The seed industry stakeholder learning event convened by AGRA’s Centre of Excellence for Seed Systems in Africa (CESSA- AGRA) took place in Kampala between 25-29 November 2024. The event witnessed participation from the African Seed Trade Association (AFSTA) through the participation of Catherine Langat, the Technical Manager, the Ugandan Seed Trade Association (USTA), the African Union as well as representatives from individual seed companies, regulators, distributors, technology providers, development partners, ONE CGIAR and farmers.
All these stakeholders in the seed industry interacted, extracted information, discussed challenges and shared experiences on the seed system components ranging from breeding, variety release and maintenance, early generation seed production, quality commercial seed production, farmer awareness and participation, seed markets and distribution, national seed policy and regulatory environment. The participants were drawn from Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.
Under the event’s theme: cultivating knowledge-advancing seed systems through collaboration and innovation, AFSTA took part in a panel discussion on the topic “Key Stakeholder responses to challenges and opportunities in Seed Systems”. The discussions during the event confirmed the importance of continued collaboration and partnership between the private seed sector represented by AFSTA and other stakeholders in the African seed industry notably AGRA.