The civil society – independent of the private sector and government – plays a unique role in promoting and advocating Community Seed Production (CSP) for smallholder farmers. Oftentimes, farmer groups, farmer associations and other community-based institutions provide support to seed related activities complementary to the public and commercial sectors. The CSP approach is widely used to deliver seeds to smallholder farmers, although no clear definition or criteria exists for assessing success.

In December 2013, the FAO, in collaboration with ICRISAT, ICARDA, and CIAT, organized an expert consultation workshop in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on Community Seed Production. The workshop’s objective was to create a roadmap and develop strategies for enhancing effective uptake and implementation of CSP in developing countries to contribute to improved and sustainable crop production, food security and rural livelihoods. It also explored the scope, opportunities and challenges in CSP, as well as the critical points necessary for an effective implementation. These proceedings provide details of the main issues presented and discussed at the workshop as part of the effort to further the debate surrounding CSP practices.