ABSTRACT
We began this research uncertain as to the importance of local agricultural markets as a seed source for smallholder farmers, and seeking a fuller picture of what role they play in the exchange of crop genetic resources. We end quite convinced that while they are principally markets for product (e.g. grain or tubers), they are also an important seed source – sometimes regularly, sometimes periodically – for farmers across our five vastly different countries and crops. Although the message that these markets are important is consistent across cases, access to crop genetic resources in these markets is not. What, then, can we conclude from the observed variation in access to crop genetic resources found in the case studies, and, perhaps more importantly, what do these observations imply for those seeking productive policy and market interventions?
