Description
Book SynopsisMarkets have been found to be an increasingly important source of the seeds of crops and varieties low income farmers need to improve their livelihoods, encompassing both the formal and informal seed sector. Markets also have major impacts on agricultural biodiversity, by affecting farmers' choice of crops and varieties to grow. They are not, however, a homogenous institution, although all too frequently policies and regulations are developed as though they were. Markets vary considerably depending on the participants, on the institutions that govern how and what they exchange, and on local agricultural, economic and social conditions. Developing effective strategies to improve the way agricultural markets work, including how farmers use crop genetic resources, requires understanding of these variations.
Seed Trade in Rural Markets presents a unique set of case studies from Bolivia, India, Kenya, Mali and Mexico on agricultural seed and product markets that describe three important market characteristics expected to affect farmers' access to seeds and varieties: the range of varieties on offer, the information provided about them, and relative prices. The case studies - all based around a common framework to aid comparability - also provide information on social, agricultural and economic factors which may be affecting the market availability, information, and cost of crop genetic resources, and ultimately the capacity to stimulate agricultural development
Published with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations
Trade Review'This book provides a critical link between the study of agricultural biodiversity and the economics of market development across several low income nations. The editors do a brilliant job of synthesizing diverse case studies and identifying policy opportunities to improve the development of national seed systems.'
Prabhu L. Pingali, Deputy Director, Agricultural Development, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
'This book is an excellent synthesis of issues and case studies on seed trade and implications for crop genetic resources. It provides fascinating examples related to human livelihoods and indirectly, to crop evolution.'
Louise Jackson, Associate Professor, Department of Vegetable Crops, University of California Davis, USA, and Co-chair DIVERSITAS agroBIODIVERSITY Scientific Committee
''Seed Trade in Rural Markets' is a choice pick for any agricultural studies collection'
The Midwest Book Review.
'This book examines the range of seed varieties on offer in local markets, the information about them and the relative prices.'
New Agriculturist, April 2010.
Table of ContentsPart I: Setting the Stage
1: Agricultural Markets and the Sustainable Utilization of Crop Genetic Resources
2: Markets and Access to Crop Genetic Resources
3: Project Methodology: 'Using Markets to Promote the Sustainable Utilization of Crop Genetic Resources'
Part II: Country Case Studies
4: When Grain Markets Supply Seed: Village Markets for Millet and Sorghum in the Malian Sahel
5: Potato Seed Supply and Diversity: Dynamics of Local Markets of Cochabamba Province, Bolivia. A Case Study
6: Pigeonpea Seed Supply and Diversity: A Case Study of Local Seed Markets In Makueni District, Eastern Kenya
7: Access To Minor Millet Genetic Resources In Rural Market Towns of Dharmapuri District, Tamil Nadu, India
8: Mexico: Maize and Chiapas Case Study
Part III: Synthesis and Conclusions
9: Synthesis Chapter: Markets, Seed Systems and Crop Diversity
10: Conclusions and Policy Implications
