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Where do African farmers obtain their seed from? Insights from Ethiopia and Nigeria

Background and motivation

 Timely access to quality seed, among other factors, determines household planting decisions and has implications for agricultural productivity. Hence, it is important to understand where and how small-scale producers (SSP) obtain their seed. To answer this question, we use nationally representative agricultural households survey data from the Living Standards and Measurement Study – Integrated Surveys on Agriculture (LSMS – ISA) data for the Ethiopia Socioeconomic Survey or ESS and the Nigeria General Household Survey or GHS.           

What are the main household seed sources?

The World Bank LSMS – ISA project, in partnership with countries’ national statistical offices and funders such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), has been collecting rich panel survey data that can be used to analyze[i] seed sources over five waves for Ethiopia and four for Nigeria.

The surveys ask farmers to report crops planted and for each crop the type of seed -traditional or local vs improved or hybrid – and where the seed was acquired – purchased, leftover or home saved seed, and seed received for free. We further disaggregate purchased seed by type of seller: relative or friend or neighbor, village head, market or traders, government, or others.

What are the main sources of seed for rural households in Ethiopia and Nigeria?

Figures 1 and 2 show the trend in the percentage of rural farm households reporting using seed from different sources for Ethiopia and Nigeria. The results show that in general, a higher percentage of rural households use home saved or leftover seed relative to purchased seed. However, over the past decade the use of purchased seed is rising and home saved, or leftover seed is declining. In Ethiopia, the percentage of rural households reporting purchasing seed rose from a low in 2015 (Figure 1), and in Nigeria, after 2012 (Figure 2). On average, a higher percentage of rural households in Ethiopia use purchased seed than those in Nigeria. This notable growth in the use of purchased seeds in Ethiopia has been partly attributed to seed producer cooperatives that have improved the supply of seeds in the country. The results also show that in both countries, between 5 and 20 percent use seed received for free from other farmers or NGO or the government.

Figure 1: Overall trends in percentage of farm households using seed from various sources in Ethiopia, 2011 – 2021. Source: Based on Ethiopia ESS data. Sample restricted to rural households.
Figure 2: Overall trends in percentage of farm households using seed from various sources in Nigeria, 2010 – 2018. Source: Based on Nigeria GHS data. Sample restricted to rural households.

What is the share of seed from the main sources for rural households in Ethiopia and Nigeria?

The share of seed used by a household from each source is calculated as the quantity of seed from that source (purchased, saved/leftover or free) divided by the household’s total quantity of seed from the three sources. In Ethiopia, the share of purchased seed rose rapidly from 2015 – 2021 to exceed 50 percent. In Nigeria, the share of purchased seed rose in the last two waves to 27 percent in 2018.

Figure 3: Share of farm households seed from various sources in Ethiopia, 2011 – 2021. Source: Based on Ethiopia ESS data. Sample restricted to rural households.
Figure 4: Share of farm households seed from various sources in Nigeria, 2010 – 2018. Source: Based on Nigeria GHS data. Sample restricted to rural households.

Are there any gender differences in the share of seed used from the different sources by farm households in Ethiopia and Nigeria?

The share of purchased seed used by male headed households in Ethiopia between 2011 – 2015 was marginally higher than that of their female counterparts, with the trend reversing between 2015 – 2021 (Figure 5). In Nigeria, the share of purchased seed used by male headed households is generally lower than that of their female counterparts (Figure 6) except for 2018. This result is in line with the findings of a 2015 study showing that male headed households use less purchased seed than their male counterparts.

(a) Female headed household
(b) Male headed household
(a) Female headed household
(b) Male headed household

Concluding remarks

The descriptive results presented above generally show that rural farm households in Ethiopia and Nigeria predominantly use home saved or leftover seed. However, over the past decade, the use of market purchased seed, especially of legumes and nuts and horticultural crops, has been growing. Given that improved varieties tend to be market-sourced, this trend may show up in productivity numbers, though climate change remains an unpredictable factor.


[i] The codes that generate the results presented in this blog are published in the EPAR GitHub repository. EPAR has also produced and made publicly available in its GitHub repository additional code to process LSMS-ISA data, generate tailored indicators and obtain summary statistics for Ethiopia, Nigeria, Tanzania, Malawi and Uganda.

Blog written by Peter Agamile, Didier Alia and C. Leigh Anderson.

Year Over Year Smallholder Threshold Variability (Sub-Saharan Africa)

Defining Smallholder Farmers
Smallholder Farmers or Small-Scale Producers, are frequently mentioned as targets for development interventions, to relieve hunger, alleviate poverty, or catalyze agricultural transformation.  However, an operationalizable definition of a smallholder farmer is difficult to come by, with few sources even defining the term.  When sources do offer a definition, they rarely agree on the indicators and thresholds to use.  This blog post (forthcoming) from EPAR documents a recent literature review highlighting the lack of a clear definition.  Below the visualization is further information about the data used to construct the visualization, and a link to the underlying data files.  These visualizations are tools developed by EPAR to attempt to provide a clear and consistent answer to the question: “Who is a smallholder farmer?”

The Data
The visualization above is created using nationally representative data from the World Bank’s Living Standards Measurement Study – Integrated Surveys on Agriculture (LSMS-ISA).  This is a publicly available household panel survey dataset for seven countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. The survey includes linked agricultural, livestock, household, and community level modules that provide information on a variety of topics including crops, farming practices, livestock, income sources, and socio-demographics.

Specifically, it displays cleaned data from the Nigeria General Household Survey, the Ethiopian Rural Socioeconomic Survey, and the Tanzania National Panel Survey.  Each of these surveys represent panel data gathered in waves from the same households.  In Ethiopia, the first wave was gathered in 2011-2012, the second wave was gathered in 2013-2014, the third wave was gathered in 2015-2016.  In Tanzania the first wave was gathered in 2008-2009, the second wave was gathered in 2010-2011, and the third wave was gathered in 2012-2013.  Tanzania also has a fourth wave gathered in 2014-2015, but using a new set of households.  In Nigeria, the first wave was gathered in 2010-2011, the second wave was gathered in 2012-2013, and the third wave was gathered in 2015-2016.  When only one year is shown, it is the most recent wave.

The visualization above is created using nationally reprsentative data from the World Bank’s Living Standards Measurement Study – Integrated Surveys on Agriculture (LSMS-ISA).  This is a publicly available household panel survey dataset for seven countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. The survey includes linked agricultural, livestock, household, and community level modules that provide information on a variety of topics including crops, farming practices, livestock, income sources, and socio-demographics. Specifically it displays cleaned data from the Nigeria General Household Survey, the Ethiopian Rural Socioeconomic Survey, and the Tanzania National Panel Survey .  The code used to generate the variables and estimates is available in a public GitHub repository.  The estimates as well as more information about the specific construction decisions for each indicator are available through EPAR’s agricultural database.  This visualization allows users to look at one particular custom definition in greater depth.  This visualization looks at the AGRA definitions in greater depth.  To view the visualization in full screen click here.  

By Terry Fletcher

Summarizing research by Didier Alia, Terry Fletcher, Pierre Biscaye, C. Leigh Anderson, and Travis Reynolds