As Kenya’s food basket is threatened by the Maize Lethal Necrosis Disease (MLND) outbreak, seed breeders have met in Kigali, Rwanda, to discuss strategies for increasing food production.
The more than 100 delegates comprising of Africa’s leading seed breeders have met in a bid to securing the next generation of plant breeders.
The meeting held today is coordinated by the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa’s (AGRA) Program for Africa’s Seed Systems (PASS) to deliberate on crop breeding in Africa. Out of these are 53 African Seed breeders of African staple crop varieties.
The meeting is deliberating on how to enhance Africa’s seed breeding programs, how to encourage more public-private seed partnerships and identifying strategies to encourage the next generation of seed breeders.
The meeting follows the Africa Union’s (AU) Agribusiness Forum, which saw more than 100 African leaders gather in Rwanda last week, to discuss how to transform and strengthen Africa’s Agriculture.
Rwandan Minister of Agriculture, H.E. Dr Geraldine Mukeshimana, said the gathering is a landmark one in Africa’s efforts towards becoming food secure.
“I appreciate the different specialisations here today who represent these unusual partnerships that we are creating and strengthening to turn science into action, in ways that matter to Africa’s farmers,” she said.
Through the PASS program AGRA invests in breeding, training, seed production and seed marketing in 17 countries throughout Sub-Saharan African. These efforts are all geared to ensuring farmers have access to the best seed they can to produce their crops, feed their families and contribute to making Africa food secure. Through PASS African has had over 400 new crop varieties released.