1. INTRODUCTION

1.1. Introduction: Understanding Access to Seeds and PGRs

Access to seeds and plant genetic resources (PGRs) is a vital element of food security and sustainable development. Most development interventions and activities around seeds and PGRs typically have a scientific and/or technical focus on production or conservation concerns. Some common examples of these activities are: crop and varietal improvement projects; the development of technical capacity and infrastructure; genebank standards; duplication and exchange policies; and guidelines on in situ conservation.^[1] But scientific and technical efforts, while valuable and important, sometimes fail to consider questions of how seeds and PGRs fit into the bigger picture of people’s livelihoods.

The significance of seeds and PGRs cannot be fully appreciated only in scientific or technical terms, or through a production or conservation-focused lens - for in many ways, ‘seed is everything.’^[2] Seeds are vehicles for plant genetic resources, stores of valuable genetic information and traits, and expressions of biodiversity. Plant genetic diversity, embodied in seeds, enables adaptation to changing economic and environmental conditions and supports diverse livelihoods in obvious and not-so-obvious ways. Seeds are important in local systems of informal exchange as well as wider social relations; at the same time, they are also increasingly prominent in global trade and commerce. Seeds often occupy a central place in cultural beliefs, practices and rituals; equally, they are routinely used as a political tool. Their contributions to livelihoods, therefore, are multi-faceted.

Moreover, the bigger picture within which issues around access to seeds and PGRs connect with livelihood concerns is complex and fast-changing. Some notable features or trends are:

• the growth of the private sector through the rise, often as a result of mergers and acquisitions, of multinational seed houses, the agricultural biotechnology and life sciences industry;

• increasing proprietary control of plant genetic resources and seed material;

• declining capacity of the public sector in developing countries to develop new varieties and distribute seed;

• the expansion of trade rules governing the import/export of seed and PGRs which affects the flow of seeds and genetic material;

• the growing use of seed as a component of emergency relief efforts across the world;

• emerging global governance of seeds and PGRs established through a plethora of international agreements, such as the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), Cartagena Protocol, and International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture.

These trends and others affect the relationships between seeds and PGRs and livelihoods at local levels, and in particular raise questions about access. Attention to this bigger picture and an appreciation of livelihood complexity and diversity are critical if seed and PGR interventions are to make effective contributions to reducing poverty and improving food and livelihood security.

1.2. Using a livelihoods perspective

This study seeks to facilitate understanding of the role played by seeds and PGRs in rural people’s livelihoods and considers how a livelihood perspective may strengthen understanding of issues of access. Livelihoods perspectives demonstrate how seeds and PGRs are key assets that are linked to other livelihood resources and strategies in complex ways. Briefly, a livelihoods perspective offers insight into:

• The contribution of seeds and PGRs to people’s livelihood strategies and systems.

• The different routes through which access to seed and PGRs may be secured.

• The opportunities and constraints people face in gaining access to seeds and PGRs.

• The way access is differentiated by wealth or socio-economic group, but also by other factors such as gender and age.

• The entry points that may enhance people’s livelihood resilience.

The use of a livelihoods approach is compatible with other approaches to rural development, including ecosystems approaches, people-centred development, farming systems and participatory methods. All of these different approaches offer insights into the links between seeds and PGRs and livelihoods, and indeed can inform a livelihoods perspective.

We argue that the value-added of a livelihoods approach lies in its attention to the importance of access to resources and to the institutions, both formal and informal, that shape and mediate such access. Issues around access to seeds and PGRs are usually neglected by interventions that tend to concentrate on availability, supply and distribution of seeds. Institutional analysis draws attention to how institutions affect people’s access to and command of a range of assets, including seeds and PGRs. These institutions operate at multiple levels, and range from local networks and social arrangements to national and international rules and regulations. Understanding access to seeds and PGRs using an institutional lens suggested by a livelihoods approach is therefore an important element of this study.

1.3. Contributions to FAO's objectives

The study contributes and is of direct relevance to a number of the FAO’s strategic objectives (FAO, 2000a). For example:

A.1 ‘Sustainable rural livelihoods and more equitable access to resources’

A.2 ‘Access of vulnerable and disadvantaged groups to sufficient, safe and nutritionally adequate food’.

A.3 ‘Preparedness for, and effective and sustainable responses to, food and agricultural emergencies’

B. ‘Ensuring enabling policy and regulatory frameworks for food, agriculture, fisheries and forestry’

C.1 Policy options and institutional measures to improve efficiency and adaptability in production, processing and marketing systems’

D.1 ‘Integrated management of land, water, fisheries, forest and genetic resources’.

Forming one output of the Livelihood Support Programme’s sub-programme 3.1, this study was commissioned out of recognition that the issue of access by poor households to seeds and PGRs is an area in which knowledge is lacking, and that a more holistic approach to seeds and PGRs work is needed to strengthen livelihoods. This study therefore fits within the broader remit of sub-programme 3.1 to improve access to natural assets by the poor.

1.4. Organization of the paper

The study is organised as follows. The subsequent section provides a brief overview of the livelihoods approach, and suggests broadly why it is useful in the context of this study. Section three reviews the contribution of seeds and PGRs to people’s livelihoods. The fourth section considers how a livelihoods perspective can inform understanding about issues of access to seeds and PGRs. Three sub-sections focus on particular areas of activity where a livelihoods perspective may strengthen current work; these areas are: seed relief during emergencies; wild and weedy resources; and farmer engagement with agricultural research systems. The final section draws together some of the findings from the review and identifies knowledge gaps, offers a framework to facilitate a more holistic understanding of access to seeds and PGRs, and raises issues and questions for further exploration.