Seeds of resilience: the contribution of commons-based plant breeding and seed production to the social-ecological resilience of the agricultural sector
Building resilience in food systems is a priority to meet societal challenges such as climate change and biodiversity loss. However, there has been little systematic research on the role of seed production in fostering agroecological resilience. The increasing commercialization and privatization in...
| Main Authors: | , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Taylor & Francis Group
2022-07-01
|
| Series: | International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14735903.2021.1963598 |
| _version_ | 1797680439629971456 |
|---|---|
| author | Lea Kliem Stefanie Sievers-Glotzbach |
| author_facet | Lea Kliem Stefanie Sievers-Glotzbach |
| author_sort | Lea Kliem |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Building resilience in food systems is a priority to meet societal challenges such as climate change and biodiversity loss. However, there has been little systematic research on the role of seed production in fostering agroecological resilience. The increasing commercialization and privatization in the conventional seed industry result in the development and use of only a small number of high-yielding varieties. To counter this trend, new organizational approaches and governance structures in plant breeding and seed production build upon common ownership and collective management. In this study, we analyse how commons-oriented seed production promotes agroecological resilience in comparison to conventional private-property-based seed production. We apply an indicator-based framework to analyse publications from breeding and seed-producing organizations in the German-speaking vegetable seed sector. We find that in comparison to conventional seed production, commons structures promote agroecological resilience in several respects. They foster diversity at the genetic, crop species, and landscape level, create redundancy in seed supply channels, and increase autonomy from external resource inputs and international markets. The governance structures of commons-based seed production contribute to agroecological resilience through a high degree of self-organization of farmers and breeders along the value chain, participatory breeding approaches, and greater access rights to seeds. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T23:30:03Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a96aaa3b5c174ff2878c2fc025676d83 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1473-5903 1747-762X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T23:30:03Z |
| publishDate | 2022-07-01 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability |
| spelling | doaj.art-a96aaa3b5c174ff2878c2fc025676d832023-09-20T10:18:00ZengTaylor & Francis GroupInternational Journal of Agricultural Sustainability1473-59031747-762X2022-07-0120459561410.1080/14735903.2021.19635981963598Seeds of resilience: the contribution of commons-based plant breeding and seed production to the social-ecological resilience of the agricultural sectorLea Kliem0Stefanie Sievers-Glotzbach1Carl von Ossietzky University OldenburgCarl von Ossietzky University OldenburgBuilding resilience in food systems is a priority to meet societal challenges such as climate change and biodiversity loss. However, there has been little systematic research on the role of seed production in fostering agroecological resilience. The increasing commercialization and privatization in the conventional seed industry result in the development and use of only a small number of high-yielding varieties. To counter this trend, new organizational approaches and governance structures in plant breeding and seed production build upon common ownership and collective management. In this study, we analyse how commons-oriented seed production promotes agroecological resilience in comparison to conventional private-property-based seed production. We apply an indicator-based framework to analyse publications from breeding and seed-producing organizations in the German-speaking vegetable seed sector. We find that in comparison to conventional seed production, commons structures promote agroecological resilience in several respects. They foster diversity at the genetic, crop species, and landscape level, create redundancy in seed supply channels, and increase autonomy from external resource inputs and international markets. The governance structures of commons-based seed production contribute to agroecological resilience through a high degree of self-organization of farmers and breeders along the value chain, participatory breeding approaches, and greater access rights to seeds.http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14735903.2021.1963598agroecosystemscommonsresilienceseedsgovernance |
| spellingShingle | Lea Kliem Stefanie Sievers-Glotzbach Seeds of resilience: the contribution of commons-based plant breeding and seed production to the social-ecological resilience of the agricultural sector International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability agroecosystems commons resilience seeds governance |
| title | Seeds of resilience: the contribution of commons-based plant breeding and seed production to the social-ecological resilience of the agricultural sector |
| title_full | Seeds of resilience: the contribution of commons-based plant breeding and seed production to the social-ecological resilience of the agricultural sector |
| title_fullStr | Seeds of resilience: the contribution of commons-based plant breeding and seed production to the social-ecological resilience of the agricultural sector |
| title_full_unstemmed | Seeds of resilience: the contribution of commons-based plant breeding and seed production to the social-ecological resilience of the agricultural sector |
| title_short | Seeds of resilience: the contribution of commons-based plant breeding and seed production to the social-ecological resilience of the agricultural sector |
| title_sort | seeds of resilience the contribution of commons based plant breeding and seed production to the social ecological resilience of the agricultural sector |
| topic | agroecosystems commons resilience seeds governance |
| url | http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14735903.2021.1963598 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT leakliem seedsofresiliencethecontributionofcommonsbasedplantbreedingandseedproductiontothesocialecologicalresilienceoftheagriculturalsector AT stefaniesieversglotzbach seedsofresiliencethecontributionofcommonsbasedplantbreedingandseedproductiontothesocialecologicalresilienceoftheagriculturalsector |