"Breaking through the 40% adoption ceiling: Mind the seed system gaps." A perspective on seed systems research for development in One CGIAR.

Seed systems research is central to achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Improved varieties with promise for ending hunger, improving nutrition, and increasing livelihood security may be released, but how do they reach and benefit different types of farmers? Without widespread adoption the genetic gains achieved with improved crop varieties can never be actualized. Progress has been made toward demand responsive breeding, however the draft CGIAR 2030 Research and Innovation Strategy fails to recognize the complexity of seed systems and thus presents a narrow vision for the future of seed systems research. This points to the lack of evidence-based dialogue between seed systems researchers and breeders. This perspective paper presents findings from an interdisciplinary group of more than 50 CGIAR scientists who used a suite of seed systems tools to identify four knowledge gaps and associated insights from work on the seed systems for vegetatively propagated crops (VPCs), focusing on bananas (especially cooking bananas and plantains), cassava, potato, sweetpotato, and yam. We discuss the implications for thinking about and intervening in seed systems using a combined biophysical and socioeconomic perspective and how this can contribute to increased varietal adoption and benefits to farmers. The tools merit wider use, not only for the seed systems of VPCs, but for the seed of crops facing similar adoption challenges. We argue for deeper collaboration between seed systems researchers, breeders and national seed system stakeholders to address these and other knowledge gaps and generate the evidence and innovations needed to break through the 40% adoption ceiling for modern varieties, and ensure good quality seed once the new varieties have been adopted. Without this, the achievements of breeders may remain stuck in the seed delivery pipeline.

Not only the seed matters: Farmers' perceptions of sources for banana planting materials in Uganda.

The adoption of improved seed and other planting material in developing countries shows mixed results despite their potential to increase agricultural productivity. To arrive at a better understanding of the observed adoption rates, a lot of research is focused on finding the cultivars and variety traits that are attractive to farmers. Given smallholder farmers' seed sourcing practices are often influenced by social ties and cultural norms, it is also relevant to understand where and why farmers seek to acquire planting material. In this study, means-end chain analysis was applied to understand farmers' perceptions of formal and informal sources of banana planting material. Means-end chain analysis allows respondents to select and verbalize their own constructs to evaluate a product or service. These personally relevant constructs are subsequently linked to their personal goals via laddering interviews. We interviewed 31 Ugandan banana farmers from Western and Central region. Farmers associated formal sources mainly with improved cultivars, tissue culture plantlets and low levels of diversity. Informal seed sources were mostly associated with traditional cultivars, suckers and high levels of diversity. The goals farmers pursued while acquiring planting material, such as financial gains, food security, and to sustain and develop the household, were fairly similar among different groups of farmers. The means through which farmers aimed and preferred to pursue these goals differed and could be related to aspects such as gender, production scale and production goals. These differences among farmers preferences for particular sources indicate that not only cultivar traits should be tailored to farmers' preferences and needs, but also the characteristics of the sources from which farmers access planting material.

Tracing legume seed diffusion beyond demonstration trials: An exploration of sharing mechanisms.

Many interventions are assuming that introduced seeds diffuse. However, the details of this diffusion among farmers are poorly understood. This article presents data from eight sites in four on the diffusion of seed and associated information given to farmers involved in N2Africa's demonstration trials. The study showed that 2-3 years after the trials had been organised, more than 90% of the farmers who had participating in the trial activities and were given a seed-input package with 1-5 kg of legume seed had shared this seed, on average with four other farmers. The farmers who received this seed from these directly involved farmers shared their seed less frequently. Eighty per cent of all the seed sharings were of 1-2 kg of seed given as a gift. Only 5% of the sharings involved a cash transaction. More than half of the seed sharings were with family members and around a third were between friends. Men shared at least as often as women and both men and women shared most with persons of their own sex. Information about rhizobium as an associated input for soya was shared by more than one-third of farmers, almost exclusively by farmers who had participated in the demonstration trials themselves. Extrapolation of data suggest that in addition to the 250,000 farmers who participated directly in the N2Africa demonstration trials, another 1,400,000 farmers may have received seed of a new legume crop or variety. The results show that knowing about the character of the seed sharing mechanisms may offer opportunities to influence the diffusion of seeds. Providing farmers with somewhat larger amounts of seeds, emphasise the importance of sharing seeds and information with relatives and friends could be an important factor in achieving a high multiplier effect.