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The seed market in Nigeria and West Africa has received a major boost through the recent launch of a private for-profit foundation seed entity. The effort is aimed at improving food production through the deployment of new technologies.
The new seed company, ECOBasic Seed Company Limited, is an outcome of a collaboration between the African Agriculture Technology Foundation (AATF), Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) and the Seed Entrepreneurs Association of Nigeria (SEEDAN).
Speaking at the launch in Abuja, Managing Director, ECOBasic Seed Company, Mr. Brighton Karume, said Nigeria could close her maize production versus demand gap by increasing the number of farmers who use hybrid variety seed from the current 10 per cent to about 50 to 100 per cent.
He added that the development will double the country’s maize yield from the current two metric tonnes per hectare to over four MT/hectare, thereby increasing yearly production to about 20 million metric tonnes.
He noted that the company would provide quality and sustainable foundation seed solutions to hybrid companies and increase the productivity and profitability of seed companies and farmers in Nigeria.
“To catalyse the development of hybrid maize technology adoption rate in Nigeria, medium term ECOBasic will concentrate in Nigeria while in the long run, it will target the ECOWAS region. It will target indigenous and international seed companies that produce certified hybrid seed.”
In his remarks, Executive Director of AATF, Dr. Canisius Kanangire, said the company would fill a vacuum that denied farmers access to quality and pure seeds. He explained that the new company would produce, process and supply high-quality foundation seed to companies across the Nigerian and West African seed markets.
