CSAM: Organized support networks for cassava seed entrepreneurs

Building stronger cassava seed businesses for African seed entrepreneurs and farmers.

The Cassava Seed Association Model (CSAM) is designed to foster cooperation among individual cassava seed entrepreneurs by forming associations that provide collective benefits. Through these associations, seed producers gain access to joint certification, financial resources, capacity-building programs, and collective marketing efforts. This structure reduces inefficiencies such as high production costs and poor coordination, while also improving seed quality. By strengthening the bargaining power of individual seed entrepreneurs, CSAM facilitates improved market access and encourages policy advocacy.

This technology is pre-validated.

9•3

Scaling readiness: idea maturity 9/9; level of use 3/9

Adults 18 and over: Positive high

Enhanced income opportunities, access to finance, and better-quality seeds for farming.

Others: Positive medium

By increasing the availability of quality cassava seeds, improving the livelihoods of smallholder farmers, and offering access to finance for those with limited resources.

Women: Positive high

Promotes female leadership and decision-making roles, improving gender equity and access within seed business networks.

Climate adaptability: Highly adaptable

By improving the quality of cassava seeds, its contributes to the development of more climate-resilient crops, better able to withstand climate-related stresses.

Farmer climate change readiness: Moderate improvement

Training and access to quality seeds enhance farmers' ability to adapt to climate change, ensuring more reliable harvests.

Biodiversity: Positive impact on biodiversity

By preserving local cassava varieties, contributing to the protection of biodiversity.

Carbon footprint: A bit less carbon released

By promoting sustainable farming practices, which can help reduce the carbon footprint associated with cassava production.

Environmental health: Moderately improves environmental health

By reducing the need for excessive chemical inputs, it contributes to healthier ecosystems.

Water use: Same amount of water used

Cassava’s water requirement remains unchanged, but improved crop establishment reduces replanting, promoting efficient water use.

Problem

Fragmentation and inefficiency: Individual seed entrepreneurs operate independently, leading to high production costs, poor coordination, and inconsistency in seed quality.
Limited access to certification: Seed producers face difficulties in meeting certification standards, limiting their ability to access formal markets.
Challenges in securing financing: The lack of structured systems makes it harder for seed producers to access finance, restricting their ability to scale operations.
Dependency on free seed distribution: The widespread distribution of free seed by NGOs and governments creates dependency among farmers and undermines the development of a sustainable, commercial seed market.
Weak advocacy and policy influence: The lack of collective organization limits seed producers’ ability to advocate for favorable policies or attract long-term investment.

Solution

Formation of structured associations: CSAM facilitates the creation of formal associations among cassava seed entrepreneurs, enhancing coordination and collective action.
Joint certification: Through the model, seed producers can collectively meet certification standards, which allows them to access higher-value markets.
Access to finance: Structured associations improve the ability of seed entrepreneurs to access financial resources, enabling them to scale up production and invest in quality improvement.
Capacity building: The model includes comprehensive training programs that improve technical skills, seed production methods, and business management practices.
Collective marketing: Seed entrepreneurs can market their products more effectively, reaching larger markets and improving sales prospects.
Policy advocacy: By forming associations, seed entrepreneurs can advocate for favorable policies, improving the business environment and supporting long-term sector development.
Over 2,700 seed entrepreneurs benefiting: CSAM has already helped over 2,700 seed entrepreneurs in Nigeria and Tanzania and is being scaled to Rwanda and Kenya.

Key points to design your program

The Cassava Seed Association Model (CSAM) is a tested institutional innovation that strengthens the cassava seed sector by organizing informal seed producers into legally recognized associations. These associations improve access to certification, finance, training, and policy dialogue enabling a shift from fragmented, subsistence-level seed production to a sustainable, inclusive, and market-oriented system.

To achieve scalable, equitable outcomes through your project, consider incorporating the following actions:

Stakeholder identification and mobilization, including local seed entrepreneurs, extension agents, certification authorities, farmer groups, women's associations, youth-led agribusinesses, and microfinance providers.
Facilitation of association creation, through participatory community engagement, capacity development, democratic governance structuring, and legal registration.
Targeted training programs, focusing on good agronomic practices, seed quality standards, record keeping, and association management.
Group certification mechanisms, reducing barriers to entry for small producers and promoting collective compliance with national regulations.
Inclusive finance models, co-developed with financial institutions to ensure gender-responsive and youth-accessible seed enterprise development.
Market access facilitation, through branding, group sales strategies, and linkages with aggregators, NGOs, and institutional buyers.
Policy support and advocacy engagement, enabling associations to participate in policy platforms and influence the enabling environment.
Monitoring, evaluation, and learning systems, to document adoption, inclusion, resilience, and long-term sector transformation.
A full implementation toolkit is available and includes:
- Step-by-step guides for association formation
- Training curricula and community engagement templates
- Inclusion checklists for gender/youth
- Real-world case studies from Nigeria and Tanzania
- Technical assistance from the IITA and TAAT networks
Communication resources (flyers, explainer videos, radio jingles, policy briefs) are available and can be customized to align with your project’s thematic focus or country context.
Collaborate with strategic partners such as National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS), seed regulatory agencies, women's organizations, and the TAAT Clearinghouse to ensure strong ownership, sustainability, and integration into national systems.

IP

Open source / open access

Scaling Readiness describes how complete a technology’s development is and its ability to be scaled. It produces a score that measures a technology’s readiness along two axes: the level of maturity of the idea itself, and the level to which the technology has been used so far.

Each axis goes from 0 to 9 where 9 is the “ready-to-scale” status. For each technology profile in the e-catalogs we have documented the scaling readiness status from evidence given by the technology providers. The e-catalogs only showcase technologies for which the scaling readiness score is at least 8 for maturity of the idea and 7 for the level of use.

The graph below represents visually the scaling readiness status for this technology, you can see the label of each level by hovering your mouse cursor on the number.

Scaling readiness score of this technology

Maturity of the idea 9 out of 9

Uncontrolled environment: validated

Level of use 3 out of 9

By the whole project team + project partners

Maturity of the idea										Level of use
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9

Countries with a green colour: Tested & adopted
Countries with a bright green colour: Adopted
Countries with a yellow colour: Tested
Countries with a blue colour: Testing ongoing

Countries where the technology is being tested or has been tested and adopted
Country	Testing ongoing	Tested	Adopted
Kenya	Testing ongoing	–Not tested	–Not adopted
Nigeria	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Rwanda	Testing ongoing	–Not tested	–Not adopted
Tanzania	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted

This technology can be used in the colored agro-ecological zones. Any zones shown in white are not suitable for this technology.

Agro-ecological zones where this technology can be used
AEZ	Subtropic - warm	Subtropic - cool	Tropic - warm	Tropic - cool
Arid
Semiarid
Subhumid
Humid

Source: HarvestChoice/IFPRI 2009

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals that are applicable to this technology.

Goal 1: no poverty

By organizing seed entrepreneurs into associations, its helps reduce production costs and improve incomes.

Goal 2: zero hunger

Its improves access to quality cassava planting material, increasing yields and food security.

Goal 5: gender equality

Women are actively included in CSAM associations and benefit from training, financial access, and market linkages.

Goal 8: decent work and economic growth

By professionalizing cassava seed production, encouraging formalization, investment, and decent income opportunities.

Goal 10: reduced inequalities

By providing voice for smaller producers and marginalized groups by improving access to certification, markets, and financial services.

Goal 17: partnerships for the goals

By relying on public-private partnerships and multi-stakeholder collaboration to sustainably scale cassava seed systems.

Assess the need: Identify the benefits of joining or forming a seed association, including access to certification, finance, and training.
Engage potential members: Bring together a group of cassava seed entrepreneurs who are interested in joining the association.
Develop a constitution: Establish the guiding principles, objectives, and responsibilities of the association through a formal agreement.
Register the association: Officially register the association with relevant authorities to gain legal recognition.
Provide training: Organize training sessions for all members on topics like seed production, quality control, and business management.
Promote services: Raise awareness about the services offered by the association, such as access to finance and certification.
Build linkages: Establish connections with government bodies, NGOs, financial institutions, and other stakeholders to support the association.
Develop a business plan: Create a plan to guide the association’s activities and ensure its financial sustainability.