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Stay here worldbenchmarkingalliance.orgFerme Semencière AINOMA (AINOMA) is a family-owned seed company, formally registered in 2006. It mostly produces and sells field crops but also has okra in its portfolio. It has around 100 permanent employees and produces about 800 tons of seed annually. Currently, it is one of the largest seed producers in Niger. Besides a seed farm, the company has a seed analysis lab.
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Access to Seeds Index
Western and Central Africa
AINOMA ranks 15th in the 2019 Index for Western and Central Africa. The company performs particularly strongly in Capacity Building, offering various extension services such as training while also addressing next-generation farmers through its school gardens. It also does well in Marketing & Sales, thanks to its demonstration activities and affordability scheme. However, the lack of Research & Development activities, results in low scores in the related measurement areas. The company could improve its moderate score in Governance & Strategy and Seed Production by articulating corporate commitments to smallholder farmers.
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| Sales | |
|---|---|
| ner | |
| Field crops | |
| Cowpea | |
| Groundnut | |
| Maize | |
| Millets | |
| Sesame | |
| Sorghum | |
| Vegetables | |
| Okra |
AINOMA is at the forefront of regional efforts to promote farming as a viable livelihood choice. The company runs Operation School Garden, creating gardens in 40 schools across Niger to showcase agriculture and teach schoolchildren valuable lessons regarding nutrition and environmental sustainability.
AINOMA is encouraged to improve disclosure regarding its operations in Niger.
Since the company has seed production activities in Niger, and it involves smallholder farmers in these activities, it is encouraged to clarify how it ensures fair social and labor conditions and to develop a robust monitoring mechanism to ensure compliance.
AINOMA has formal partnerships with Niger’s agronomic research institutions to test new varieties.
The company is a member of the Association of Private Seed Producers of Niger.
The company reports that national and regional policies discourage private seed companies from running independent breeding programs. As such, Niger relies on varieties from public research institutes and foreign seed companies.
AINOMA is currently working with research institutes to increase the cultivation of biofortified crops for improved nutrition security in the country, with a particular focus on women and children.
The company reports that it organizes several demonstration and promotion activities in Niger to introduce new varieties to farmers and improve the adoption of hybrid seed. In addition, it specifically includes women smallholder farmers in its marketing activities.
The company has introduced a flexible payment system to enable farmers to purchase seed.
The company’s seed is sold by over 100 sales agents across Niger.
The company’s extension services have reached about 20,000 smallholder farmers in Niger with
women being a particular target group.
The company works with several partners to facilitate output market access for smallholder farmers, including STA, which processes peanuts, and Braniger, a sorghum-processing company.
Access to Seeds Index
Western and Central Africa
