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Although complex and facing enormous challenges, the African seed sector offers unprecedented opportunities for women. 

Mr. Kouamé MIÉZAN, Executive Director of AfricaSeeds - an intergovernmental seed organization and implementing agency of the African Union's seed program - made this analysis at a regional training workshop on quality seed production, seed company management, gender and women's leadership, organized by CORAF in Abidjan (Côte d'Ivoire) from April 11 to 15, 2022. 

The AfricaSeeds Executive Director presented an overview of the seed sector in Africa at this capacity-building and experience-sharing event.

"The African seed sector is complex, with a cohabitation of formal and informal systems. In Africa, seeds account for 20 to 40% of agricultural productivity, and despite numerous interventions across the continent, the results have yet to meet expectations", said Mr. MIÉZAN.

In fact, a number of challenges represent bottlenecks to the effective emergence of the seed sector on the continent. 

Among these challenges, the expert notes inadequate seed policies and marketing, shortcomings in variety development and deployment, insufficient support for small-scale seed entrepreneurs, low valorisation of the informal seed sector, and the question of the interests of women and young people.

Women in the seed industry

Far from being a foregone conclusion, these challenges can be met by activating certain levers to develop the seed sector in Africa, according to Mr. MIEZAN.

What's more, they offer countless opportunities for women struggling to break into the industry.

The Executive Director of AfricaSeeds believes that concrete action to encourage more women to work in the seed sector is essential for the emergence of a dynamic and prosperous seed industry. 

"Women need to be mobilized for a more aggressive and effective contribution to the development of the African seed sector, enabling them to add more value to their expertise in their traditional and essential interventions in the sector," he said.

"There is a gap to be filled in the seed sector, and this represents a real opportunity for women, who were already under-represented," commented Dr Mariame MAÏGA, Regional Gender and Social Development Advisor at CORAF.

This training workshop is in line with CORAF's gender policy and strategy, which aims to ensure that all agricultural research and development efforts in West and Central Africa are geared towards achieving equitably beneficial impacts for both men and women.

"With this training, which is in line with our gender policy and strategy, CORAF aims to build women's capacities and empower them to prosper further in the seed sector," added Dr MAÏGA.

The workshop is part of the activities of the Partnership for Agricultural Research, Education and Development in West Africa (PAIRED) program. 

PAIRED is a five-year CORAF intervention that began in 2017, with funding from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Regional Mission for West Africa.