Review of community seed production practices in Africa
This review consists of two parts. Part one (PDF) takes a closer look at implementation strategies and models of community seed production practices, while part two (PDF) focuses on lessons learned and future perspectives. The study covers five case studies in Africa and is based on an analysis of different published and unpublished sources on seed production and seed delivery with a focus on farmer seed management and commercial seed. The review was also informed by interviews with seed system practitioners. The review examines the status and trends in community seed production in order to identify key criteria for success and possible areas of improvement, including the role of community seed production in linking formal (public and private) seed sectors with the farmer seed system. The second part elaborates on how community seed production practices can be improved. The authors state that community seed production is more effective when there is strong collaboration between the public sector, the commercial sector, and civil society/NGOs. In addition, the lack of standard ex-ante seed system diagnostics, including economic analysis to justify the scale and scope of interventions, significantly limits the capacity of donors and seed practitioners to make rational investments and intervention design decisions.