Improving agricultural productivity and production is a prerequisite to sustain rural livelihoods in developing countries of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). This requires increased use of quality seed of improved and well-adapted crop varieties. Legumes are particularly critical in ensuring food and nutritional securities of the majority of farming households. However, their productivity has been constrained because of limited availability of quality seed, jeopardizing henceforth food security and rural livelihoods. The lack of interest in production of legume seeds by potential seed producers, especially the private sector, is attributable to limited information on the cost and profitability of producing these seeds. Using primary data collected from Tanzania and Uganda, we analyzed the cost structure of improved groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) seed production to assess viability. We adopted cost-benefit analysis framework to evaluate different seed production models. Results showed that groundnut seed price varied between 1 and 2 US$ kg⁻¹ for certified and quality declared seed and between 2 and 3.5 US$ kg⁻¹ for early generation seed. Overall, up to 50% increase in total seed production costs resulted in reduced drop in the gross margin earned. However, when production costs increased by 75–100%, the gross margin dropped by about 18% and 50% in Tanzania and in Uganda, respectively. These findings indicated that groundnut seed could be provided to farmers in remote communities at an affordable price while still keeping seed producers profitably in business. Availing these seeds to smallholder producers is a major step in achieving food security and nutritional health in developing countries in SSA.

Sustaining crop production and productivity in sub-Saharan Africa requires the availability and use of quality seed of improved varieties by smallholder farmers. The private sector has been considered as the best way to sustain seed supply and crop productivity. Unfortunately, the private sector’s share in the seed production and delivery in sub-Saharan Africa countries has not been very substantial for decades. As a consequence, farmer access to quality seed of recently released varieties remains very low. This manuscript analyzes the experiences of informal seed producers who graduated to formal private seed enterprises to understand the effectiveness of the support they receive to become viable seed ventures. We used comparative research methods to analyze the qualitative and quantitative data collected to understand the underlying mechanisms. The findings showed that the analyzed seed enterprises started with as little as about USD 300 and have already multiplied over tenfold their initial capital. They benefited from a wide variety of supports, e.g., quality seed production, marketing, partnerships, and value chain development trainings and infrastructures, from extension workers, research centers, national and international NGOs, and the other private seed enterprise operators like large public seed enterprises and agro-dealers. The seed enterprises are producing pre-basic, basic, and certified seed of cereals and self-pollinated legume crops delivered directly to farmers, institutional markets, and agro-dealers. The seed production data have been increasing for the past three years with an area expanding from about 30 ha to over 150 ha per year for chickpea. The seed production and delivery practices being employed are smallholder farmer-based practices that are environmentally friendly. For sustainable and reliable seed production and delivery systems in sub-Saharan Africa, a bold step is needed whereby the informal seed production entities are nurtured and upgraded into formal certified seed production ventures that deliver social and economic benefits to the promotors and the communities.

Poverty among smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa has been associated with low agricultural productivity emanating from gender yield gaps among other factors. Using data collected from smallholder groundnut producers in Nigeria, we analyzed the gender yield gap by applying the exogenous switching regression (ESR) model and Oaxaca–Blinder (OB) decomposition framework. Results from the two complementary approaches showed a significant gender yield gap in favor of male headed households (MHHs). The main and significant source of the gap was differences in resources/endowments. We found that involving female headed households (FHHs) in prerequisite yield augmenting activities like technology validation trials, testing, and demonstrations is critical in closing the existing yield gap.

Making quality seed of improved legume varieties sustainably available and accessible to farmers in a timely manner and at affordable price is a major challenge in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Overcoming this challenge requires collective and long-term action through public–private and development organization partnerships (PPDOPs). The PPDOP model was tested by key seed system actors under the Tropical Legumes (TL) and Accelerated Varietal Improvement and Seed Delivery of Legumes and Cereals in Africa (AVISA) projects from 2008 to 2021. The study used the case of groundnut in Tanzania to assess the role played by long-term PPDOPs in groundnut seed production and delivery systems. The effectiveness of seed production and delivery models of the various actors involved in the TL and AVISA projects was analyzed. The study used secondary data obtained from annual reports, unpublished and published literature, and institutional websites. The PPDOP model brought about significant changes to the seed systems. It was found that sustained seed production and delivery over a decade enhanced the performance of the groundnut value chain in Tanzania. Under the TL and AVISA projects, a total of 49,046 tons of groundnut from different seed classes were produced through PPDOPs, covering an estimated 613,078 hectares with improved groundnut varieties. The intervention reached 45,201 stakeholders through 3048 demonstration plots, 128 field days, 55 seed fairs, and 8147 tons of small seed packs of 1–5 kg. The study recommends the use of long-term PPDOPs in seed production and delivery systems for greater impacts on increased variety adoption and consistent seed supply and availability in SSA. Long-term PPDOPs ensure proper coordination, open communication, clear accountability, solid trust, and standardized practices among actors in seed production and delivery systems.

The high percentage of farmers (80–90%), including the pro-poor in remote areas, who have no access to recently released and high-yielding varieties proves the failure of various seed delivery models implemented so far. The ideal model to grow a crop commodity business to reach farmers in developing countries with seed of improved legume crop varieties has been a hard topic for development organizations. Past studies have shown that the full and balanced integration of multiple stakeholders’ knowledge and contexts into the process of agricultural technology development increases the uptake and ownership among end users.

Innovation platform resolves systemic problems and unlock opportunities for farmers and other stakeholders along commodity value chains. It brokers change in a wide variety of areas involving technological barriers for increased on-farm genetic gains, financial services and privileges for smooth running of seed business and other farming activities, social change and gender equality in society, new commodity market opportunities, increased interactions between stakeholders, e-services for increased crop productivity and production, sustainability of seed production and delivery systems through a variety of stakeholders for various seed classes.