I have recently finished collecting and analysing my results from the systematic review I carried out as part of my thesis project. This systematic review was used to determine the current seed systems in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and the barriers to and options for scaling seed systems in SSA. I also had the goal of mapping key stakeholders within seed systems.
The results I found were interesting. When I analysed the papers on seed systems we found that the literature was highlighting a formal, informal and integrated seed system in most countries in SSA. Formal systems include the government, NGOs and seed companies and informal systems involved local markets and seed exchange between farmers and families. It is clear from the literature that there are linkages between the two and at the moment neither of these systems are operating optimally in order to provide sufficient access to smallholders of high quality seed.
It was also found that seed access (both improved and not improved varieties), access to capital and access to extension services were some major barriers to the adoption of improved varieties. The main options for scaling legume seed which we identified from the literature included offering specific training and increasing access to inputs in order to make legume cultivation more profitable for farmers.
In terms of mapping stakeholders, we identified a knowledge gap in the literature. Of the 300+ papers screened for this review, none of these mapped the stakeholders within the system. Some papers mentioned the key stakeholders briefly or listed them as key informants who were interviewed, however there were no peer-reviewed research papers focusing on identifying these stakeholders.
These findings are interesting but in my mind they are a first step to identifying how to scaling legume seed systems. This study would be improved if it was followed by a field survey to identify how close the literature is to reporting the true barriers that are experienced by smallholders when adopting legumes.
I will post further details of this study when the final draft is submitted.
