Agriscope Africa (East African Seed)

Access to seeds for smallholder farmers
The company’s strategy to improve access to seeds for smallholder farmers includes prioritising the conservation of genetic resources, research and development, seed production, marketing and sales and capacity building. Agriscope Africa has a breeding strategy that includes time-bound targets for the breeding of hybrid varieties of tomato, sunflower and sorghum, with an outline of specific steps the company will take to achieve the objectives. The company designs its country-specific objectives to address crops that smallholder farmers cultivate in that country, and it conducts triannual reviews of its strategy.

Farmer’s Privilege
The company does not restrict smallholder farmers from further saving, selecting and reusing its varieties. For example, the company mentions that, in general, smallholder farmers replant the harvested seed of its OPVs, such as its bean varieties. This enables them to cultivate crops with a reduced cost of production.

Plant breeding activities in index regions
The company has its own breeding programme in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. It also has collaborative breeding activities through research partnerships with agricultural training institutes and regional and international research institutions in these countries. In addition, the company invests in building the capacity of its local research staff and offers further training opportunities through its Excellence in Breeding Programme, which aims to improve the skills and knowledge of the company’s breeding staff.

Breeding programme for specific traits
The company’s breeding programme includes developing a number of traits that are particularly important for smallholder farmers, such as resistance to (foliar) diseases, as well as developing early maturing and drought tolerant varieties. For example, it focuses on incorporating resistance and tolerance to regionally important pests and diseases such as fall armyworm (FAW) and tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV).

Seed production activities in index region
The company has a well-established network of seed producers in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania where it involves local growers and international seed companies. The company engages large scale growers, smallholder farmer groups and also produce quality seed in company owned farms.

Quality management in seed production in index countries
The company has an ISO 9001:2015 certification, which covers all of its seed production activities, and explains that it strives to meet all regulatory industry requirements, for example, supervisions by seed inspectors from Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (KEPHIS) and customer requirements continuously.

Distribution channels
Agriscope Africa has distribution channels in the majority of index countries in the region. The company services remote areas in some of those countries through partnerships with NGOs undertaking agricultural projects in these areas and through agro-dealers who use motorbikes as means of seed delivery.

Quality assurance and after-sales
Agriscope Africa monitors its distribution network by ensuring that agro-dealers maintain the required storage conditions. To make sure that seeds are not sold beyond their shelf life, the company has implemented recall and retesting programmes. It also prevents the sale of counterfeit seeds through a mobile validation system that enables farmers to check the origin of seed packages. After the sale of seeds, Agriscope Africa has a procedure in place for handling customer complaints.

Extension services
The company offers extension services in Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia, and it reports having reached 3.8 million smallholders in the region for the period 2018-2020. Its extension services include daily radio programmes for agro-dealers and farmer visits across index countries. These focus on Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, where the company has invested more resources in personnel, vehicles and motorbikes to reach smallholder farmers.

Information and communications technology (ICT)
The company developed a mobile application called EASEED, which provides farmers, customers, employees and the general public with information on company products, such as seed prices, farming practices and weather-related alerts. The app also provides a link between farmers and product experts through a feature which allows farmers to reach out to experts through a chat. The company also shares agronomic advice and product information on its Facebook page.

Programmes for women farmers
The company provides extension services to women farmers through women groups called Chamas. These groups receive tailor-made Agriscope branded teaching materials, which provide them with additional knowledge to produce better crops and obtain greater yields from their farms. Through these programmes, the company has reached 2.3 million women smallholders in the region for the period 2018-2020.

Governance and accountability
While Agriscope Africa’s managing director is responsible for implementing its access to seeds strategy for smallholder farmers, the company could disclose the link between its highest governance body’s remuneration policy and its access to seeds strategy.

Access to company genetic resources
The company does not disclose whether and, if so, how it contributes to the conservation of genetic resources and access and benefit sharing. Nor does it disclose whether it provides access to its own genetic resources to benefit smallholder farmers in the region.

Variety testing
The company conducts variety testing across agroecological zones of importance to smallholder farmers. However, it could improve in this area by expanding these locations beyond Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda to include additional index countries in the region where the company is active.

Social and labour rights in seed production
Agriscope has standards in place regarding minimum conditions on child labour as well as health and safety but does not disclose how it monitors compliance in this regard. The company could introduce periodic checks to ensure that its social standards are met across its whole supply chain. Furthermore, the company does not disclose that it pays its workers a living wage or requires its intermediaries to do so.

Diverse portfolio
In all index countries where Agriscope Africa has sales, the company has only a few varieties for most crops in its portfolio. Although it offers hybrids and OPVs, the company could offer both seed types for more crops in its portfolio.

Demonstration and promotion strategies
Agriscope Africa has demonstration and promotion programmes in Kenya, including radio campaigns, Facebook campaigns and newsletters. The company targets women smallholder farmers through programmes for women’s groups (Chamas). However, the company could disclose information on demonstration and promotion programmes offered in other index countries.

Watermelon
Tomato
Onion

Beans, dry
Cowpea
Groundnut
Maize
Millets
Rice, paddy
Sesame
Sorghum
Soya bean
Sunflower

Cabbage
Carrot
Cauliflower
Cucumber
Eggplant
Green bean
Green pea
Lettuce
Melon
Okra
Onion
Pepper (hot)
Pepper (sweet)
Pumpkin
Squash
Tomato
Watermelon

Amaranth
Hairy nightshade
African eggplant
Spider plant
Ethiopian mustard

Download the portfolios of all companies in the 2021 index for Eastern and Southern Africa here.