Less than 10 percent of the world’s smallholder farmers have access to the improved, quality seeds that can halt hunger and tolerate climate change impacts, a new report shows.
The Access to Seeds Index 2019 report reveals that only 47 million of the world’s 500 million smallholder farmers were able to acquire improved seeds from the world’s 13 biggest global seed companies in 2017.
The index, published by the Netherlands-based nonprofit Access to Seeds Foundation, evaluated the work of leading global seed companies with specific emphasis on how the industry can do more to raise smallholder farmer productivity, improve nutrition and mitigate the effects of climate change through the development and dissemination of quality seed.
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