Nigeria’s Value Seeds Limited, an indigenous crop seed production solution and development company, has topped the Access to Seeds Index 2019 – Western and Central Africa. The index, which focuses on 23 leading seed companies in this region, is a subset of the Access to Seeds Index, one of the first Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) benchmarks published by the World Benchmarking Alliance (WBA). Other Nigerian companies that also dominate the top half of the ranking are Maslaha Seeds (ranked 6th), Premier Seed (11th), and Da-Allgreen Seeds (12th).
According to a statement released on Wednesday by Access to Seeds Index, the dominance of Nigerian seed companies on the ranking underscores the strong potential of homegrown seed companies to reach smallholder farmers, and boosts the seed industry in the country. The Amsterdam-based Access to Seeds Foundation, which launched the report, said seed companies are a crucial partner in efforts to raise the productivity of smallholder farmers and achieve food and nutrition security.
