Across Africa, the story of farming begins with a handful of seed. Whether it is millet passed down through generations or a newly bred hybrid maize variety, every planting season starts with this small but powerful resource. Yet beneath the surface of every seed lies a larger debate: should Africa invest in its traditional, farmer-managed seed systems, or should it fully embrace modern, formal seed systems? For too long, these two approaches have been seen as opposites, informal versus formal, traditional versus modern. However, the truth is far more hopeful: Africa needs both systems working together if it is to achieve food sovereignty and protect its agricultural heritage.
Informal seed systems are the backbone of African farming. They are the age-old networks where farmers save seed from their own harvests, exchange with neighbours, and sell or barter in local markets. In many countries, as much as 70 to 80 per cent of the seed planted by smallholder farmers still comes from these informal networks. The strength of these systems lies in their adaptability. Over time, farmer varieties and landraces have evolved to withstand local climates, soils, pests, and diseases. They carry flavours, nutritional value, and cultural significance that formal systems often overlook. When a farmer in Ethiopia grows teff or one in Nigeria plants Bambara groundnut, they are not just cultivating crops; they are preserving resilience, heritage, and identity.
Seeds as Heritage and Insurance
Farmer varieties and landraces are not only food, but they are also living libraries of genetic diversity. They are insurance policies against future shocks. When droughts strike or new pests emerge, it is often these traditional varieties that provide the needed resilient genetic pool required to mitigate these challenges. Hence, losing them would mean losing centuries of adaptation, knowledge, and cultural pride. One way to secure this treasure is through community seed banks. Unlike global facilities such as the Svalbard Vault in Norway, community seed banks are embedded in villages and regions. They serve as local repositories of diversity, keeping seeds accessible to farmers when they are most needed. They also ensure that varieties which may not have commercial value but hold cultural or ecological importance are not lost forever. Community seed banks also strengthen resilience in times of crisis. When floods destroy fields or supply chains break down, as witnessed during the COVID-19 pandemic, these local reserves ensure that farmers still have access to seed for the next planting season. They are, quite literally, lifelines.
Formal Seed Systems: Innovation at Scale
At the same time, formal seed systems have their own undeniable strengths. Through scientific breeding, they deliver improved varieties that directly respond to the needs of different players across the food system. For farmers, formal seed systems provide choice: from high-yielding maize hybrids to drought-tolerant sorghum and pest-resistant cowpeas. These innovations help farmers overcome both biotic stresses (pests and diseases) and abiotic stresses (drought, heat, and poor soils). By offering certified seeds with known performance, the formal sector reduces uncertainty and helps farmers make confident decisions for their livelihoods. For processors, seed innovations guarantee quality and consistency. Carefully bred varieties produce uniform grain size, higher oil or starch content, and milling or malting properties that industries require. This strengthens local agro-industries, lowers production losses, and makes African produce more competitive in regional and global markets. For consumers, formal seed systems enhance diversity, taste, and affordability. Biofortified crops, such as vitamin A-rich sweet potatoes or iron-fortified beans, improve nutrition. Improved varieties also help stabilise supply, which keeps food prices affordable. At the same time, breeders are increasingly paying attention to taste and cooking qualities, ensuring that improved varieties meet consumer preferences rather than replacing them with uniform products. Without formal seed systems, Africa would struggle to scale these innovations and deliver them widely. Hybrid maize, improved rice, and nutrient-rich varieties are all products of this sector, and they remain vital in addressing hunger, malnutrition, and the pressures of climate change.
The False Divide
Positioning informal and formal seed systems as rivals misses the point. These systems are not antagonists; they are interdependent. Formal breeders rely on the genetic diversity stored in farmer varieties and landraces as the raw material for innovation. Without the genetic wealth preserved in informal systems, formal breeding would be impacted negatively. Likewise, informal systems benefit from formal innovation: farmers often incorporate improved seeds into their networks, testing them, adapting them, and sometimes blending them with traditional practices. This cross-pollination ensures that improved seeds are localised and truly useful. Examples across Africa prove this synergy. In Tanzania, for example, participatory plant breeding projects have brought farmers and scientists together to co-develop sorghum varieties that blend high yield with local taste preferences. In Malawi, farmer cooperatives manage seed banks that store both indigenous beans and improved varieties, giving farmers a menu of options. These models demonstrate that integration, not division, is the way forward.
A Call for Policy Change
Regrettably, most national seed policies lean heavily toward formal systems. Regulations on certification, variety release, and seed trade often exclude or marginalise farmer-managed seed systems. The result is a narrowing of diversity and a weakening of farmer sovereignty. To change course, governments must deliberately recognise and support informal systems in policy and practice. This means creating legal frameworks that protect farmer varieties, fund community seed banks, and enable safe and legal seed exchanges among farmers of their varieties. Secondly, it also means that governments must encourage collaboration between researchers and farmers, so that new varieties reflect local needs and realities. Rather than forcing a choice, policymakers should see informal and formal systems as two sides of the same coin. The informal system preserves the genetic and cultural wealth of Africa; the formal system develops innovations that can be scaled. Together, they provide resilience, productivity, and sovereignty. Thirdly, governments must protect farmers’ rights. Farmers should not be criminalised for saving or exchanging their own seed. Instead, their role as custodians of biodiversity must be celebrated and strengthened. Farmer seed systems deserve not only recognition but active investment, as they are central to sustaining the continent’s agricultural future.
Building Bridges, Not Walls
The conversation must shift from rivalry to partnership. Governments, seed companies, researchers, and farmers can build bridges by promoting participatory breeding, co-managing seed banks, and creating hybrid models that value both indigenous and improved seed. The goal is diversity, resilience, and sovereignty. Ultimately, the seed debate is about more than agriculture. It is about power, culture, and independence. Whoever controls the seed controls the food system. For Africa to be truly food sovereign, it must ensure that both informal and formal systems thrive, each reinforcing the other. Imagine an Africa where farmers access both their heritage crops and improved varieties, where community seed banks thrive alongside national gene banks, and where policies value farmer knowledge as much as scientific expertise. This is the vision of a resilient, sovereign seed system.
Conclusion
Seeds carry history, resilience, and hope. Africa cannot afford to lose its farmer varieties and landraces, nor can it ignore the innovations of modern breeding. Each seed system, informal and formal, brings irreplaceable strengths to the table. One guards culture, biodiversity, and resilience, the other delivers innovation, scale, and solutions for growing populations. To pit them against each other would be to weaken the very foundation of Africa’s food sovereignty. For policymakers, the challenge is not choosing one system over the other but creating a framework where both can thrive side by side. This means recognising and protecting farmer-managed seed systems in law, investing in community seed banks, and encouraging participatory breeding that blends farmer knowledge with scientific expertise. At the same time, it means supporting formal seed systems to deliver improved varieties that meet the needs of farmers, processors, and consumers alike. Only through such a balance can Africa build a food system that is resilient, inclusive, and sustainable. Ultimately, the future of African agriculture depends on partnership, not rivalry. By weaving together, the strengths of informal and formal seed systems, Africa can protect its biodiversity, nourish its people, and secure independence from external control. The message is clear: seed is not just agriculture it is life, power, and sovereignty. And the responsibility to protect and nurture it rests with all of us farmers, policymakers, researchers, industry, and consumers alike.
Because in the end, seed is not just agriculture-it is life, power, and sovereignty.