Ames, Iowa, USA
May 30, 2024
Iowa State University’s (ISU) Seed Science Center (SSC) is collaborating with USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) to host a seminar-workshop aimed at advancing the seed systems of countries in East and West Africa. Scheduled for the third week of August, the event will take place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. It constitutes the third phase of the ongoing multi-year project “Ag Biotech and Seed Systems in Africa and Asia.”
“We aim to provide a forum by which participants can share their best approaches and practices in implementing specific aspects of their seed system, including fostering public-private partnerships,” said Lulu Rodriguez, SSC Global Programs Lead. “For each country, the goal is to foster a dynamic seed sector capable of placing high-quality seeds within the reach of small-scale farmers. Within the East and West Africa regions, the objective is for participants to develop recommendations that could help advance regional action plans for seed systems development, such as harmonizing seed regulations for trade. Our participants’ recommendations will also inform future technical assistance activities.”
The seminar-workshop will gather 50 seed scientists, industry professionals, policymakers, and officials of national seed authorities from Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, and Tanzania. They will spend two days learning from guest experts and each other, followed by two days dedicated to coming up with concrete recommendations on moving national and regional seed systems forward.
The project's first phase involved the online training of 52 participants on ag biotech and its application for crops, livestock, fisheries and aquatic resources. The second phase brought a select group from five countries in Africa and three Asian countries to the ISU campus for two weeks of in-person training on developing functional biotech regulatory frameworks to advance food security.
The seminar-workshop in Ethiopia is just one of SSC’s global engagements over the years. “We have worked in more than 80 countries over the past 20 years, expanding producers’ access to quality seed, promoting the growth of national seed industries, helping nations strengthen their seed programs, and facilitating seed trade,” Rodriguez added.
More information about the seminar-workshop can be found at https://www.seeds.iastate.edu/seed-systems-development-workshop.
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