Launch of the Collaborative Seed Programme
On April 28 2021, the Collaborative Seed Programme was officially launched with an exciting online event. During the event, several invited dignitaries and programme partners elaborated on the importance of this programme, as well as its ambitions and specific activities.
The Collaborative Seed Programme (CSP) brings together Nigerian and Dutch seed sector stakeholders with the aim to enhance the performance of the Nigerian seed sector. Not going for a quick fix, but taking a systematic approach to finding sustainable solutions for bottlenecks in the Nigerian seed sector.
The programme aims to improve farmers’ access and use of quality seed of new, improved varieties, working on eight topics of the National Seed Road Map:
Sector governance & coordination
Alignment of donor interventions
Variety release
Plant variety protection
Seed company marketing & promotion
Institutional markets
Extension on seed & consultation practices
Decentralisation of seed quality assurance
The initiative is led by Wageningen University & Research (WUR) in the Netherlands and Sahel Consulting in Nigeria. CSP partners include government, industry, knowledge, regulatory, civil society and farmer organizations from both Nigeria and the Netherlands. The programme is embedded within the Nigeria-Netherlands Seed Partnership. Now one of the first initiatives operating under the umbrella of SeedNL.
For those who are interested. The online launch event recording is now available here on the CSP website.
Picture reference: MSP from https://issdseed.org/seed-nigeria/
