This work investigates the strengths and weaknesses of seed management in traditional farming systems. Many of the current controversies over globalization, intellectual property protection, biotechnology and the future of farming are played out in seed provision. This book examines seed management in traditional farming systems, reviews the history of formal plant breeding and the origins of seed trade, and examines the roles of the public and private sectors in the contemporary seed systems of industrialized and developing countries. The book also describes the major types of aid interventions in developing country seed systems and explains why many of these have not been successful. The examples in this book are drawn from original research in Asia, Africa and Latin Americaas well as from an extensive review of the literature. The result is a comprehensive picture of seed provision that allows the reader to go beyond the oversimplified views that dominate debates about agricultural development. Published in association with the ODI