Seeds are the most important input in all crop-based agriculture and a prerequisite for the majority of the world’s food production. Seed management is therefore a central issue for farmers, and a key element in addressing the challenges of responding to farmers’ different requirements and preferences, increasing production, and achieving food security. Although the adoption of improved varieties through the formal seed systems has been significant in large parts of the world, the formal systems’ share of total seed supply remains low. Informal farmer-to-farmer seed distribution continues to be the prevailing system of seed supply for small scale farmers in many developing countries. These mechanisms are mostly based on traditional social alliances and family relations, and are based in the context of mutual interdependence and trust. However, despite the fact that farmer-to-farmer seed exchange is widely recognised as an important source of seed for vast numbers of farmers, little is known about how these systems function. This article draws on a recent study carried out in the Central Valleys of Oaxaca, Mexico, a center of maize genetic diversity and domestication, focusing on the importance of social relations in seed transactions and on the central role which trust plays in the acquisition of seeds.
