Eswatini

Last updated: March 2019
  • Region Eastern and Southern Africa
  • UPOV membership status Member of the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO); initiated the procedure for acceding to the UPOV Convention
  • Participation in OECD Seed Schemes No
  • ISTA accredited member laboratories No
  • GM Crop Approval for cultivation Cotton
  • Law on Plant Variety Protection The Seeds and Plant Varieties Act, 2000
Seed sector in Eswatini

Eswatini’s land tenure system is divided into two categories: land owned by private commercial farmers who export cash crops abroad and land owned by smallholder farmers.

In 1985 the government introduced the National Maize Cooperation, where farmers can sell their maize. This market is located strategically throughout the whole country, reducing the sales burden for farmers. The government has also created a seed processing plant called the Seed Multiplication Project (SMP) and contracted commercial farmers to produce seed on behalf of the government.

Seeds are imported from seed companies in the region. The SMP recently became operational and repackages seeds that come in bulk from other countries. It also delivers farming inputs to retailers in all parts of the country, which makes it easier for smallholder farmers to access farming inputs locally.

To discourage an influx of fake seeds, the government introduced the Seeds and Plant Varieties Act of 2000. If there is a seed company that wishes to produce seeds in the country (one that is on the variety list), it registers with the Registrar of Seeds and is monitored by the seed quality control services from pre-planting to packaging.

Observations

There are eight index companies present in Eswatini, though none have breeding or processing locations. The only one with a seed production location and extension services is Seed Co, which along with Capstone Seeds also has a testing location in the country.

Index company activities identified in Eswatini
Company Crops in portfolio Company activities in country
Companies selected for
the Access to Seeds Index
Field
crops
Vegetables Breeding
location
Testing
location
Seed
production
Processing
location
Sales Extension
services
Corteva Agriscience
Capstone Seeds
Hygrotech
Known You Seed
Monsanto
Sakata
Seed Co
Syngenta

Other companies identified in the regional landscaping study and their activities

Company Crops in portfolio Company activities in country
Field
crops
Vegetable
crops
Breeding
location
Seed
production
Sales
Lake Agriculture
Tshala Seed Enterprise