special Emphasis on Agrobiodiversity Conservation. In Farmers’ Crop Varieties and Farmers’ Rights—Challenges in Taxonomy and Law; Chapter 6 in Halewood; Earthscan: London, UK, 2016.
Feistritzer, W.P. FAO’s Seed Industry Development Programme (SIDP). In The role of seed science and technology in agricultural development. In Proceedings of an International Seed Symposium, Vienna, Austria, 1–6 October 1973; Feistritzer, W.P., Redl, H., Eds.; FAO: Rome, Italy, 1975; pp. 353–357.
Feistritzer, W.P. The FAO Seed Improvement and Development Programme (SIDP). Seed Sci. Technol. 1984, 12, 31–34.
Pal, S.; Tripp, R. India’s Seed Industry Reforms: Prospects and Issues. Ind. Agric. Econ. 2002, 57, 443–458.
Malope, P. Prospects and challenges of seed sector privatization. J. Dev. Agric. Econ. 2006, 3, 504–513.
Louwaars, N.P.; de Boef, W.S.; Edeme, J. Integrated seed sector development: A basis for seed policy and law. J. Crop Improv. 2013, 27, 186–214.
Sperling, L.; McGuire, S.J. Fatal gaps in seed security strategy. Food Secur. 2012, 4, 569–579.
Sperling, L.; Holmquist, C.; Ouko, W.; Mottram, A.; Love, A. Seed Systems in Conflict-Affected Areas: Context Analysis Tool. Version 1. Produced by Mercy Corps and SeedSystem.org as part of the ISSD Africa Activity. 2022. Available online: https://issdafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/CAT_Final_English.pdf (accessed on 28 November 2022).
Sperling, L.; Mottram, A.; Ouko, W.; Love, A. Seed Emergency Response Tool: Guidance for Practitioners. Produced by Mercy Corps and SeedSystem.org as a Part of the ISSD Africa Activity. 2022. Available online: https://issdafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/SERT_Digital_Jun22.pdf (accessed on 28 November 2022).
Chinsinga, B. Seeds and Subsidies: The Political Economy of Input Programmes in Malawi. IDS Special Issue: The Politics of Seed in Africa’s Green Revolution. IDS Bull. 2011, 42, 59–68.
Smale, M.; Diakité, L.; Grum, M. When Grain Markets Supply Seed: Village markets for millet and sorghum in the Malian Sahel. In Seed Trade in Rural Markets. Implications for Crop Diversity and Agricultural Development; Lipper, L., Leigh Anderson, C., Dalton, T.J., Eds.; FAO: Rome, Italy; Earthscan: London, UK, 2010; pp. 53–74.

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1. Farmers’ Seed Systems

2. Formal Seed Systems

3. Other Seed Sources

References