Résumé
Since the early ages of agriculture transition, the conservation of crop seeds as always been a challenge for smallholder farmers in the tropics. The persistence of substantial postharvest losses until today has become a major preoccupation for development agencies as it impairs both the food security of the poorest farmers and the worldwide genetic diversity of crop materials. Long-term stocking of food reserve to cope with increasing environmental and climatic hazards is a continued source of stress for smallholder seed producers despite the ingenuity of their local knowledge and sophisticated socio-political frameworks that aim to mitigate postharvest grain losses.