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Seed stakeholders from 17 countries will meet in Abuja, Nigeria, from Wednesday 16 to Friday 18 October 2019 to assess progress in implementing harmonized regional seed regulations.

The primary aim of the Regulations is to create an environment conducive to the growth of the seed industry. Today, with the exception of three countries, almost all ECOWAS member countries, in addition to Chad and Mauritania, have officially adopted the harmonized regional regulations.

"Harmonized legislation and regulations provide the ideal conditions for promoting seed production and quality control. They form the basis for healthy competition between seed companies, encourage the free circulation of seeds between countries, and give farmers access to high-quality seeds", says Dr Abdou Tenkouano, Executive Director of CORAF.

The fifth statutory meeting of the Comité Régional des Semences de l'Afrique de l'Ouest (CRSPAO) is organized by CORAF and financed by the UEMOA Commission and USAID through the Programme de Partenariat pour la Recherche Agricole, l'Education et le Développement (PAIRED). The aim of CRSPAO is to facilitate implementation of the harmonized regional seed regulations, which are designed, among other things, to create conditions conducive to the emergence of a strong seed industry capable of ensuring a regular and timely supply of sufficient quantities of quality seed in the 17 countries of the sub-region.

Some 60 participants are expected to attend the Abuja meeting, which will be chaired by the Minister of Agriculture of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The fourth statutory meeting of CRSPAO was held in Dakar, Senegal, in July 2018. At the Abuja meeting, stakeholders will assess progress in implementing the recommendations of the Dakar meeting and review the status of national implementation of harmonized regional seed regulations by member states. It will also be an opportunity to validate the draft regional list of plant seed quarantine pests and the draft Regional Catalogue of Plant Species and Varieties 2018.

"A strong and dynamic seed industry is the key to real agricultural transformation. In West Africa, farmers are increasingly turning to seeds of improved varieties to increase their productivity, something that deserves to be encouraged and also to facilitate farmers' access to better quality seeds" said Dr Yacouba Diallo, Agricultural Inputs Specialist at CORAF.

The dynamism of the seed industry and the development of cross-border seed trade depend on the application of harmonized regional regulations. Over the past 7 years, CORAF has supported member states in reorganizing their national seed systems to comply with harmonized ECOWAS regulations.

Although there is a consensus that significant progress has been made in strengthening the regional seed industry, many obstacles remain to be overcome, notably the length of time it takes to approve new seed varieties, the effective transfer of certain prerogatives to the private sector, certain blockages to cross-border seed trade, and the circulation of seeds of dubious quality despite a clear improvement over the past 5 years.

The various consultations of the three intergovernmental organizations (IGOs), namely the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) and the Permanent Inter-State Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel (CILSS), in 2014 and 2017, led to the formulation and adoption of a seed regulation harmonizing the rules governing the quality control, certification and marketing of plant seeds and seedlings in the ECOWAS-UEMOA-CILSS zone.

In 2008, ECOWAS adopted harmonized regional seed regulations. A year later, UEMOA adopted a similar scheme. In 2018, the two regional organizations joined CILSS in renewing an earlier agreement entrusting CORAF (Conseil Ouest et Centre Africain pour la Recherche et le Développement Agricole) with the responsibility of managing the implementation of harmonized regional seed and plant regulations in West Africa, and serving as the permanent secretariat of CRSPAO.

Read also:

• Harmonized regional seed regulations: the first signs of a windfall for companies
• West Africa assesses progress in implementing harmonized regional seed regulations
• Implementing harmonized seed regulations in West Africa: What's the way forward?
• Private Sector Growth Real Measure of Seed Regulation Success'.
• "CORAF's support has been crucial to the success of our business".