Companies that originate in the region are an essential part of the seed industry’s reach as a whole and the opportunities for smallholder farmers to choose between suppliers. This becomes clear when one looks at countries with only limited activity by Global Index companies. In Burundi and Rwanda only two Global Index companies are active, but this is complemented by an additional six and eight other companies, respectively, operating in the region.
A total of 17 companies were assessed for the Regional Index for Eastern Africa 2016. Four Global Index companies are also included in the Regional Index: East-West Seed, DuPont Pioneer, Monsanto and Syngenta. The map shows that at least three companies are active in each of the countries in the Regional Index scope, namely DuPont Pioneer, PopVriend Seeds and Seed Co. Ethiopian Seed Enterprise only appears to be present in Ethiopia, its home base. The highest number of companies (13 out of 17) are active in Tanzania.
