Integrated Seed Sector Development in Africa: A Conceptual Framework for Creating Coherence Between Practices, Programs, and Policies

Abstract

Public sector seed programs in most sub-Saharan African countries targeted the dissemination of quality seed of improved varieties in the 1970 and '80s, assuming that the informal seed system would disappear. The orientation in 1990s shifted toward withdrawal of the public sector, promoting privatization and liberalization of the seed market. The informal seed system remained dominant. Integrated seed sector development aims to better link informal and formal seed systems, and balance public and private sector involvement. It explores variation among seed value chains, with the aim of making seed programs and policies more coherent with farmers' practices and more effective at reaching food security.

Keywords:

• Sub-Saharan Africa
• seed systems
• food security
• integrated approaches

Acknowledgments

This paper is a partial result of the authors' facilitation and coordination of the Integrated Seed Sector Development in Africa Project (ISSD Africa), which was implemented by Wageningen University and Research Centre (Wageningen UR) in collaboration with the Commission of the African Union, in the context of the African Seed and Biotechnology Program (ASBP), and with partners in Ethiopia, Mali, Malawi, South Sudan, Uganda, and Zambia. The ISSD Africa project was implemented by the Wageningen UR/Centre for Development Innovation. The project was financed by the Netherlands Ministry for Economic Affairs, Agriculture, and Innovation (EL&I). Any opinions and conclusions expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the EL&I, ASBP, or our partners in the ISSD project. We would like to thank participants of the various national and regional workshops that were organized during the ISSD Africa project for their contributions. Furthermore, we would like to recognize the roles played by a diversity of players in the seed sector, with whom we have been engaged in seed sector development over the past few decades. Our partnership with them has assisted us in the compilation of this paper.

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