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The Informal Seed Business: Focus on Yellow Bean in Tanzania

Author

Listed:
  • Louise Sperling

    (SeedSystem, Sherman, CT 06784, USA)

  • Eliud Birachi

    (Alliance of Bioversity International and The International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), Kampala, Uganda)

  • Sylvia Kalemera

    (Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, Arusha, Tanzania)

  • Mercy Mutua

    (Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, Nairobi, Kenya)

  • Noel Templer

    (Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, Nairobi, Kenya)

  • Clare Mukankusi

    (Alliance of Bioversity International and The International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), Kampala, Uganda)

  • Kessy Radegunda

    (Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, Arusha, Tanzania)

  • Magdalena William

    (Tanzanian Agricultural Research Institute (TARI), Maruku, Bukoba, Tanzania)

  • Patrick Gallagher

    (Independent Consultant, Dalton, GA 30720, USA)

  • Edith Kadege

    (Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, Arusha, Tanzania)

  • Jean Claude Rubyogo

    (Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, Arusha, Tanzania)

Abstract

This article explores the informal seed business, focusing on the yellow bean in Tanzania. The yellow bean is a major bean type traded, yet little is known about the seed supply that fuels it. The survey research in 2019 encompassed larger grain traders, informal seed traders, and retailers, covered major production, distribution and sale hubs, and was complemented by GIS mapping of seed and grain flows and DNA fingerprinting of yellow bean samples. Results showed that traders buy and sell grain and informal seed: it is not one business or the other, but both. Informal seed is an important moneymaker, representing between 15 and 40% of trader business in non-sowing and sowing periods, respectively. In the year monitored, 100% of the yellow bean seed was drawn from the informal sector, amounting to $US 4.35 million just among those sampled. Nevertheless, the informal and formal sectors are clearly linked, as over 60% of the beans sampled derived from modern varieties. Informal traders prove key for: sustaining the grain business, serving the core of the seed business, and moving varieties at scale. More explicit efforts are needed to link the informal sector to formal research and development partners in order to achieve even broader impacts.

Suggested Citation

  • Louise Sperling & Eliud Birachi & Sylvia Kalemera & Mercy Mutua & Noel Templer & Clare Mukankusi & Kessy Radegunda & Magdalena William & Patrick Gallagher & Edith Kadege & Jean Claude Rubyogo, 2021. "The Informal Seed Business: Focus on Yellow Bean in Tanzania," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-16, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:16:p:8897-:d:611045
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Shawn McGuire & Louise Sperling, 2016. "Seed systems smallholder farmers use," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 8(1), pages 179-195, February.
    2. Marcia M. Croft & Maria I. Marshall & Martins Odendo & Christine Ndinya & Naman N. Ondego & Pamela Obura & Steven G. Hallett, 2018. "Formal and Informal Seed Systems in Kenya: Supporting Indigenous Vegetable Seed Quality," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 54(4), pages 758-775, April.
    3. Louise Sperling & Patrick Gallagher & Shawn McGuire & Julie March & Noel Templer, 2020. "Informal Seed Traders: The Backbone of Seed Business and African Smallholder Seed Supply," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-18, August.
    4. Shawn McGuire & Louise Sperling, 2016. "Seed systems smallholder farmers use," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 8(1), pages 179-195, February.
    5. Coomes, Oliver T. & McGuire, Shawn J. & Garine, Eric & Caillon, Sophie & McKey, Doyle & Demeulenaere, Elise & Jarvis, Devra & Aistara, Guntra & Barnaud, Adeline & Clouvel, Pascal & Emperaire, Laure & , 2015. "Farmer seed networks make a limited contribution to agriculture? Four common misconceptions," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 41-50.
    6. Maredia, Mywish K. & Howard, Julie A. & Boughton, Duncan & Naseem, Anwar & Wanzala, Maria N. & Kajisa, Kei, 1999. "Increasing Seed System Efficiency in Africa: Concepts, Strategies and Issues," Food Security International Development Working Papers 54578, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.
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