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\hypersetup{pdftitle={Linking Plant Science with the Small Farmer: How Farmer Seed Enterprises Can Strengthen the Food System},pdfauthor={Julian David Reece},pdfsubject={Tropentag 2010: Abstract},pdfkeywords={Innovation Systems, Modern Varieties, Rice, seed Systems, The Gambia },pdfpagemode=None,colorlinks=true}
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\parbox[b]{13.4cm}{\centering \large{\textbf{Tropentag, September 14-16, 2010, Zurich}}\\[1ex] \Large{``World Food System  ---\\A Contribution from Europe''\\[2ex]}}
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\Large{\textbf{Linking Plant Science with the Small Farmer: How Farmer Seed Enterprises Can Strengthen the Food System\footnote{\textbf{Contact Address:} Julian David Reece, Africa Rice Center (WARDA), Learning and Innovation Systems Programme, Cotonou, Benin, \mbox{e-mail}: \email{j.d.reece@cgiar.org}}\\[0.8ex]}}
\normalsize{\textsc{Julian David Reece}}
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\begin{itemize*}
\item[]{\small{\textit{Africa Rice Center (WARDA), Learning and Innovation Systems Programme, Benin}}}
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\index[author]{Reece, Julian David}
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\textbf{Abstract}
\begin{abstract}
\normalsize{
Improved crop varieties, themselves made possible by advances in Plant Science, offer important benefits to the Food System.  These benefits can only be realised if the new seeds can be made available to the farmers who can make best use of them, many of whom are poor.  Farmer Seed Enterprises (FSEs) --- farmer"=run enterprises that multiply and market seed of improved varieties --- seem able to provide affordable, high"=quality seed to their neighbours and so bridge the gap between breeders and smallholders.  But how well do they perform in practice?  And how sustainable are they: what enables them to operate indefinitely?







New research results from The Gambia begin to answer these questions.  They show that FSEs there disseminated new rice varieties (and associated information) across the country, and thus raised output while reducing risk.  Furthermore, FSEs make seed available at the time when it is needed and so reduce the risk faced by those farmers who may have difficulty saving and storing their own seed.  In some cases they make it easier for farmers to take part in value chains, by providing seed of the consistent quality and purity required to facilitate up"=stream processing. 







However, FSEs need to form partnerships with other kinds of actor and so gain access to complementary expertise and other resources.  In the absence of such partnerships they are invariably short"=lived.  Research in The Gambia showed that partnerships with agricultural research institutes are particularly important, linking plant breeding systems with farmers' seed systems.  Partnerships with dealers/distributors are generally needed to give FSEs access to markets that are sufficiently large to sustain their commercial viability, although links with the mass media provided an effective alternative for FSEs in The Gambia.







FSEs thus need to be situated within particular kinds of institutional context if they are to function effectively, or even survive.  Wider linkages to centres of scientific excellence, in Europe and elsewhere, enable them to function as key nodes within a broader innovation system.



}

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\noindent \textbf{Keywords:} Innovation Systems, Modern Varieties, Rice, seed Systems, The Gambia 
\index[key]{Innovation Systems}
\index[key]{Modern Varieties}
\index[key]{Rice}
\index[key]{Seed!Systems}
\index[key]{The Gambia }
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