The West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement (WACCI), www.wacci.ug.edu.gh, at the University of Ghana, has organized a 2-day consultative meeting on ‘Developing a Compelling Case for Investments in the Seed Systems of Six Staple Crops for Agricultural and Industrial Transformation.’
The crops are rice, maize, soybean, cowpea, tomato, and cassava.
The meeting was convened by WACCI and supported in part by the Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable
Agriculture (SFSA), Switzerland brought together 21 high-level participants comprising plant breeders,
social scientists, policy planners, and actors in the public and private agricultural sectors.
The conversations focused on the challenges and promises in the value chains of the six crops to identify investment opportunities for the development of the seeds systems to drive the transformation of the agri-food
systems,“from the laboratory to the fork”.
The high-level panel is working on a compelling case that will document appropriate strategies for
developing effective seed systems for the six commodities to attract the investments needed for the
development of the crop value chains.
Unquestionably, science, technology, and innovation will be flagged as the missing first that has stymied development in Africa. A food secure and a healthy Ghana, and “a Ghana Beyond Aid” is the motivation for this work.
The draft report of the Consortium will be ready by June 2022 for wider stakeholder consultation.