The Chief Executive Officer of the African Development Institution, AECF, Daniel Ohonde, has said the use of poor quality seeds is severely affecting agriculture yield in many African countries including Ghana.
According to him, although Africa has a lot of arable lands, the use of substandard seeds is affecting agricultural produce on the continent.
According to him, engagements by his outfit with farmers in the country reveals that there is a growing problem of the use of poor quality seeds due to the unavailability and in some cases people’s inability to purchase quality seeds.
“One of the biggest problems in Africa right now, is that we have got a lot of land but the yield is low, and one of the reasons is poor quality seeds.”
“We engage the farmers and not necessarily directly. We understand what their needs are and their biggest problems is access to quality seeds. At the farmer level, even when you can afford it, the seed is not always available, but there is an affordability question of course, but for it to be affordable, you need to have companies that can produce it cheaply, which is where we come in. So we support the companies and ask them how they can make it easy affordable for the farmers.”
He however explained that AECF’s Seed For Impact Programme is aimed at supporting private businesses in the Agriculture sector to be able to provide quality seeds for farmers in the country.
He explained that, there is a need to finance the private sector to support local businesses.
“For you to be able to have a private sector led Agriculture industry, you need to finance the private sector to get into that industry and that is what AECF does. We finance companies that are supporting the Agriculture sector by bringing value addition processing or supporting seed companies that provide good quality seeds to small holder farmers.”
He also mentioned that interested agriculture based companies are to submit a proposal for any form of support.
It makes economic sense to invest in Agric
Speaking in an interview with Citi News, Mr. Ohonde said the idea of focusing on food security is very important.
He explained that the pressing needs for the continent right now are food security and job creation, adding that Government can improve the Agriculture sector by investing in the sector which in effect provide jobs for the teeming unemployed youth.
Touching on what Government has to do, he mentioned that there should be good quality products, enough agricultural yield and a ready access to market .
“First of all, the idea of focusing on food security is very important. Africa is a net importer of food. We have lands to make our own foods. So food security is important for the economy. Africa’s population including Ghana are very young. What young people are looking at mostly is jobs. So if you don’t create jobs and you don’t create food security then as a government what are you looking at really ? So these are two critical parts of the policy that Government has to focus on.”
“For you to create jobs in the Agriculture sector, you must make Agriculture something people want to do. It must make economic sense. For it to make economic sense, you must be able to have good quality products, create yield and be more efficient, have access to market what you are producing. For all those things to happen, you need the private sector.”
About the Seeds Impact Programme
The Seeds For Impact Program is a $60 million programme implemented by AECF with initial funding from the Alliance for a green revolution in Africa, and the Sygenta Foundation for sustainable Agriculture that seeks to address the funding gap faced by scaling seed companies in their quest to produce improved seed staple crops.
About AECF
The AECF is a development institution which supports businesses to innovate, create jobs, leverage investments and markets, in an effort to create resilient and sustainable incomes in rural and marginalized communities in Africa.
The AECF targets investments in the following sectors; Agriculture and agribusiness, renewable energy and adaptations to climate changes, and rural financial services and communication systems that support the two sectors.
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By: Jude Mensa Duncan | Citinewsroom.com | Ghana