Seed Sector Performance Index Validation workshop

TASAI Inc. is leading the effort to develop the Seed Sector Performance Index (SSPI), a single score-based measurement tool that provides “a bird’s eye view” of the health of seed systems across Africa. The SSPI consists of 17 parameters and its findings will inform the new indicator on seed systems to be published in the forthcoming 4^th Biennial Review Report of the African Union Commission. With financial and technical support from AGRA, TASAI set out to collect seed sector data from all African Union member states. By the end of August, the team had collected data from 46 countries.

To validate the data collected, TASAI convened a workshop in Nairobi on 1 September 2023. Co-hosted by AGRA and the AUC, the meeting was attended by 20 seed experts from across Africa, representing AGRA, CORAF, the National Agricultural Seed Council (NASC, Nigeria), the Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (KEPHIS), the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), the Central Agency for Seed Certification (CASC, Egypt), the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture Fisheries and Rural Development in Zimbabwe, the Africa Seed Trade Association (AFSTA), and the Seed Systems Group (SSG).

Participants engaged in a rigorous assessment of the data shared by TASAI and proposed a number of adjustments to the data to better capture the status of the particular indicator. TASAI will incorporate the changes into the forthcoming SSPI Africa Report slated for completion by the end of 2023. The new report will provide a status update on the previously released The Seed Sector in Africa Status Report and Ten-year Action Plan (2020-2030): A Summary published in 2021.