Farmers get seed from their own harvests, local markets, community seed banks and commercial suppliers. But this is not reflected in national policy.
Access to enough food remains a major challenge in Malawi, and reliable seed is essential for farmers’ harvests.
Seed policy in the east African country largely focuses on officially registered crop varieties, certified seed and commercial suppliers. Meanwhile, farmers get most of the seed they plant in other ways: they save it, share it, exchange it or buy it through local networks and markets.
Grace Tione, a PhD Fellow at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences, found this paradox after surveying 688 farming households across five districts to understand this how farmers obtain, share and use seed.
Most of the farmers she surveyed considered local crop varieties as a resource to be shared with the community. Commercial varieties, meanwhile, were seen as belonging to seed companies.
“Many farmers recognise that commercial varieties belong to seed companies. But they still believe they have the right to save and exchange seed from those varieties,” says Tione.
Where farmers get their seed
In Malawi, community seed banks are farmer-run groups that store and lend seed to their members. Local and mobile markets are informal places where farmers buy seed from traders.
Tione found that farmers had most confidence in seed saved from their own harvest, from community seed banks, and seed from government outlets, private shops and organisations that support farmers. They had less confidence in seed bought at local markets or from travelling sellers.
The findings do not show that seed from local markets is necessarily poorer quality - the study didn't test seed quality. Rather, they show that farmers have less confidence in these sources.
“When a farmer cannot be sure that seed is the right variety or will germinate, trust becomes part of food security,” says Tione.
Community seed banks linked to better food security
Maize is a staple crop in Malawi, while groundnuts and soybeans also contribute substantially to household food and income. For farmers belonging to community seed banks, the banks supplied about 37 per cent of the seed they used for these three crops.
Compared with non-members, households with a member in a community seed bank reported fewer days and months when food was scarce, and were less likely to have experienced food insecurity in the previous year.
Farmers living in areas where there had been less rain and higher temperatures in previous years were also more likely to belong to a community seed bank. This does not prove that the banks helped them cope with drought, but suggests they may be particularly important when growing conditions are difficult.
Seed policy should reflect farmers’ reality
The study also looked at crop yields. It did not find a single pattern: soybean yields were higher on plots using seed from community seed banks, maize yields were lower, and groundnut yields showed no clear difference.
The thesis suggests that farmers may choose some maize varieties because they keep well in storage and are easier to process, even if they do not produce the largest harvest.
For community seed banks to work over time, they need practical support with seed storage, quality checks, record-keeping, technical advice and funding.
“Farmers do not rely on a single source of seed. They combine different sources depending on their needs and circumstances. Policy needs to recognise and support the systems they already use,” says Tione.
Grace Tione will defend her thesis 'Social seeds: Understanding behaviour, institutions, and organizations in farmers’ seed systems in Malawi' on 29 September at NMBU. See the event webpage for details.
