Gender dynamics in seed systems development

Abstract

All agricultural production—whether of crops, trees, forages, livestock, or fish—starts with seeds,* mak-ing seed security vital to food security. Seed secu-rity means that producers—smallholder farmers es-pecially—have permanent and unrestricted access to adequate quantities of quality seed that is suita-ble to their agroecological conditions and socio-economic needs. Efforts to enhance seed security should be inclusive, without disparities related to in-come, social class, age, or gender. Yet, gender gaps reveal themselves across the seed system, in-cluding in the breeding, production, selection, and distribution stages, as well as in how the seeds are used and who reaps the benefits from this use.