Politics of Seed in Ethiopia's Agricultural Transformation: Pathways to Seed System Development

Abstract

Seed system development in the developing world, especially in Africa, has become a political space. This article analyzes current Ethiopian seed politics in light of the historical dynamics of national and international seed system politics and developments. Drawing on multiple power analysis approaches and employing the lens of “international seed regimes,” the article characterizes the historical pattern of seed regimes in Ethiopia. While colonial territories underwent three historical seed regime patterns—the first colonial seed regime, the second post-WWII public seed regime, and the third post-1980s corporate-based neoliberal seed regime, Ethiopia has only experienced one of these. Until the 1950s, when the first US government's development assistance program—the Point 4 Program—enabled the second government-led seed regime to emerge, the farmers' seed systems remained the only seed innovation and supply system. The first colonial seed regime never took hold as the country remained uncolonized, and the government has hitherto resisted the third corporate-based neoliberal seed regime. In the current conjuncture in the contemporary Ethiopian seed regime, four different approaches to pluralistic seed system development are competing: (1) government-led formalization, (2) private-led formalization, (3) farmer-based localization, and (4) community-based integrative seed system developments. The Pluralistic Seed System Development Strategy (PSSDS) from 2013 is a uniquely diverse approach to seed system development internationally; however, it has yet to realize its equity and sustainability potential. This study shows that the agricultural modernization dependency and government-led formal seed systems development have sidelined opportunities to tap into the strength of other alternatives identified in the PSSDS. In conclusion, an integrative and inclusive seed sector is possible if the government takes leadership and removes the current political, organizational, and economic barriers for developing a truly pluralistic seed system.

Estimation of Smallholder Farmers’ Demand for Certified Seed: Evidence From Wheat and Tef Seed Systems in Ethiopia

“…Household members belonging to groups have a high chance of purchasing certified seeds compared to nongroup members. This finding is consistent with the findings of [54] which reveal that members of agricultural cooperatives positively and significantly influenced the quantity of certified tef seed purchase.…”

Comparing the contribution of formal and local seed systems to household seed security in eastern Zimbabwe

“…The formal seed system is driven by seed companies and significant donor funding that is focused on developing market-based programmes. Governments in sub-Saharan Africa also provide a conducive policy environment for the formal seed systems to thrive through favourable regional and national policies and regulations that are strongly biased in their favour (Scoones and Thompson, 2011;Westengen et al, 2019;Mulesa, 2021). Support includes farm input subsidy programmes that source and supply farmers with seed, fertilizer, and other inputs from the formal seed system, with a focus on hybrid maize and a few legumes (Mabaya et al, 2017(Mabaya et al, , 2021(Mabaya et al, , 2022.…”

The seed sector development in low-income countries: Lessons from the Malawi seed sector policy process

“…For Malawi, it started with USAID support in establishing the Seed Trade Association of Malawi in 2004, affiliated with the Africa Seed Trade and America Seed Trade Associations (ACB, 2015). This followed the growth of the private sector that ignited the discussion on seed security toward harmonized seed regulation (Rohrbach et al, 2003;Mulesa, 2021). The aim was to address fragmented country markets, differences in variety release and certification systems, uncoordinated phytosanitary measures, lack of intellectual property rights, and the need to improve the supply system (FANRPAN, 2010).…”