AGRA signs seed industry development agreement with African Development Bank

The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) and the African Development Bank (AfDB) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to enable the Bank to finance technical assistance to support the work of African seed companies which are supported by AGRA’s Program for Africa’s Seed Systems (PASS). The $1 million technical assistance project will help beneficiary seed companies increase their production of quality seeds for rural farmers. In the new initiative, 54 seed companies, located in 11 countries, will benefit from the assistance in the form of business development services, field visits, secondment of leading seed industry experts, in-service training and technical knowledge sharing. The ultimate goal is to increase food security, and to contribute to the reduction of poverty levels; impacting on millions of rural people. The project countries are: Burkina Faso, Ghana, Liberia, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, and Uganda.

 

Specifically, the project seeks to do the following:

1. Contribute to private sector development by building the capacity of beneficiary sector players in areas such as best business practices, which will also involve learning of practical business management tools and instruments, and also, enrolling to benefit from PASS support of one-time grant, classroom instruction, field visits, and secondment programs.

2. Contribute to increase beneficiaries’ volume of production, productivity, sales, and income leading to job creation and value chain development.

3. Contribute to the production of quality local seeds, and reduction in food insecurity in rural areas to enable particularly women farmers to increase their revenues as a result of improved crop production and productivity using cheaper and locally-available high quality seeds.