African Seed Trade Association Welcomes Iowa State University Seed Science Center Membership

Kigali, Rwanda (March 25, 2025) — The African Seed Trade Association (AFSTA) welcomed Iowa State University’s Seed Science Center (SSC) as an affiliate member this year in ceremonies marking its silver jubilee held in conjunction with the 2025 African Seed Congress. The event, held March 3-5, in Kigali, Rwanda, attracted 284 seed traders and producers from 50 countries.

Speaking as part of a panel on multi-partnership developments, Lulu Rodriguez, SSC global programs lead, assured delegates of the Center’s continuing capacity development partnerships with African seed systems and industries despite the pause in U.S. foreign development assistance. 

She explained that aside from helping to promote science-based regulations to govern plant breeding innovations and biotechnology stewardship, the SSC can assist AFSTA countries in removing seed trade barriers, implementing international sanitary and phytosanitary measures and procedures, promoting mechanisms to fast track the cross movement of quality seed, upholding international seed quality assurance schemes, and conducting trainings on, for example, harmonized seed import/export procedures. All these are critical in expanding the African seed market reach.

In his opening remarks, Eric Rwigamba, the Minister of State for Agriculture and Animal Resources of Rwanda, emphasized the importance of the AFSTA’s role in fostering collaboration, innovation and knowledge exchange among seed companies and national seed associations across Africa.

AFSTA President Amadou Sarr of the Senegal-based seed company Tropicasem, reported that the Association has deployed new management tools and will begin updating its constitution and bylaws. He unveiled a revised list of strategies that aims to expand members’ access to markets, develop partnerships, strengthen operations and ensure financial sustainability.

AFSTA Secretary General Yacouba Diallo emphasized the importance of partnerships in advancing these objectives as he welcomed 11 recruits to the Association. These new members include seed companies from Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, South Africa, Pakistan, and the SSC.

“Through its partnerships with research bodies and institutions of higher learning like Iowa State University, AFSTA members can scale up the production of drought-resistant, disease-resistant and climate-adaptive seed varieties for African farmers,” Diallo said.

Other Congress sessions focused on the pivotal role of biotech and plant breeding innovations in shaping the future of African agriculture, the need for a science-based regulatory approach and the importance of regulatory harmonization. The Congress also highlighted the role of seed trade associations in capacity building and advocacy, emphasizing the need for collaboration and coordination among stakeholders in the seed value chain.

SSC participation in the African Seed Congress dovetails a four-day seminar-workshop the Center conducted in August 2024 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to help seed systems in East and West Africa advance their national and regional strategic and investment plans. The event, attended by 70 participants from 12 countries, pinpointed the immediate and long-term steps that can be taken to move national and regional seed sector agendas forward.

Congress participants included representatives of regional and international organizations such as:

• the International Seed Federation (ISF),
• the International Seed Testing Association (ISTA),
• Union for the Protection of New Plant Varieties (UPOV),
• the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD),
• the African Union (AU),
• the Common Market for East and Southern Africa (COMESA),
• West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research And Development (CORAF),
• the African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF), and
• the African Regional Intellectual Property Organizations (ARIPO and OAPI).

Research organizations were represented by participants from the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) through its project on Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT) and the World Vegetable Center.

AFSTA is a not-for-profit association of private seed companies in Africa.