Publication on Maize Seed Systems Published on Food Security

KIT recently published a new 4 part analysis of maize seed systems – in Malawi, Zambia, Bihar in India and Chiapas in Mexico. Following up on that, a new study has been published that takes into account these four case studies as a bigger look into the maize seed systems.

The study indicates that smallholder farmers are increasingly purchasing seed from the formal maize seed system in these different parts of the world. The findings indicate well-functioning seed value chains in the areas of study, producer surveys and seed value chain analysis also pointed to significant weak links in the formal maize seed systems that need to be improved. It should be recognized that even for maize, in addition to the private formal seed value sector based on hybrid varieties, there remains a task for public maize breeding efforts and farmer based maize seed systems for the foreseeable future.

Please find the report below.