Seed change: Stewarding seed systems transformation

Summary

Knowing how seed systems change is not the same as knowing how to change them. What that requires is a substantial change in perspective or sea change, hence my thesis’s play on the English idiom in its title. My study deepens a stewardship perspective in seed systems, recognizing them as complex and socio-biophysical. I acknowledge disparate perspectives in seed systems and that understanding them and knowing how to improve them is a lot like blind men seeing an elephant: vastly different cognitions arise, none of which is an elephant. Seed systems are fascinating to study and offer a model for generating and testing transformative ideas across scientific fields and with practitioners, some of which may be useful for the even greater challenge of transforming our food systems. This requires an aptitude for systems thinking, yet systems thinking in the seed sector has been poorly practiced or at least documented to date.