Sowing the seeds for international cooperation: The Dutch diamond in action

The Netherlands has a long-standing presence and influence in the international seed sector. Through partnership initiatives, diverse stakeholders are committed to leveraging Dutch know-how and fostering international cooperation to transform the seed sector in African countries. This effort is viewed as a key contribution of the Netherlands to global food and nutrition security rooted in the collaborative model known as the “Dutch diamond,” which brings together research, policy, business, and civil society. However, international cooperation is ultimately a human endeavour, where policy priorities, funding decisions, and staffing are influenced by both human agency and external circumstances. This paper examines narratives surrounding Dutch international cooperation in the seed sector with a focus on the human factor, such as personal ambitions, motivations, values, experiences, opportunity, social ties and serendipity. Based on key informant interviews, this paper traces the life histories of nine key actors who have driven cooperation in Dutch efforts for international seed sector development. These actors were purposively selected due to their central, influential, and connective roles. Using concepts of Actor Network Theory we analysed the interviews to describe how these key actors became part of the Dutch seed sector development network, how they were shaped by this network, and how they shaped it. Our findings show that change in international seed sector development emerged through a dynamic interplay of serendipitous encounters and deliberate interventions. Beyond more formalized collaboration structures, friendship, trust, and mutual understanding—often built through shared experiences and knowledge exchange—played an important role in translating seed system approaches. Alumni acted as boundary-spanning actors, moving knowledge between policy, research, and practice. Together, these dynamics illustrate how bonding and bridging enabled the adaptation and circulation of seed system development approaches across diverse contexts. This study contributes to wider debates on innovation and international development cooperation by showing how seed sector development approaches and networks are shaped. While the findings reflect a Dutch perspective, they underline the importance of engaging African viewpoints and knowledge systems to move toward more equitable forms of cooperation. • The Dutch Diamond connects diverse actors in multi-actor innovation networks. • Network innovation arises from serendipitous encounters alternated with careful planning. • Trust, friendship, and serendipity in networks often arise from shared experiences. • Alumni—who move between policy, research, and practice—play an important role in knowledge exchange. • Subsequent cycles of knowledge accumulation make the Dutch Diamond a ‘center of calculation’.