This January, Marketlinks Explores the Enabling Environment and Seed Systems

Happy New Year! 

We are excited for another decade of sharing the latest resources in inclusive finance, private sector development, employment, value chains, and so much more. To get started, this month, we're taking a look at seed-related enabling environment and market systems concepts. Throughout the month, we'll highlight case studies, findings from a large-scale seed system study in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and take a look back at some of our previous posts on this topic. 

In 2017, we explored the USAID Southern Africa Seed Trade project - which utilized an online seed lab to support seed companies' efforts to register, test, and certify seed. Read more in this post by Bronwyn Irwin, The Stigma of Subsidies. 

This post from Patrick Sommerville and Hayden Aaronson shares insights on how large input seed companies were piloting inclusive business models and network analyses to analyze market systems. Several USAID projects and activities have tested network analysis as a tool for improving interventions. Check out this 2018 post, How Can I Conduct More Meaningful Market Systems Analysis? – Check Your Ego!

Hemant Nitturkar discussed how an "all or none" approach can transform Nigeria's cassava value chain through improved seed system interventions. This post pinpoints some of the challenges the cassava seed system faces - and how engaging the private sector and new technology can dramatically improve results. Read “All or None” Approach to Developing a Cassava Seed System in Nigeria to find out more. 

Check out a few more posts from our archives

• Understanding Systemic Change in the Vegetable Seed Market – A Qualitative Assessment
• Participation in Global Value Chains as a Vehicle for SME Upgrading: A Literature Review
• Not All Seed Is Declared Equal: Improving Access

We welcome your submissions. If you have a resource, case study, or blog to contribute to this topic, please help us share with the Marketlinks learning community. Upload your content from the 'post' button on the home page or send us an email to get started.