Informal markets: Source of seed security
AS PREPARATIONS for the coming farming season gather pace, the role of informal markets as major sources of seed diversity is beyond question. Rather than depending on a few commodities, most farmers are responding to climate change by diversifying their seed choices.
While some farmers have saved their own seed in their households, the biggest sources are informal markets where many commodities transition from consumption to seed, depending on season.
To the extent informal markets are able to mobilise indigenous nutrition baskets, eMKambo is currently inundated by farmers looking for seed of the following commodities, most of which are not found in formal seed companies: magaka eminzwa, sweet potatoes, madhumbe, magogoya, nyimo, makavhu, indigenous rice, manhanga, mashamba, impwa, runinga, nyevhe, tsine, cassava, tsangamidzi and many others.
All these seeds can be found in informal markets which are able to respond to customer needs and tastes in unique ways. This is different from the formal seed system where seed is often produced directly linked to productivity in terms of volumes and varieties with little regard for consumer needs.
How the market mobilises indigenous food baskets
eMKambo recently conducted a survey to find out why many farmers still have faith in seed from informal markets.
Some of the reasons unearthed include the fact that farmers have confidence in seed that they have either used over time or has been used by other farmers from other regions who bring the seed to the informal market.
Most farmers are not keen to experiment too much but want to get seed they have relied on for some time. The informal market is good at reserving seed which farmers have used for a long time. Names given to seed demonstrate farmers’ experience with seed and the value attached to it. For instance, there is a sugar bean variety named “ngoda” by farmers and traders, equating it to a diamond (ngoda).
Besides consumer tastes and preferences, other considerations from the market include cooking time, colour and amount of soup when cooked. As a learning institution, the informal market conveys all these important signals and messages from consumers to farmers who buy seed accordingly. Informal markets also reveal different areas in which different kinds of seed do well.
For instance, by visiting the market farmers become aware that some seed is from Buhera, Mudzi, Gutu, Gokwe, Nkayi, Chiredzi, Chimanimani, Guruve, Tsholotsho, Gwnada, Muzarabani and other areas where different local seed varieties have been acclimatised. Farmers do not need to visit all these areas to appreciate seed.
Access to embedded indigenous knowledge
From the market, farmers are also able to access indigenous knowledge embedded in seed. Such knowledge identifies different seed varieties as well as their pros and cons. Some seed may yield high but taste poorly in the market while some can be prone to attack by birds but highly regarded by many consumers.
Most of the seed pulled from different areas by the informal market has natural preservations applied by farmers without using chemicals. By engaging with diverse farmers, traders end up knowing a lot about seed and areas in which different local varieties do well. Informed by different demand patterns, the market can also communicate when seed should be released, for instance end of September and beginning of October. By informing farmers about seed cycles, the market builds trust and relationships. For instance, through the market, farmers have become aware that first generation high breed sugar bean seed may not yield as high as second and 3rd generation.
The market informs farmers which seed is getting into the second or third generation. Without such information, farmers can buy seed which has that has expired.
Since farmers and traders who buy seed from each other exchange mobile numbers, they continue to cement their relationship from planting all the way to the next marketing period.
The informal market as a buffer for comparative options and verification
The informal market provides farmers a comparative mechanism through which they can compare formal seed with farmer-saved and informal market-based seed. This is different from comparing seed from different seed companies most of whom produce seed the same way such that farmers may be overwhelmed by the same promotional messages.
Armed with different insights from informal markets, farmers can do a cost benefit analysis. For instance, where hybrid maize seed costs $30 for 10 kg, they can compare with three buckets of farmer saved seed. If the difference in yield is very small, they can decide to go for farmer-saved seed which has multi-purposes next season. Through the market, farmers also become aware of varieties that are prone to more damage by pests and diseases.
Seed supply corridors are built from where people come from
Many farmers are more interested in preserving their seed in a much more pure state. They are suspicious of seed that may have passed through chemicals or laboratories. That is why they are more confident of their own seed whose organic nature they know. In addition, traders from Mutoko focus on commodities from their home area while those from Mwenezi, Chivi, Guruve, Binga and other areas do the same.
The market can show frequency of participation of different districts. No single district can dominate in all seed commodities. For instance, the supply of small grains can be dominated by Rutenga and Tsholotsho while Buhera and Nkayi can dominate on the ground-nuts side.
The power of multi-purpose uses
In the informal seed market, there is a recognition that seed has multi-purpose uses. You can’t let children die of hunger when you have 20kg of sugar beans or cow peas part of which can also be used as seed. Due to multiple uses, local seed is not treated with harmful chemicals on the pretext of protecting it from damage by pests. While formal maize seed is often coloured to show that it is seed, you do not have to do the same with small grains, cow peas or ground-nuts whose main value propositions go beyond colouring and branding. Confidence increases as farmers buy seed which they believe has not been tampered with.
Another important issue relates to units of measurement. In informal markets, people can buy seed in quantities and measurements they can afford. For instance, once can buy a cup of seed or handfuls of different varieties, which promote diversity — critical in a changing climate. However, you cannot do the same with formal seed which is packed in large measurements like 5, 10kgs etc, To spread risks, farmers are now aware of the importance of obtaining different varieties in different quantities. Due to the need for nutritional diversity, the food basket now comprises a diversity of foods. When small grains are recommended by medical doctors, consumers end up growing them rather than continue buying. That is why there is an increase in small grains plots in urban centres. Urban agriculture on small pieces of land requires small measurements of seed like cups.
Commodity exchange is also strengthened more in informal markets. Relationships and trust become stronger as farmers exchange different varieties of sorghum with maize or livestock. These relationships also build a crop calendar from the market. Relationships between traders and farmers enable traders to pay farmers are seed is bought slowly. Through seed commodity exchanges and grading, losses are also managed. For instance, small groundnut grains (magwezu) that are often thrown away as too small are actually kept as seed because they can actually germinate when planted. While these can be considered lower grade by formal companies, many farmers take them as first grade.
Specialisation
Traders in the informal market tend to specialize, for instance in groundnut seed. That means they become more knowledgeable about seed. This is different from formal markets which just sell seed with no clear link to market needs.
It seems formal companies have been out-competed by the informal market because they have failed to articulate meaningful advantages of hybrid seed over retained seed. It is no longer enough to rely on high yielding as a comparative factor. Most farmers increasingly associate hybrids with more inputs such as fertiliser and chemicals. They look at local crops as grasses, tubers and legumes that can grow naturally as long as there is some minimum rainfall or moisture.
Inter-community and inter-regional seed trading
Besides exchanges of seed between districts in Zimbabwe, informal markets promote exchange of seeds between countries, for instance, nyimo from Zambia to Mbare end up finding its way to farmers in Chivi or Beitbridge. Some tubers move from Mozambique to Guruve, for instance, cassava. While some seed traders in the informal market are struggling with estimating volumes stocked per given period, there are opportunities to figure out which crops traders started with and why they decided to expand into other crops.
Some traders indicate that their choice of business is influenced by perishability, stocking (warehousing), etc. Their decision to trade in finger millet seed has been triggered by chronic illnesses like diabetes. Nutritional demands of consumers are influencing choices of commodities in which traders can specialize.
Need for continuous stream of evidence
Although most local varieties have adjusted to different micro climates, different types of seed should be researched. Meeting market standards begins with seed entrepreneurs who go an extra mile in understanding seed.
This cannot be left to formal companies alone. Setting standards and principles promotes efficient knowledge sharing. In horticulture, there are farmers who now specialise in seedlings. However, most farmers don’t want to get involved in the whole seed growing process, preferring to buy seed when ready for planting. In every community there should be people who specialise on seed. Such seed champions can be promoted at irrigation schemes and in informal markets. Where people grow up influences career path and types of commodities in which they can become champions. Seed entrepreneurs at informal markets and in farming communities should be trained to make a living on seed the same way professional breeders survive on seed.
Local seed banks can then be used as reservoirs so that when seed that will have been released by entrepreneurs into farming communities runs its course, say for three or so seasons, new seed from the seed bank can be used to replenish it.
Charles Dhewa is a proactive knowledge management specialist and chief executive officer of Knowledge Transfer Africa (Pvt) Mobile: +263 774 430 309 / 772 137 717/ 712 737 430.