{"id":12944,"date":"2026-06-20T12:25:55","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T12:25:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.iita.org\/news-item\/regional-action-sought-for-expedited-release-of-improved-seeds-in-west-africa\/"},"modified":"2026-06-20T12:25:55","modified_gmt":"2026-06-20T12:25:55","slug":"regional-action-sought-for-expedited-release-of-improved-seeds-in-west-africa","status":"publish","type":"news-item","link":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/news-item\/regional-action-sought-for-expedited-release-of-improved-seeds-in-west-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"Regional action sought for expedited release of improved seeds in West Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Studies conducted by IITA and CIMMYT researchers show that dem and for maize far outpace supply in West Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added that the IITA-CIMMYT maize study proves that the seed sector in West Africa needs immediate attention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

###<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pour plus d'informations, veuillez contacter :<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jeffrey T. Oliver, o.jeffrey@cgiar.org<\/a>
Charg\u00e9 de communication d'entreprise (international)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Godwin Atser, g.atser@cgiar.org<\/a>
Charg\u00e9 de la communication d'entreprise (Afrique de l'Ouest)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bureau de la communication
IITA \u2013 Si\u00e8ge
Ibadan, Nig\u00e9ria<\/p>\n\n\n\n

URL : www.iita.org<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00c0 propos de l'IITA<\/b>
L'Afrique est confront\u00e9e \u00e0 des probl\u00e8mes complexes qui minent l'agriculture et la vie des populations. Nous d\u00e9veloppons des solutions agricoles avec nos partenaires pour lutter contre la faim et la pauvret\u00e9. Nos recherches pour le d\u00e9veloppement (R4D), maintes fois r\u00e9compens\u00e9es, reposent sur une r\u00e9flexion cibl\u00e9e et autoris\u00e9e, ancr\u00e9e dans les besoins de d\u00e9veloppement de l'Afrique subsaharienne. Nous travaillons avec des partenaires en Afrique et au-del\u00e0 pour r\u00e9duire les risques pour les producteurs et les consommateurs, am\u00e9liorer la qualit\u00e9 et la productivit\u00e9 des cultures, et g\u00e9n\u00e9rer de la richesse gr\u00e2ce \u00e0 l'agriculture. L'IITA est une organisation internationale de R4D \u00e0 but non lucratif cr\u00e9\u00e9e en 1967, dirig\u00e9e par un Conseil d'administration et soutenue principalement par le CGIAR.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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.<\/p>","protected":false},"featured_media":12864,"template":"","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}}},"tags":[],"science-area":[],"program":[],"location":[],"news-type":[],"hub":[],"crop":[68],"impact-areas":[],"item-year":[187],"class_list":["post-12944","news-item","type-news-item","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","crop-maize","item-year-187"],"yoast_head":"\nRegional action sought for expedited release of improved seeds in West Africa - 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