Community Seed Production

During the 1970s and 1980s, seed system support in developing countries was focused on strengthening public sector institutions including agricultural research centers, extension services and state-owned seed corporations. This approach achieved limited success in Africa such that structural adjustment programs in the 1980s and 1990s resulted in general withdrawal of state seed system support. It created space especially for the private sector but also for civil society seed organizations while maintaining linkages with public sector agricultural research systems. The 1990s also saw the emergence of large-scale direct seed purchase and distribution, particularly in Africa, in response to natural disasters and crisis. Since 2000, agricultural development has been at very low levels with widespread underinvestment in the sector worldwide. However, there are now indications that donors are regaining interest in agriculture and especially in the seed sector.