The paradox of community seed systems : a case of Lumezi and Chasefu districts

Abstract: Availability of quality seeds is very key to production in agrarian societies such as Zambia. However, the focus on cereals like maize, a staple, has negatively affected the availability of quality seed for other crops like legumes which are equally important. This has been one of the reasons the community seed initiatives have been necessitated. This study has been designed to investigate the effectiveness of community seed systems in rural communities. The focus was Seed Grower Associations in Lumezi and Chasefu districts in Eastern Zambia in the Community Based Seed project supported by a non-governmental organisation. In this study, I set out to find out whose knowledge is included in the community seed initiatives. I also asked how rural areas experience community seed initiatives. This work draws upon political ecology and food sovereignty as an approach and concept respectively to answer the research questions. This is a qualitative study therefore I conducted 20 interviews, a focus group discussion, and observations to collect empirical data. The findings reveal that local knowledge has been incorporated into the seed systems but that which complies with regulations for seed growing. Contrary to the narrative that community seed banks are avenues to improving access to seed in rural communities, evidence in this study shows that locals have been excluded from accessing seed. Finally, this study shows that seed growers boast of their livelihoods improving as a result of their participation in the seed initiatives. However, they have been dependent on the NGO to procure seed for multiplication for years. Overall, this scholarly work contributes to research on seed systems on how political ecology and food sovereignty can be deployed to understand community seed banks.