USAID, AGRA to scale-up Ghana’s seeds sector under $47m partnership

Ghana’s seeds sector is expected to be commercialized in a $47 million African project under a partnership between the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA).

The Scaling Seeds and Technologies Partnership is a three-year project intended to accelerate smallholder farmer access to transformative agricultural technologies hence reducing hunger and poverty in Africa.

“The Partnership will work in four countries within the G8’s New Alliance for Food Security – Ghana, Ethiopia, Mozambique, and Tanzania,” a joint statement said June 28, 2013.

According to the two, the project will help governments of the four nations to strengthen “their seed sectors and promote the commercialization, distribution and adoption of improved seeds and other key technologies.”

Production of high-quality seeds is expected to increase by 45% in the three-year span of the project, and will ensure that 40% more farmers gain access to innovative agricultural technologies, officials say.

“The Scaling Seeds and Technologies Partnership will help strengthen seed sectors, including regulatory systems, and create new local seed companies, ensuring that game-changing technologies can reach and improve the lives of millions of smallholders,” said USAID Administrator, Rajiv Shah.

This partnership with USAID will enable us to scale up this work and ensure that even more smallholder farmers can benefit from these extraordinary technologies,”added Jane Karuku, President of AGRA.

By Ekow Quandzie