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Created in 1996, Semagri is a vegetable seed company specialized in varieties adapted to hot climates, both humid and dry conditions. Part of Novalliance, Semagri maintains close ties with partner company Technisem, particularly on breeding and marketing activities. Based and exclusively active in Cameroon, its main crops are carrot and watermelon. Smallholder farmers constitute the company’s only clientele.
Access to Seeds Index
Western and Central Africa
Semagri ranks eighth in the 2019 Index for Western and Central Africa. It owes its solid performance to commitments in Governance & Strategy, supporting smallholder farmers and local seed sector development. It also shows strengths in Capacity Building, training smallholder farmers on new farming techniques and encouraging youth to enter farming, and in Marketing & Sales, notably its promotion of adequate and sustainable use of inputs. Nonetheless, the company’s Transparency and Commitment scores are lower than its Performance score, meaning that it could benefit from setting and publicly sharing robust corporate commitments and targets relating to smallholder farmers. In addition, like most of its regional peers, the company could develop and implement a strategy on the conservation and use of genetic resources.
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| Sales | Seed type | Source | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| cmr | Hybrid | OPV | GM | Own breeding program |
Public research institute |
Licensed from other company |
|||||
| Vegetables | |||||||||||
| Cabbage | |||||||||||
| Carrot | |||||||||||
| Cauliflower | |||||||||||
| Cucumber | |||||||||||
| Eggplant | |||||||||||
| Gourd | |||||||||||
| Green bean | |||||||||||
| Lettuce | |||||||||||
| Melon | |||||||||||
| Okra | |||||||||||
| Onion | |||||||||||
| Pepper (hot) | |||||||||||
| Pepper (sweet) | |||||||||||
| Squash | |||||||||||
| Tomato | |||||||||||
| Watermelon | |||||||||||
Semagri participates in discussions around the development of a national seed catalog, a key instrument in the development and release of improved plant varieties in Cameroon. In addition, the company collaborates with local farming groups and supports their transformation into cooperatives by providing training on financial accounting.
Semagri is encouraged to disclose the full scope of its access to seeds-related activities in Cameroon.
The company is encouraged to formalize a corporate position regarding the conservation and use of genetic resources. It could also publicly disclose further information on how it tracks and traces the genetic resources it uses in its breeding program.
Semagri conducts varietal testing on several smallholder farms in various climatic settings in Cameroon and collects feedback directly from
farmers.
The company collaborates with Technisem on a breeding program for several vegetable crops, namely okra, onion, hot pepper, pumpkin and tomato.
The company relies on Technisem’s laboratory in France for quality control.
The company encourages the sustainable use of organic inputs and promotes these along with other equipment to farmers. Training is provided by company field officers on the safe and efficient use of seed and other inputs.
The company regularly organizes field days to demonstrate new varieties and crops to smallholder farmers. Thirty field days were organized in 2017, with up to 100 farmers attending each. These events also serve as an opportunity to demonstrate cultivation techniques and share knowledge on good agricultural practices.
The company cooperates with agricultural schools, organizing workshops and offering internships to students to encourage their interest in agriculture.
Access to Seeds Index
Western and Central Africa
