Seed Trade in Rural Markets

by Lipper, Leslie; Anderson, C. Leigh; Dalton, Timothy J.

• ISBN13: 9781844077854
• ISBN10: 1844077853
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-12-31
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Markets have been found to be an increasingly important source of the seeds of crops and varieties low income farmers need to improve their livelihoods, encompassing both the formal and informal seed sector. Markets also have major impacts on agricultural biodiversity, by affecting farmers' choice of crops and varieties to grow. They are not, however, a homogenous institution, although all too frequently policies and regulations are developed as though they were. Markets vary considerably depending on the participants, on the institutions that govern how and what they exchange, and on local agricultural, economic and social conditions. Developing effective strategies to improve the way agricultural markets work, including how farmers use crop genetic resources, requires understanding of these variations. Seed Trade in Rural Markets presents a unique set of case studies from Bolivia, India, Kenya, Mali and Mexico on agricultural seed and product markets that describe three important market characteristics expected to affect farmers' access to seeds and varieties: the range of varieties on offer, the information provided about them, and relative prices. The case studies - all based around a common framework to aid comparability - also provide information on social, agricultural and economic factors which may be affecting the market availability, information, and cost of crop genetic resources, and ultimately the capacity to stimulate agricultural development

Author Biography

Leslie Lipper is a Senior Environmental Economist at FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations), based in Rome Italy. C. Leigh Anderson is a Professor in the Daniel J. Evans School of Public Affairs at the University of Washington in Seattle, USA. Timothy J. Dalton is an Associate Professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics at Kansas State University, USA.

Table of Contents

List of figures, tables and boxes	p. ix
Foreword	p. xiii
List of contributors	p. xv
List of acronyms and abbreviations	p. xxi
Setting the Stage
Agricultural Markets and the Sustainable Utilization of Crop Genetic Resources	p. 3
Introduction	p. 3
The benefits of managing crop genetic resources	p. 7
Accessibility to seeds and crop genetic resources	p. 9
Allocating crop genetic resources through markets	p. 10
Using markets to promote the sustainable utilization of crop genetic resources: An interdisciplinary and cross-country study	p. 11
Markets and Access to Crop Genetic Resources	p. 15
Introduction	p. 15
The importance of local markets	p. 16
Incentives and institutions in exchange	p. 17
Formal and informal systems of seed exchange	p. 19
Access to crop generic resources (CGR)	p. 21
Conclusions	p. 27
Project Methodology: Using Markets to Promote the Sustainable Utilization of Crop Genetic Resources	p. 31
Introduction	p. 31
Defining the boundaries of the study	p. 32
Research questions	p. 35
Sampling and instruments	p. 39
Conclusions	p. 48
Country Case Studies
When Grain Markets Supply Seed: Village Markets for Millet and Sorghum in the Malian Sahel	p. 53
Introduction	p. 53
Background	p. 54
Institutional features	p. 54
Market-sheds	p. 57
Market analysis	p. 58
Conclusions	p. 72
Potato Seed Supply and Diversity: Dynamics of Local Markets of Cochabamba Province, Bolivia - A Case Study	p. 75
Introduction	p. 75
Market analysis	p. 78
Access to crop generic resources	p. 83
Discussion	p. 90
Conclusions	p. 92
Pigeonpea Seed Supply and Diversity: A Case Study of Local Seed Markets in Makueni District, Eastern Kenya	p. 95
Introduction	p. 95
Policy-setting	p. 97
Market analysis	p. 100
Causes for variation of pigeonpea seed supply in local markets	p. 117
Summary and conclusions	p. 121
Access to Minor Millet Genetic Resources in Rural Market Towns of Dharmapuri District, Tamil Nadu, India	p. 125
Introduction	p. 125
Sampling and data	p. 127
Market physical characteristics	p. 129
Vendor characteristics	p. 131
Access to minor millet genetic resources	p. 134
Conclusions	p. 145
Mexico: Maize and Chiapas Case Study	p. 151
Introduction	p. 151
Background: Study site and institutional context	p. 153
Methodology	p. 156
Access to crop genetic diversity in markets: Empirical evidence	p. 159
Diversity impacts of the formal seed sector	p. 179
Conclusions	p. 181
Synthesis and Conclusions
Synthesis: Markets, Seed Systems and Crop Diversity	p. 189
Introduction	p. 189
Summary case observations across thematic questions	p. 191
Synthesis of findings on the factors affecting access to crop genetic resources (CGR)	p. 203
Conclusions	p. 207
Conclusions and Policy Implications	p. 209
Introduction	p. 209
Factors underlying the variation in access to CGR in local markets	p. 210
How effective are local markets in providing access to CGR?	p. 212
Is seed trade in local markets likely to provoke genetic erosion and vulnerability?	p. 214
Formal and informal linkages	p. 216
What are the implications of these findings for policy/programmes?	p. 218
Index	p. 223
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