West Africa-based seed producers and researchers have called on policymakers to undertake regional actions that will minimize, if not remove, bottlenecks in seed multiplication and expedite the release of improved varieties to farmers in order to realize their benefits sooner.
At a policy workshop organized by IITA and CIMMYT in Abuja last week that looked at the status of the seed sector in West Africa , the stakeholders sought the harmonization of regional seed laws to close the gap between seed dem and and supply in the region.
“Obstacles need to be removed by harmonizing the laws that pertain to the release of new and improved varieties in the West African sub-region. For example, we have too many regulatory agencies on the highways. Those need to be broken and the market opened, otherwise we have no headway and the gap will remain,” says Osofo Patrick Apullah, Managing Director of Ghana-based Savanna Seed Services Limited.
Studies conducted by IITA and CIMMYT researchers show that dem and for maize far outpace supply in West Africa.
For instance, improved maize seed supply in Nigeria accounts for only 47 per cent of total seed requirement. The figure is 11 per cent in Ghana. For the whole of West Africa, seed supply is only 33 per cent for the period 1997-2007.
Tahirou Abdoulaye, IITA Agricultural Economist who led the study, says maize seed production is still lower than needed in the West Africa and called on a favourable policy framework that will attract the private sector in the seed industry.
Grown in the vast l ands of Africa, maize is life to more than 650 million people in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Each person in the region consumes an average of 43 kilos of the crop annually.
In recent years, the productivity of maize has been severely threatened by a matrix of problems including slow pace of release of improved seeds to farmers, frequent droughts and irregular rainfall.
Wilfred Mwangi, Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa Project Manager and Associate Director of CIMMYT’s Global Maize Program, says for improved seed varieties to reach farmers, a functional, effective, vibrant, and streamlined seed sector is critical.
He added that the IITA-CIMMYT maize study proves that the seed sector in West Africa needs immediate attention.
###
For more information, please contact:
Jeffrey T. Oliver, o.jeffrey@cgiar.org
Corporate Communications Officer (International)
Godwin Atser, g.atser@cgiar.org
Corporate Communications Officer (West Africa)
Communication Office
IITA – Headquarters
Ibadan, Nigeria
URL: www.iita.org
About IITA
Africa has complex problems that plague agriculture and people’s lives. We develop agricultural solutions with our partners to tackle hunger and poverty. Our award winning research for development (R4D) is based on focused, authoritative thinking anchored on the development needs of sub-Saharan Africa. We work with partners in Africa and beyond to reduce producer and consumer risks, enhance crop quality and productivity, and generate wealth from agriculture. IITA is an international non-profit R4D organization since 1967, governed by a Board of Trustees, and supported primarily by the CGIAR.
Contributed by
Recent stories