Stakeholders from Côte d’Ivoire and across Africa are organising a summit to draw a seed roadmap for the West African country.

The consortium of partners includes the Government of Côte d’Ivoire, AfricaRice, Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT) of the African Development Bank, Building an Economically Sustainable Integrated Cassava Seed System, Phase 2 (BASICS-II) project of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), the Sasakawa Africa Association (SAA) in Nigeria, Sahel Consulting and Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA).

The three-day Seed Business Summit, with the theme “Building a Harmonized Roadmap for Seed Sector Transformation,” is being organised in collaboration with the Ivoirian Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the country’s National Center for Agricultural Research (CNRA)  and other stakeholders.

The summit will be held from October 9 to 11, 2024, in Abidjan, the Ivorian capital. The forum aims to catalyze an agricultural revolution in Côte d’Ivoire by establishing an economically sustainable seed system for priority crops like rice, cassava, maize, soybeans, and fish.

According to AfricaRice’s Director General, Dr Baboucarrr Manneh, “this summit represents a direct response to the need to hold a more comprehensive audience consultation to identify major challenges, develop solutions, and advocate for more investments in Côte d’Ivoire’s  agriculture.”

“This seed summit will bring together policymakers, international financial institutions and policymakers, scientists, the private sector and farmer organizations to a roundtable discussion to broker investments for Ivoirian agricultural transformation with quality inputs, particularly seed as a primary entry point,” Dr Manneh added.

“The summit will address factors limiting growth in Côte d’Ivoire’s agricultural sector, including the underdeveloped seed sector characterised by poor quality seeds, a weak seed regulatory framework, a struggling research system for variety maintenance, and a feeble private sector participation in the seed system”, says Dr Solomon Gizaw, the Head of TAAT Clearinghouse.

“A solid seed system will surely change the country’s agricultural landscape. In this summit, AfricaRice, TAAT, BASICS-II, Sasakawa, and other partners will share the models currently strengthening the seed system in Nigeria, Tanzania, D.R Congo, Benin, Sierra Leone and Liberia, Dr Gizaw added.”

The BASICS-II Project Manager, Prof Lateef Sanni, explained that “the seed summit will produce outcomes that will form the basis of future investment in Côte d’Ivoire’s seed system. It will produce recommendations to help forge a roadmap that will feed into the country’s agricultural policies and plans.”

The Ivorian Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Hon. Kobenan Kouassi ADJOUMANI, will chair the summit’s opening ceremony, which will be supported by other dignitaries and development partners.

In addition to the conveners, several national stakeholders, including farmers, seed producers, and International Development partners, will participate in the summit.

They include the African Development Bank (AfDB), the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Bank, the European Union, the World Food Programme (WFP), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), GIZ, and JICA.

Others include the African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF), the International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) and the WorldFish Centre.