Seed systems development to navigate multiple expectations in Ethiopia, Malawi and Tanzania

The purpose of this study was to assess how multiple expectations of seed systems outcomes, such as closing the yield gap, adapting to climate change, improving nutrition, ensuring equality, enhancing agro-biodiversity, and securing farmers' rights, influence seed systems development in Ethiopia, Malawi, and Tanzania. A comparative approach was used, based on documents and qualitative data, to analyze seed systems in the three countries. In spite of the same categories of actors providing quite similar influence at country levels, the national seed systems have developed in different directions into approaches that can be characterized as pluralism in Ethiopia, dualism in Malawi, and pragmatism in Tanzania. This finding might indicate that various actors’ influences on the direction of seed systems development could be less important than what we assumed. At the same time, expectations relating to seed systems outcomes are shaped by competition to receive economic and political support to influence policies and laws. We conclude that seed systems development must address different needs for different crops in different agro-ecologies and different groups of farmers. To achieve this, different approaches are needed to harness the strengths of both formal and farmers’ seed systems.