Seed aid for seed security : Advice for practitioners

I nherent in the decision that seed aid is needed is an assumption that farmers themselves are not able to secure seed for their normal planting periods. Farmers’ ability to secure seed is described by the concept of seed security. The concept of seed security (and its inverse, insecurity) is often nuanced by two broad sets of parameters: duration (are the problems short or longerterm?) and the different features needed to ensure security (if there are concerns, what types of diverse problems might farmers encounter?). We discuss both in this introduction to the concept of seed security.