By Taiwo Oluwadare
Agricultural development agencies, researchers, and policymakers from Liberia are coming together for a summit aimed at drawing a seed roadmap for the country. The consortium includes the Building an Economically Sustainable Integrated Cassava Seed System, Phase 2 (BASICS-II) project of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), the AfDB-funded Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT) of IITA, the Sasakawa Africa Association (SAA) in Nigeria, and the Liberian government.
The two-day Seed Business Summit, titled “Building a Harmonized Roadmap for Seed Sector Transformation,” is being organized in collaboration with the Liberian Ministry of Agriculture. It will take place on March 25 and 26, 2024, in Monrovia, the capital of Liberia. The forum aims to catalyze an agricultural revolution in the country by establishing an economically sustainable seed system for priority crops such as rice, cassava, maize, soybean, and aquaculture.
Dr. Godwin Atser, the County Director of SAA-Nigeria, highlighted some of the challenges facing Liberia’s agricultural sector, including poor quality seeds, a weak seed regulatory framework, a struggling research system, and limited private sector participation. He believes that a robust seed system can change the country’s agricultural landscape, and the summit will provide an opportunity for SAA, BASICS-II, TAAT, and other partners to share models that strengthen the seed system in Nigeria and beyond.
Prof Lateef Sanni, the BASICS-II project manager, explained that the seed business summit will give value chain actors in the rice, cassava, maize, soybean, and aquaculture seed system a platform to share success stories on increasing the availability of climate-adaptive, improved, and disease-free seeds. The summit’s outcomes will serve as a basis for future investment in Liberia’s seed system and will contribute to the country’s agricultural policies and plans.
The opening ceremony of the summit will be chaired by the Liberian Minister of Agriculture, Dr. J. Alex Nuetah, with support from other high-ranking Liberian officials. In addition to IITA, SAA, TAAT, and BASICS-II, the summit will feature participation from national stakeholders, international development partners, and organizations such as the African Development Bank (AfDB), the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and the World Bank. Farmers, seed producers, universities, and the National Seed Board of Liberia will also be in attendance.
