Integration with the World Benchmarking Alliance

The Access to Seeds Index is now part of the World Benchmarking Alliance. All indexes up to 2020 can be found here. New indexes and methodologies are published on the website of the WBA.

Stay here worldbenchmarkingalliance.org
  • Search
  • Share
  • Contact
  • About
  • Index
  • Companies
  • Countries
  • Methodology
  • News
  • Publications
News

Local seed producers: crucial for access to seeds but overlooked by policy makers

January 4, 2017
Share

Local seed producers are largely overlooked by policy makers in the process to expand access to certified seeds. This is one of the findings of a new study into the access to quality inputs by Ghanaian farmers.

The study, which commissioned by the Peasant Association of Ghana (PFAG), was conducted by Professor Joseph Yaro of the Department of Geography and Resource Development at the University of Ghana and Joseph Teye, a senior lecturer at the same university, revealed that most Ghanaian farmers were not using improved seeds, or when they do, the seeds were not certified seeds. The effect of this is low productivity and poor yields, translating into a low financial reward for the farmer.

According to Professor Yaro, “The policy must look at expanding the seed system. ‘The private sector’ should include the farmer in the village who is producing the seed. It should not be only the big companies and what not. The periodic local market where farmers go in search for seeds is also the private sector, the market women selling are all private sector. So we need a more formalised private sector so that we have diversity.”

Read more on Ghana News Center.

Bridging the gap between the world’s leading seed companies and the smallholder farmer

The development of the Access to Seeds Index is supported by:


The Access to Seeds Foundation is an ally of the
World Benchmarking Alliance.

Stay up to date

Follow us by subscribing to our Newsletter.

Or find us on