Stakeholders have called for the adoption of advanced technologies to revolutionise Africa’s seed systems and enhance food production across the continent.
This call was made at the 7th Seedconnect Africa conference, organised by the National Agricultural Seed Council (NASC) in Abuja, recently.
The theme of the conference, “Leveraging Seed Technology to Scale Up Africa’s Agricultural Productivity,” underscored the urgent need to address the continent’s persistent low agricultural yields.
In his address, Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Aliyu Abdullahi, highlighted the disparity between Africa’s agricultural output and global standards.
Citing the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), he noted that staple crops like maize, rice, and sorghum in subSaharan Africa yield less than half the global average.
“This disparity underscores the critical role seed technology must play in bridging the productivity gap,” the Minister emphasised. He stressed the need for highquality seeds tailored to specific agro-ecological conditions to achieve higher yields, ensure food security, and build resilience to climate change.
Abdullahi acknowledged the challenges faced by smallholder farmers in Africa in accessing these advanced technologies. In Nigeria, despite agriculture contributing 25 per cent to GDP and employing over 70 per cent of the rural population, productivity remains low due to poor infrastructure and systemic inefficiencies, particularly in the seed value chain.
The minister reiterated the government’s commitment to addressing these barriers by improving the distribution and affordability of high-quality seeds.
