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This paper reports on a study of farmers’ bean seed channels in Malawi. The common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is an important food and cash crop for most Malawian farmers. However, they face major challenges in retaining and accessing bean seed due to the existence of a single rain fed growing season in most areas, a high dependence on beans for food and cash during a dry season that spans 7-8 months (April-October), recurrent droughts, low bean productivity (below 500 kg ha-1 on average) and high levels of rural poverty. Malawi is one of the poorest countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, with a gross domestic income in 2000 of US$170 (World Bank, 2002). Until the mid-1990s, there were few new bean varieties and no effective system existed for bean seed production and dissemination. Various studies identified access to seed of both local and modern bean varieties as an important constraint for small-scale farmers in Malawi (Ferguson et. al. 1991; Cromwell et. al., 1993; Scott and Maideni, 1998). The Bean Improvement Program (BIP), a collaborative project between the national bean program of Malawi and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), conducted the present study. We aimed to diagnose the strengths and weaknesses of local bean seed systems in order to develop appropriate interventions for seed delivery based on existing practices and an understanding of farmers’ seed sourcing behavior6. Since at the time of the study (1996) the bean production system was relatively undisturbed by new introductions, this study assesses patterns of seed acquisition for traditional varieties, the necessary starting point for understanding demand for seed of new varieties. This paper starts with a description of approaches used to produce and disseminate bean seed in Malawi up to the mid-1990s. Following a description of the study’s methodology, the next section reports on farmers’ seed sources and storage methods. The final section draws conclusions from the survey. |
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