TAAT Country Reports Published

With support from the African Development Bank, under the Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT) program, TASAI completed country studies in Burundi, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. The studies revealed that though the three countries are at the early stages of seed sector development, their respective seed industries have achieved notable success. For example, over the last two years, the governments of Sierra Leone and Liberia have passed key policy instruments aimed at formalizing their respective seed sectors. The Sierra Leone Seed Certification Agency (SLeSCA) Regulations passed in 2020 following the 2017 SLeSCA Act. As for Liberia, the Liberia Seed Development and Certification Agency (SDCA) Regulations passed in 2021 following the Liberia SDCA Act of 2019. Burundi has succeeded in fostering a vibrant bean breeding program at the national agricultural research institute, Institut des Sciences Agronomiques du Burundi (ISABU). ISABU released 10 bean varieties between 2018 and 2020. More importantly, in 2018, a total of 24 bean varieties were sold to farmers. This is highest number among the countries covered by TASAI where bean is one of the focus crops, including Kenya (22), Uganda (16), Tanzania (14), and Malawi (6).

In close collaboration with the national actors, TASAI convened dissemination workshops between the 25th to 28th of October 2021 in the three countries to share the findings of their respective TAAT-supported country reports before being published. The Burundi dissemination was hosted by ISABU while the Liberia workshop was hosted by the Ministry of Agriculture. The Sierra Leone workshop was convened by SLeSCA.