Collective Action for Seed Producer Cooperatives and Their Role in Improving the Sustainable Seed Supply and Impacts: The Case of Ethiopia

Seed is an essential component in crop production. Using superior seed from improved cultivars can increase yield by as much as fifty per cent per hectare. High-quality seed also encourages using extra agricultural inputs like fertilizers and insecticides. The Ethiopian seed system development strategy recognizes the formal, intermediary, and farmer seed systems. The farmers' system is the primary seed source, with relatively little contribution from the formal system. The public sector primarily controls the formal system's breeding and seed distribution. The formal, farmers', and intermediary systems are comparable to each other. The government encourages Seed Producers Cooperatives (SPCs) to cultivate and supply seeds to the market. Cooperatives (SPCs) supply of high-quality seeds for various crops in response to local and international demand and the needs of farmers. This helps to ensure national seed security. Policymakers and development experts have recognized the significant role of SPCs in Ethiopia's seed industry, and the country's agricultural development initiatives reflect this. It is essential to reform the seed industry to have a positive impact on Ethiopian agriculture's progress. However, the seed industry in Ethiopia faces limitations due to institutional, organizational, technical, and infrastructure challenges, preventing it from meeting the increasing demand from different agro-ecologies and farming systems. Despite this, little research has been conducted to study and document SPCs' involvement in the seed industry and their contributions. Unfortunately, not much work has gone into examining and recording their contributions to increasing seed access and availability as well as their involvement in the seed industry. Concerning improving seed supply and guaranteeing seed security in Ethiopia, this review aimed to evaluate Seed Producers Cooperatives' present standing in the seed industry.