Faba bean (Vicia faba L.) seed value chain: implications for a sustainable seed supply in Eastern Amhara Region, Ethiopia

This research aimed to assess the production performance of faba beans, quantify the yield gap, and measure the adoption levels of improved varieties to map the actors and identify the major constraints of the faba bean seed value chain. The paper was based on primary data collected from a random sample of 168 farmers. The adoption rate of improved faba bean seed at the household level in the study area was 23%. It was low, primarily due to a lack of access to improved seeds (59.5%) and a lack of knowledge about the availability of improved varieties (23%). Improved seed users had a 13% higher average yield than non-users and received an 11% premium market price for better seed quality, uniform appearance, and larger beans. Furthermore, the econometric analysis revealed that family size and extension contact significantly influence farmers' use of improved seed. Adoption was positively and significantly associated with extension contact at the p < .001 level and inversely correlated with family size (p < .05), thereby indicating that larger families were less likely to adopt. Farmers' saved seed was their most important source of planting material. The formal seed industry only supplies about 2.2% of the total faba bean seed. Hence, farmer-to-farmer seed exchange, own-saved seed, community-based seed production, scaling activities, seed producer and marketing cooperatives, and farmer-to-farmer seed exchange were the main sources of faba bean seed. The main limitations to faba bean production were disease, limited availability of improved seeds, frost, and damage caused by pests. The study recommends promoting improved varieties, improving access to extension services, strengthening and improving the informal seed system, and linking and integrating all the actors in the chain. The institutional linkage and intensive communication among all the stakeholders are also important for technology scaling up and farmers’ easy access to improved seeds.