Padmore Adu-Antwi is the writer of this aticle
Considering the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations, world leaders have barely five years to create a hunger-free world by 2030. The UN indicates that, between 720-811 million persons worldwide suffered from hunger in 2020, roughly 161 million more than in 2019.
The problem of hunger appears direr now than ever given the burgeoning global population and rapid climate change. Apparently, the seed sector remains pivotal to increased agricultural production and consequently, a hunger-free world. However, the sector seems the most overlooked and thus, has not received the full attention it deserves.
Seeds (true seed & vegetative propagules) are the basic planting materials for crop production. They are the building blocks of food production systems diversification, encapsulate crop genetic potential and ensure the perpetuity of crop plants.
Without seeds, agricultural production becomes impossible and eventually, no mouth would be fed. It is, therefore, absurd to talk about achieving food security without foremost attention to the seed system.
The seed system is cardinal to sustainable agricultural production. It entails the set of activities that leads to variety development, seed production, conditioning and delivery to and utilization by farmers.
The seed system ensures seed quality, availability, accessibility and affordability to farmers as well as the survival of seed businesses. Additionally, it maintains the genetic variability of crop plants, thus, conserving the biodiversity in cropping systems.
Neglect of the sector is tantamount to sweeping SDG 2 under the carpet, making the attainment of zero hunger an eternal mirage. It is a charade and preposterous to hear a lot of talks about food security whilst little attention is given to the seed sector.
The sector forms an integral part of the Ghanaian as well as the global economy. A report by Zion Market Research indicates that the global seed market was worth around USD 61.2 billion in 2021 and is projected to grow to about USD 107.8 billion by 2030 with a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of roughly 6.5%.
Again, Africa accounted for 3.4% share value of the global seed market in 2021,
and it is envisaged to grow with a CAGR of 3.21%. Mordor Intelligence reported that Ghana’s seed market is projected to grow from USD 8.97 million in 2023 to USD 10.70 million by 2028, at a CAGR of 3.60%. The critical question still remains, how has Ghana positioned its seed sector to make it more relevant to its economy?
Although some strides have been made in the sector, there remains more room for improvement. A concerted effort is required by all players within the seed system such as government, national agricultural research institutes (NARIs), seed businesses, and farmers to make the sector vibrant and more impactful.
Although Ghana’s seed sector is privatized, government still remains a crucial player to its robustness. The government provides the policy and regulatory frameworks within which the seed system operates. Through the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, it regulates the activities of seed companies whilst ensuring that seed businesses comply with all laws and regulations regarding seed production, processing, packaging and storage, among other activities.
Bodies such as the Plant Protection and Regulatory Services Directorate (PPRSD) and the Ghana Seed Inspection Division (GSID) must be adequately resourced so that they can live up to their mandates. The nicely crafted policies such as the National Seed Policy and the National Seed Plan must be implemented to the letter for effective regulation of the sector. Enforcement of these policies would strengthen the sector even more.
Moreover, government’s budgetary allocation to NARIs for research, development and innovation ought to increase. It is appalling that less than 1% of GDP had over the years been allocated for Research and Development (R&D). funnily enough, this paltry amount has even not been forthcoming for research.
Research activities of NARIs have primarily thrived on the generosity of donor funds. This unfortunate pattern ought to change if we are serious about food security as a country. The NARIs should continue doing their best possible notwithstanding this perpetual resource-constraint circumstances to intensify research, development and dissemination of demand-driven technologies in the form of improved seeds and provide technical backstopping to all actors along the seed value chain.
The adoption of certified seeds in Ghana is still marginal with just about 30% of farmers utilising improved seeds as of 2022. Majority of Ghanaian farmers still recycle their saved seeds, which is partly to blame for their low yields year after year. This gruesome situation is an obvious setback to the research efforts of the NARIs since most of the improved seeds remain unutilized or underutilised. Farmers must be encouraged to adopt the locally improved certified seeds rather than recycling their saved seeds and embracing imported seeds.
Last but not least, the National Seed Trade Association of Ghana (NASTAG), which is an amalgamation of all seed value chain actors must be adequately supported in its activities so that its efforts become more impactful. This would eventually build the competitiveness and technical capacity of all actors.
The Ghanaian economy stands to benefit immensely from the seed sector when all actors play their roles effectively.
A vibrant domestic seed system is the first step to achieving increased domestic food production. Until the seed system gets the right push from especially the government, the attainment of food security in Ghana would remain elusive. Indeed, first thing first!
Author;
The writer is a seed scientist at the CSIR- Crops Research Institute, Fumesua, Kumasi