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Source: https://geneticliteracyproject.org/...fricas-seed-supply-threatening-food-security/
COVID-19 disrupts Africa’s seed supply, threatening food security
Joseph Gakpo | Cornell Alliance for Science | June 24, 2020
planting a seed x
The global pandemic has made it difficult for some African seed companies to produce and import sufficient quantities of quality certified seeds, prompting fears about food security.
A labor shortage, border closures and restrictions on movements have contributed to the challenges that some companies are facing as they struggle to get quality seeds to farmers as the planting season kicks in across the continent.
The situation is raising fears that farm productivity will decline and threaten food security, as seed shortages are predicted for most staple crops.
“COVID-19 came at a time when a lot of the seed companies were preparing to clean their seeds, or preparing to import,” Augusta Nyamadi Clottey, executive secretary of the National Seed Trade Association of Ghana (NASTAG), explained. “The lockdown came in March. And we were supposed to start planting in March. Most of the seeds we were expecting from outside have not come in.”
Ghana imports a lot of its improved vegetable and other seeds, as well as other agricultural inputs, from Europe, Asia and America. These products are now more expensive to bring in because borders have been closed to commercial flights...
COVID-19 disrupts Africa’s seed supply, threatening food security
Joseph Gakpo | Cornell Alliance for Science | June 24, 2020
planting a seed x
The global pandemic has made it difficult for some African seed companies to produce and import sufficient quantities of quality certified seeds, prompting fears about food security.
A labor shortage, border closures and restrictions on movements have contributed to the challenges that some companies are facing as they struggle to get quality seeds to farmers as the planting season kicks in across the continent.
The situation is raising fears that farm productivity will decline and threaten food security, as seed shortages are predicted for most staple crops.
“COVID-19 came at a time when a lot of the seed companies were preparing to clean their seeds, or preparing to import,” Augusta Nyamadi Clottey, executive secretary of the National Seed Trade Association of Ghana (NASTAG), explained. “The lockdown came in March. And we were supposed to start planting in March. Most of the seeds we were expecting from outside have not come in.”
Ghana imports a lot of its improved vegetable and other seeds, as well as other agricultural inputs, from Europe, Asia and America. These products are now more expensive to bring in because borders have been closed to commercial flights...