“This new facility is expected to intensify competition in the local seeds market, which is dominated by East African firms.
According to the Access to Seeds Index, which is compiled by a Dutch nonprofit and assesses companies based on their efforts to improve access to quality seeds for smallholders, Syngenta is ranked seventh in East Africa.
This might be reflective of the dominance of Kenyan and Ugandan firms that are ranked quite highly and is at odds with Syngenta’s global ranking as the second best performing company, after Dupont, based on similar indicators.
According to the Index, Syngenta is particularly weak in its research and development in the region as well as its production capabilities. Dupont, Thailand’s East-West Seed, Kenya Seed Company, Victoria Seeds, and East African seed are some of the companies that beat out Syngenta in the Access to Seed Index.
Despite this, research indicates that there is a lot of room for growth in the local seeds business. The Tegemeo Institute of Agricultural Policy last year found that small scale farmers in Kenya are shying away from using high-quality, hybrid maize seed.”
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