Seeds, Farmers and the Connections That Matter

Farmers Are the Backbone of Seed Systems

In Tanzania, farmers plant 76% of their farmland with seeds saved from previous harvests. Even with an established formal seed sector, farmer-managed seed remains central to production.

Farmers draw on multiple seed sources, choosing according to availability, cost, familiarity, and suitability to local conditions.

In the Indigenous Kichwa communities of Cotacachi, Ecuador, farmers maintain diverse maize, beans, potatoes and fava beans within the traditional chakra farming system. They save, select and exchange seeds through families, local fairs and community networks. These practices maintain crop diversity and preserve varieties valued for their culinary uses, cultural significance and local adaptation.

In Bhutan, farmers obtain seed from neighbors and relatives through purchases, barter, loans, and exchanges of seed or labor. In Bumdeling, a relative introduced the rice variety Machum from another district in exchange for local rice. Cultural traditions also shape farmers’ choices. In Samar, farmers reported expanding cultivation of the local wheat variety Jo to make kaapchi, roasted wheat flour used in rituals.

Across the four countries, farmers identified their own seed and seed obtained through nearby social networks as reliable and well adapted to their needs. The findings underline the importance of understanding and supporting the systems farmers already use.

But Farmers’ Choices Are Changing

By growing and exchanging different varieties, farmers help conserve crop diversity. Yet the studies reveal pressures that can gradually reduce it.

In Uganda, researchers found that farmers are abandoning crop and varietal diversity faster than new varieties are introduced, raising concerns about the loss of genetic diversity even in a country with considerable agricultural biodiversity.

Economic pressures shape these choices. Farmers discontinue varieties that yield poorly, require too much labor, or attract few buyers. In Ecuador’s Daule canton, farmers grow nine improved rice varieties, but SFL-011 dominates production, largely because it commands a favorable market price. In Bhutan’s Orong community, better market value makes Desiree potatoes more popular than the tastier local Jamu joktang.

These choices make economic sense for individual farmers. But when many concentrate on the same varieties, diversity across agricultural landscapes declines.

Maintaining a range of varieties can help farmers cope with drought, diseases and changing growing conditions. It also preserves varieties valued for local cuisine, cultural identity and religious traditions.

Farmer-led variety evaluation, breeding and local seed production could help maintain this diversity while meeting farmers’ food and income needs.

Genebanks Hold Valuable Diversity – Stronger Connections Can Unlock It

While farmers maintain diversity in their fields, genebanks provide an essential safety net. They conserve crop varieties and wild relatives that might otherwise disappear, giving researchers and breeders material to develop varieties suited to changing agricultural conditions.

The studies suggest that connections between genebanks and other parts of seed systems could be stronger.

Tanzania’s National Plant Genetic Resources Centre in Arusha conserves thousands of crop samples and works with 29 community seedbanks, linking genebank conservation with efforts in farming communities. Yet many breeders obtain plant material through their professional networks rather than directly from genebanks.

Closer collaboration among genebanks, breeders, researchers, seed producers and farmers could make conserved diversity more accessible and useful.

In Ecuador, the national genebank and farmers’ organization UNORCAC help identify, multiply and reintroduce varieties being lost. In Cotacachi, “Wanted” posters sought seed donations of Canguil negro, a black-seeded popcorn, from farmers still maintaining it. Breeders helped select seeds for better popping performance. A local university and farmers’ organization then multiplied the seeds for distribution to farmers.

Such initiatives show how different actors can work together. However, the research found that seeds distributed through these efforts do not always perform well in farmers’ fields, highlighting the need to strengthen seed dissemination strategies.

Stronger connections can help turn conserved diversity into varieties farmers want and can use, increasing its contribution to food security.

Better Connections, Better Choices

The studies also challenge the idea that improving seed systems is simply a matter of distributing more commercial seed.

Farmers rely on a combination of formal and informal channels. Local markets, farmer organizations, community seedbanks, seed businesses and personal networks all contribute to making planting material available.

Yet these actors do not always receive the support or recognition they need. Gaps in coordination, information, seed production and distribution can limit farmers' access to quality seed and a wider choice of varieties.

Strengthening seed systems therefore requires working across these different channels, rather than treating them as competing alternatives.

This could mean improving links between national genebanks and community seedbanks, involving farmers more directly in evaluating varieties, supporting local seed production or strengthening collaboration between researchers and seed suppliers.

The appropriate solutions will differ from country to country. What works in Ecuador's Indigenous farming communities in the Sierra may not address the same challenges faced by rice growers on the Coast or seed producers in Tanzania or Bhutan.

The common principle, however, is clear. Seed systems work best when the people and institutions involved are connected and farmers have meaningful choices.

From Research to Action

The four country studies are more than an assessment of existing challenges. They are helping shape the next phase of the Crop Trust’s work under BOLD.

Working with national partners, researchers are using the findings to develop and test practical approaches to strengthen seed systems and improve farmers' access to quality seed and crop diversity.

The research reinforces an important lesson for efforts to strengthen global food security – no single institution or seed supply channel can meet every farmer's needs.

Genebanks safeguard diversity. Breeders develop new varieties. Seed producers multiply planting material. Farmers select, grow and exchange seeds, keeping diversity alive in agricultural landscapes.

Each plays a different role. Their collective impact depends on how effectively they work together.

For the Crop Trust and its partners, the task is therefore not only to conserve the diversity that agriculture may need tomorrow, but also to strengthen the connections that enable farmers to benefit today.