A Revitalization Journey

For more information, see the First Quarter issue of Seed Today.

By Shem Oirere

Cote d’Ivoire, also known as Ivory Coast, the world’s largest exporter of cocoa beans, last year embarked on a journey to revitalize and transform its seed market.

Several foreign and local seed industry stakeholders signed up to support a plan touted as the magic bullet in revolutionizing the West African country’s agriculture and safeguard its long-term food security and economic growth.

Stakeholders drawn from diverse seed industry value chains held a seed business summit in the country’s capital Abidjan from September 9-11, courtesy of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and other local and foreign partners.

Specific problematic areas in the industry were identified for urgent redress such as underdevelopment of the seed sector characterized by poor quality seed due to inadequate quality control and certification system, a weak regulatory framework, poorly maintained seed research structure, and low private sector investment in the seed business.

Creating a Master Plan

The objective of the summit was to help Cote d’Ivoire’s ministry of agriculture draft and push for government approval of a comprehensive seed industry master plan that addresses the identified bottlenecks in the production and distribution of seed especially for major crop value chains of maize, rice, soybean, cassava, and millet, which when combined account for 90% of the area harvested to field crops.

Already, Cote d’Ivoire, with input from several partners in the initiative to build a harmonized a long-term plan in the transformation of the seed market, has developed the first draft of the roadmap and launched a comprehensive seed sector assessment in an endeavour to strengthen the industry.

Strengthening of Cote d’Ivoire’s national seed systems would not only help the country achieve food security and improve its agricultural resilience through production and distribution of climate-resilient high-yielding seeds but also boost efforts by the country to reduce its food imports bill especially for rice, one of the country’s most consumed cereals.

Rice Production

Rice, one of the value chains targeted in the national seed transformation plan, has seen production remain at below 1.5 million metric tons, far below the country’s consumption demand of 2.5 million metric tons.

Each of the 27.5 million people in Cote d’Ivoire is estimated to consume 91 kgs of rice by the end of this year. The consumption levels could surge as the country’s economy continues to expand with the International Monetary Fund describing it as “resilient and growing” at 6.6% in 2024 and 6.4% in 2025.

“With a burgeoning population and evolving dietary preferences, this upward consumption trend is expected to persist, underscoring the importance of rice imports for the nation’s food security for the foreseeable future,” the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) says in its 2024/25 Grain and Feed Annual report for Cote d’Ivoire.

Previously, Cote d’Ivoire, which is the sixth-largest rice producer in Sub-Saharan Africa after Nigeria, Madagascar, Tanzania, Mali, and Guinea, had launched the Strategic National Rice Development Plan (SNDR) to help the country achieve self-sufficiency in production by 2016 “through a substantial increase in domestic production and milling capacity.”

The goal was to produce at least two million metric tons of rice, but nearly nine years after the expiry of the Plan’s 2016 deadline, Cote d’Ivoire’s production of milled rice is far below the target with expectations output will reach 1.2 million metric tons during the 2024/2025 marketing year.

USDA says the country, whose seed sector is guided by the National Seed Policy of 2009, which has been operationalized through two decrees and a Ministerial Order, would need to surmount several obstacles if it is to realize its SNDR goals such as “facilitating access to better inputs, financing, and infrastructure.”

Although Cote d’Ivoire is expected to promulgate a revised version of the 2012 SNDR, the government with the support of development partners and private would have to focus on transforming production systems including for the small-scale rice producers who the USDA report says tend to “use a combination of old and low-quality seed with inconsistent fertilizer usage.”

Shifting Plans

Some of the recent government-driven reforms targeting improvement of the rice value chain has been the reduction of “the multitude of rice varieties in circulation from around a hundred cultivated types to a streamlined selection of 5-7 varieties.”

“This strategic shift was undertaken to standardize the quality of rice reaching factories and various points of sale,” the USDA report adds.

The decision to reduce the rice varieties was backed by the Cote d’Ivoire’s National Agricultural Research Center (CNRA) and the African Rice Center with both institutions approving the move to ensure “generation and dissemination of high-yielding certified seeds to farmers.”

A 2023 report by the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) says in 2022, Cote d’Ivoire produced an estimated 2,112 metric tons of rice seed, equivalent to 9% of what the national seed requirement was at the time. No certified seeds were produced for the other national priority food crops of maize, yam, and cassava.

Furthermore, the AGRA report says in 2022, an estimated 787 metric tons of rice seed and 557 metric tons of maize seed were imported by Cote d’Ivoire, while the country exported 27 metric tons of rice seed and 4,337 metric tons of maize seed.

Production and Processing Centers

In what is likely to be replicated in other target food value chains of maize, cassava, soybean, yam, rice, and millet, Cote d’Ivoire has opened seven additional centers dedicated to the production and processing of certified seeds in Yamoussoukro, Gagnoa, Man, Odienné, Korhogo, Bondoukou, and Agboville.

The launch of these centers, with a combined annual capacity of 26,000 metric tons up from the current 3,500 metric tons, would “bolster seed provision nationally and improving the proficiency of its personnel to ensure more effective distribution of seeds to farmers.”

AGRA says in Côte d’Ivoire’s formal seed sector is mainly focused on perennial and annual food crops with the participation of various State-owned agencies. It says although the system for perennial crops is well-structured, that for annual food crops “is in the early growth stage of development.”

Some of the agencies involved in the management and regulation of Cote d’Ivoire’s seed market include the Directorate of Seeds, Fertilizers and Related Products (DSEPA), which oversees seed inspection and certification, the National Seed Analysis Laboratory ((LANASEM) that has mandate to conduct laboratory testing of seeds, and the National Center for Agronomic Research (CNRA), which is the country’s premier national agricultural research institution. The three government agencies fall under the Ministry of State, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Cote d’Ivoire’s private companies, which are represented by the National Association of Seed Producers of Ivory Coast (ANASEMCI), monopolizes the production of seed for rice, maize, and cassava while the research institutions have largely catered for the planting material for yam.

Going into the future, Cote d’Ivoire expects the national seed roadmap and an investment plan of 5-7 years to be completed in the short term and have it aligned with DAKAR II Food and Agriculture Compact, an initiative through which Africa and its development partners have agreed to invest US$30 billion to support the continent’s drive to “boost agricultural productivity and become a breadbasket for the world.”

Head of the Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT) Clearinghouse Dr. Solomon Gizaw concluded at the seed business summit, “A solid seed system will surely change the country’s agricultural landscape."