The Informal Maize Seed Sector in Sub-Saharan Africa: Role of Community Seed Banks and Institutional Support

Abstract

The informal seed sector is a non-law regulated system which permits seed production and distribution especially under small scale farmers. Seed security is critical for agricultural sustainability and rural development among smallholder farmers. Like with formal seed sector, activities such as seed production, seed processing and storage are undertaken but in a non-law regulated manner. Estimations advocate that 60-80 percent of the seeds for small scale farmers in sub-Saharan African is saved on farm or obtained through informal system. The informal seed system plays a critical role in maintaining on-farm genetic diversity, local adaptation, and availability to smallholder farmers, while on the other hand, the formal sector drives crop productivity through enhanced high-yielding, certified varieties. This paper reviews the general characteristic of the maize seed sector in sub-Saharan Africa. Further more it seeks to review how community gene banks and institutional support strengthens the informal seed system. The constituted manuscript was generated from the collection and analysis of published data and information.