Malian farmers’ traditional system for managing seed of sorghum, an indigenous crop of vital importance for food security and survival, can be conceptualized as a commons. Although this system maintains a wide range of varieties and helps ensure access to seed, its ability to create and widely disseminate new varieties to meet evolving opportunities and challenges is limited. A network of farmer groups, public breeding programs, and development organizations collaborating in decentralized creation and dissemination of sorghum varieties in Mali is examined regarding (1) how the network developed and what activities it conducts; (2) the resulting varietal diversity, varietal performance and organizational models; and (3) the elements of the traditional seed system that were maintained, strengthened or transformed. A single-case study approach was used that relies on published literature, official catalogues of released varieties and a database of farmer seed-cooperative requests for foundation seed. The functioning of the network and its varietal-, seed-, and organizational- outcomes are documented and the elements of the traditional sorghum seed system that are maintained or strengthened are analyzed. The evolution of the network’s reliance on commoning as a social process and its strengthening of core Seed Commons features are discussed with a view to the network’s contributions to targeted development outcomes and potential replicability. The case demonstrates how creating a framework for collaboration, enabling actors and organizations to take on collective responsibility while maintaining distributed decision-making at local level, opens opportunities for transforming farming- and food-systems towards sustainability and resilience.

中文翻译：

---

通过农民种子合作社和公共育种计划的协作网络改造传统的基于公地的种子系统：马里的高粱案例

马里农民管理高粱种子的传统系统可以被概念化为公地，高粱是一种对粮食安全和生存至关重要的本土作物。尽管该系统维护了广泛的品种并有助于确保获得种子，但其创造和广泛​​传播新品种以满足不断变化的机遇和挑战的能力是有限的。一个由农民团体、公共育种计划和发展组织组成的网络在马里高粱品种的分散创造和传播方面进行了合作，研究了以下方面：（1）该网络如何发展及其开展的活动；(2) 由此产生的品种多样性、品种表现和组织模式；(3) 传统种子系统中得到维护、加强或改造的要素。使用了一种单一案例研究方法，该方法依赖于已发表的文献、已发布品种的官方目录和农民种子合作社对基础种子的请求数据库。该网络的功能及其品种、种子和组织结果被记录在案，并分析了维持或加强的传统高粱种子系统的要素。讨论了网络对共同化作为一种​​社会过程的依赖的演变及其对核心种子共享功能的加强，以期网络对有针对性的发展成果和潜在的可复制性的贡献。该案例展示了如何创建协作框架，使参与者和组织能够承担集体责任，同时在地方层面保持分布式决策，