African Union Commission
Executive Summary
The report covers eight components.
I) Collection and Conservation of Plant Genetic Resources. This section provides an overview of the international policy environment for plant genetic resources and the status of genetic conservation in Africa.
II) Research and Development. This section highlights the number of active breeders for the four priority crops, the number of varieties released and sold, and the status of agricultural biotechnology in Africa.
III) Industry Competitiveness. This section focuses on active seed companies in each country, volumes of seed sold, sales of top four companies in a country, market share of government parastatals and the time taken to import and export seed.
IV) Policy and Regulations. This section provides an overview of the status of the seed policy environment at national and regional levels and discusses implementation areas that include variety release, seed inspection services and seed subsidy programs.
V) Institutional Support. This section highlights the status of four key institutions/ categories of institutions that support seed sector development. These include the seed regulatory agencies, the national seed trade associations, the seed laboratories that are accredited by the International Seed Testing Association (ISTA), extension services and rural agro-dealer networks.
VI) Service to Smallholder Farmers. This section covers the availability of seeds and seed prices.
VII) Animal Seeds. This section examines livestock development challenges and priority interventions for the African animal sector.
VIII) Cross-cutting Issues. This section discusses considerations for the inclusion of gender and youth in seed systems.
See the full status report here.
