DIGITAL SEED EXCHANGE PLATFORM

Enhancing farmer-managed seed systems through HCD

The challenge

Partner: HivosA HCD approach: How might we strengthen farmer-managed seed systems in Kenya which are critical to improving food security, fostering agricultural biodiversity, and resilience in food productionsystems.

Summary

With over 80% of seeds sourced from farmer-managed seed systems in Kenya, this intervention is critical to smallholder farmers and the nation. In addition, it challenges seed science privatization and commodification that are detrimental to the goals of both food security and open societies.
We used a human-centred design approach to ● uncover the key user groups & personas that are currently involved in seed systems; their information usage patterns, including their informationaccess and usage habits, access to connectivity and technology, and constraints.● understand user groups’ information needs on agricultural topics, including soil conditions, and seed varieties, among others

Our approach

We used a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods to understand the lives of small holder farmers and their seed exchange behavior

  • 1-1 Contextual interviews

    Interviewing, observing and carefully documenting attitudes and behaviors of farmers in the context in which the product will be used.

  • Community group meetings

    Meeting farmer groups as they were having their group meetings. We observed how farmers organise themselves into cooperatives and learned the obstacles the groups aims to overcome.

  • Key stakeholder interviews

    We had interviews with players involved in the seed value chain. They have deep and expert knowledge on seed production, preservation, and distribution of seeds in the country.

Topic areas

Agriculture, Digital

Project type

HCD Research

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The result

Spindle Design has prepared a study of a digital seed exchange platform. A multidisciplinary team investigated the project context via a user-centred design and research methodology. The new learnings and insights from the study have been documented to advise Hivos as they move to the next phase of designing and developing a digital seed exchange for farmer-saved seeds. We thank Seed Savers Network of Kenya (SSN) for contributing to this study.

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