Constraints and opportunities to expanding legume production: An institutional and economic analysis of the legume seed sector in Malawi

Agricultural scientists in Malawi have identified a decline in soil fertility as a leading cause of decreasing smallholder productivity. Since most farmers can not afford to buy inorganic fertilizers, farmers are being encouraged to plant legumes in order to sustain agricultural productivity. Recent studies showed a lack of seed as a major constraint to increasing legume production. In order to redress the seed shortage, in the early 1990s several NGOs established smallholder seed multiplication schemes in Malawi. This study was conducted to analyze the smallholder seed multiplication schemes in Malawi.;An institutional analysis was conducted among seven smallholder seed schemes to determine their effectiveness in meeting farmers' seed needs. An economic analysis also was conducted to determine the profitability of producing both seed and grain from modern varieties, using the profitability of growing a traditional variety as a basis of comparison.;Two types of seed schemes were studied. Some schemes provided seed to farmers with an objective of alleviating seed insecurity. Others aimed at training farmers to become seed producers and sellers. The former group involved many farmers (>2,000 farmers per scheme), who each received a small amount of seed (2 to 5 kg), the focus was on producing ordinary farmers' seed. The later group was composed of fewer farmers (<100 per scheme), who each receiving about 40 kg of seed and produced certified or quality-declared seed mainly for sale.;Most schemes were able to produce seed, few schemes assisted farmers in marketing their seed crop. Most participants, particularly farmers participating in the commercial schemes, regarded this as a major weakness of the schemes---especially the farmers who used more inputs to produce seed than they would have used to produce grain. All of the seed multiplication schemes were subsidized, which makes their long-term sustainability uncertain. Furthermore, most schemes worked in isolation. Competition among the schemes as well as duplication of efforts were noted. In some cases, NGOs worked independently of the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation, therefore did not benefit from the Ministry's expertise in seed production.;The economic analysis showed that it was profitable for farmers to produce both seed and gram from modern varieties, when planting in a monoculture and applying fertilizer. The break-even yield for modern varieties was higher than the observed yield of the traditional variety and the break-even price of seed and grain for modern variety was lower than the gram price for selling a traditional variety. These results suggest that it is more profitable for farmers to grow modern varieties than to grow traditional varieties. However, storing seed to sell three months later was not an economically attractive option.