A growing movement to promote indigenous seeds is gaining momentum across Tanzania, with farmers, researchers and agricultural advocates calling for stronger protection and wider adoption of traditional seed varieties to support food security, biodiversity and climate resilience. Supporters argue that indigenous seeds, often referred to as farmers’ seeds or traditional seeds, provide an important alternative ...

Kenya is preparing to launch a national seed subsidy programme during the 2026/2027 financial year as the government intensifies efforts to improve agricultural productivity, reduce production costs and strengthen food security across the country. President William Ruto announced the initiative on 17 May, signalling a major expansion of Kenya’s agricultural support policies beyond the country’s ...

The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA-CGIAR), in partnership with the Cross River State Government, has launched a training program focused on yam seed technologies, agronomic practices, and agribusiness development in Nigeria’s Cross River State. The week-long Training of Trainers (ToT) program in Calabar brought together yam farmers, Local Government Directors of Agriculture, State Agriculture ...

Mozambique is calling for increased private sector investment in seed production and agricultural inputs, as the country looks to strengthen domestic capacity following climate-related disruptions. Speaking at a public-private partnerships (PPP) conference, Agriculture Minister Roberto Albino said recent floods have exposed significant shortfalls in local production, particularly in certified seeds and input supply. The government ...

Abdulrazak Najim, chief executive of Noba Africa Agro Allied Limited, is positioning improved seed technology as a cornerstone for boosting agricultural productivity across Nigeria and West Africa. In an industry often constrained by low-quality inputs and unpredictable yields, Najim says the company’s seeds are delivering 20–30% higher yields compared to conventional farmer-saved varieties—offering a practical ...

Officials from the KOPIA Uganda Center distribute bags of rice seeds developed by the center to farmers in Doho, Uganda, in November 2023. (Courtesy of the Rural Development Administration) South Korea is expanding its agricultural development partnership with Africa, targeting the production of more than 11,000 tons of seed rice annually across the continent by ...

Port Sudan |December 2025 Sustain Africa, a pan-African initiative hosted by the International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC) and implemented in partnership with CIMMYT, has delivered a major shipment of agricultural inputs to Sudan as part of efforts to revive food production following more than two years of conflict. The initiative confirmed the successful arrival of ...

Across East Africa, the integrity of seed and fertiliser supplies has moved from a technical concern to a central policy priority as governments confront the real economic and food‑security costs of counterfeit inputs. Fake seeds and illicit fertilisers reduce yields, undermine farmer confidence and waste scarce resilience investments, prompting a wave of policy responses that ...

Community-managed seed banks in drought-prone districts have proven effective at rapidly distributing certified drought-tolerant bean varieties during planting windows, reducing the typical lag between variety release and field adoption. Operating as thin-margin social enterprises, seed banks multiply foundation seed locally, store it under basic but reliable conditions and coordinate bulk distribution timed to rainfall forecasts. ...

© Pictured; Francis Ngiri The story  of a small-scale farmer named Francis Ngiri, who has been farming for over 20 years in Makongo, a village in Kenya, exemplified the devastating effects of the capitalist farming practices of multinational corporations in Africa. In his youth, Francis learned the time-tested practice of seed saving from his father, who  ...