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This section looks at how seeds/PGRs contribute to sustainable livelihoods in a variety of sometimes unexpected ways. Most emphasis has been on direct impacts (e.g. food/nutrition or income) but indirect or more hidden impacts on livelihoods may be just as important. It is difficult to make general links between certain ‘types’ of households (e.g. poor) and the kinds of seeds/PGR seeds they use (e.g. local landraces) in their farming systems (e.g. subsistence). Understanding seeds/PGRs as a part of a complex livelihood system is a key analytical starting point. It helps to us re-think some of these assumptions, and develop a more nuanced appreciation of the contribution seeds/PGRs make to livelihood security and sustainability. The section proceeds to show, through a range of different examples, how seeds/PGRs make a range of contributions to sustainable livelihoods both through direct impacts but also, beyond that, contribute to livelihood systems and, ultimately, livelihood outcomes. |
The contribution of seeds and PGRs to sustainable livelihoods is vast, characterised not only by the diversity of species and varieties but also by the complexity of their interaction with other resources and livelihood strategies in equally diverse livelihood systems. The importance of seeds and PGRs is recognised both within the context of improving agricultural production and in efforts to conserve plant genetic diversity. Seeds are seen as material ripe for manipulation to enhance yield, adaptability, or nutritional value and as the stores of valuable genetic information. The plant genetic resources themselves are valued for their contribution to agro-ecological diversity and as essential inputs for the development of new products such as pharmaceuticals and seed varieties. The Global Plan of Action remarks that seeds and PGRs are ‘the plant breeder’s most important raw material and the farmers most essential input. They are also a reservoir of genetic adaptability to buffer against potentially harmful environmental and economic change.’(Global Plan of Action, 1996)
But seeds and PGRs have additional significance, beyond their productive and genetic value, as an important element of dynamic livelihood systems. Though vital to achieving livelihood security, the contribution made by seeds and PGRs, directly and indirectly, to diverse rural livelihoods tends to be overlooked. This section aims to map out some of these connections from a sustainable livelihoods perspective.
Uncertainty and unpredictability, be they economic, political or environmental in nature, are endemic features of rural livelihoods: tenure may be insecure, rains may come late or fail all together, crops may be destroyed by pests or disease, and market prices fluctuate. These and other uncertainties are important makers of the risks, shocks and stresses that contribute to vulnerability. Vulnerability, however, is a matter of degree - the extent to which individuals and households are exposed and able to respond to these external events depends on their resilience. Strengthening resilience is an important livelihood outcome. Access to a diverse range of seeds and plant genetic resources makes a positive contribution to this resilience as it assists in risk management and helps ameliorate some of the uncertainties outlined above.
For example, agro-climatic uncertainty is an important element of vulnerability in agricultural livelihoods. The use of photo-period sensitive varieties in Mali is one way in which farmers manage risk associated with variation in the year-to-year onset of rain. In Zimbabwe, where photo-period sensitive varieties are not used, late maturing varieties are planted if rains come early, and short duration varieties planted when rains come late. Farmers, however, will rarely plant only late-maturing varieties, because although the yields are better in good years the risk of crop failure is higher if rains finish earlier than normal (IPGRI Regional Office for Sub-Saharan Africa, 2002). This resilience in the face of agro-climatic uncertainty is made possible through a cropping strategy which relies on use of seeds with diverse characteristics. This strategy enables the risks associated with different kinds of crops or varieties, and the uncertainty created by climatic variation, to be managed effectively together.
The linkages between seeds and plant genetic resources and other livelihood resources are numerous and complex. Seeds can help people maximise and strengthen their asset base; at the same time, access to other assets such as physical or natural capital may be a condition for securing access to seeds. Substitution of certain resources for others can help individuals and households maximise their assets. Seeds play an important role in these decisions and processes. For example, use of nitrogen-fixing crops may substitute for, or reduce reliance on physical capital, such as expensive and high-input inorganic fertiliser (Scoones and Toulmin, 1999). Where the availability and productivity of labour is limited, particularly in areas hit by HIV/AIDS, the use of seeds and PGRs that require less labour-intensive cultivation and that can withstand weeds or bird attacks are important (IPGRI Regional Office for Sub-Saharan Africa, 2002).
Seeds and plant genetic resources also help maintain and strengthen a range of other assets. They are an essential basis of nutrition and food security, and so enhance human capital. Seeds may contribute to social capital, as they have cultural, spiritual and ritual significance and are often an important element in rural systems of gift-giving and exchange. Sale of seeds and produce helps build financial assets. Fodder for livestock and plant-based building materials help maintain and develop physical capital, and rely on plant genetic resources with characteristics that enable these uses. Seeds and PGRs contribute to biodiversity, and also strengthen natural assets by enabling processes of nutrient cycling, pest and disease control and pollination.
A range of capitals assets are important for the use and management of seeds and PGRs:
Land, water, forests, common land (natural capital)
Knowledge, education, labour, good health (human capital)
Relationships, networks (social capital)
Seed storage facilities, agro-chemical inputs, livestock, roads (physical capital)
Cash, credit, access to markets (financial capital)
In some cases, access to seeds and plant genetic resources may be determined by whether an individual or household is able to command certain other capitals. We have noted that financial capital, suitable natural capital, and physical capital are important for using certain high-yielding varieties of seeds. Social capital is often more important in extensive informal seed systems and wields great influence over access to seeds. As we shall see in the case study on access to seeds in emergencies, the breakdown of social capital during conflict and other disasters causes enormous disruption to seed systems (Box 4.2).
The configuration of different assets will vary across households and individuals. Access to seeds and PGRs that are appropriate not only for agro-ecological conditions, but suited to the asset portfolios of different households is important for livelihood security (see Box 3.1 below).
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Box 3.1: The Diverse Seed Needs of Kenyan Farmers Poorer households in Embu District, Kenya, cannot meet food needs because of their small land holdings. Instead, they tend to specialise in the production of high value commodities that they trade for staple foods produced more cheaply elsewhere. A livelihoods study found that:
Source: Thorne and Tanner, 2001; in DfID2002 |
While agriculture continues to be the basis of rural livelihoods in developing countries, people in these areas pursue a range of other strategies to achieve livelihood security. Seeds and PGRs play a direct, but also sometimes a hidden, role in supporting these strategies. In some cases the contribution of seeds and plant genetic resources to livelihood strategies is obvious. They are, for example, often essential inputs to processes of agricultural intensification.
Diversification into non-agricultural activities and seasonal migration are important, but sometimes neglected, features of rural livelihoods and areas where access to seeds and plant genetic resources play an important, but less visible, role.
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Box 3.2: ‘Transport’ and Migration in West Africa Migration is an important livelihood strategy in many parts of rural Africa. In Burkina Faso, an early maturing rice variety called ‘Transport’ is used because it helps to finance farmers’ travel to mines in northern Ghana and allows them to return in time to harvest late-maturing sorghums. Use of the variety thus facilitates seasonal migration and optimises the use of labour. Source: IPGRI Regional Office for Sub-Saharan Africa, 2002 |
As is evident in the discussion above, seeds and PGRs make a range of contributions to livelihoods including supporting non-agricultural activities. These contributions are direct but, equally, they are also often indirect or hidden - a product of the complex interaction of seeds and PGRs with other livelihood resources or strategies.
The table (3.1) below summarises some of these contributions, grouping them into direct or immediate contributions as well as broader contributions to livelihood systems. The information in the table is, of course, not an exhaustive list and many more contributions may be noted. Also while the contributions are listed discretely, interconnections among them do exist. For example, the contributions of seeds and PGRs to food security are closely related to health contributions.
Table 3.1: The contribution of seeds and Plant Genetic Resources to Livelihood Security
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Direct or Immediate Contributions |
Food · staple foods Health/Nutrition · medicines Environmental · agro-ecological
diversity Physical · plant-based building materials, fodder, firewood Cultural/spiritual beliefs and practices Income |
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Contributions to Livelihood Systems |
Managing Risk and Responding to Vulnerability Varietal and crop diversity: · allows cultivation to be tailored to particular agro-ecological niches · spreads risk of wholesale crop failure due to pests or disease · enables adaptation to climatic variation Building and Maximising Assets · seeds may substitute for other assets, such as agro-chemical inputs · selection and use of seeds with particular characteristics enables other assets to be optimised (labour, natural assets) · seeds play a role in social networks: basis for gift-giving or exchange, ritual and ceremonial values Livelihood Strategies · agricultural intensification · diversification into non-agricultural activities · migration |
Implicit throughout the above discussion is an emphasis on the importance of crop and varietal diversity. Diversity, in this context, is particularly important because the appropriateness of seeds and PGRs will vary across particular agro-ecological environments; the significance of particular seeds and PGRs will also be different for households of different socio-economic position and endowments, and will even vary for individuals within households.
Looking at seeds and PGRs from a livelihoods perspective facilitates an appreciation of how seeds and PGRs fit into the bigger picture of people’s livelihoods. In this perspective, therefore, the significance of seeds and PGRs extends beyond their contributions to agricultural production and/or genetic diversity to encompass a more holistic understanding of their contribution to diverse livelihoods, and the complexity of their interaction with other livelihood resources and strategies.
These contributions, however, are by no means automatic - realising them relies on gaining access to seeds and PGRs and to other livelihood resources with which they are linked. Without such access, the potential contributions and value of seeds and PGRs mean little. Understanding access is therefore crucial and the next section turns attention to this issue.
