Accra, Ghana//-Members of the National Seed Trade Association of Ghana (NaSTAG) and the National Seed Council (NSC) have demanded a huge procurement quota for locally produced quality seeds to enhance food production in the country.
The call comes at a time when the reset agenda of the Government through its Feed Ghana Programme continues to procure and supply quality foreign seeds to farmers, leaving the locally produced ones to rot in several grain warehouses across the country.
The Board Chairman of the NSC, Alhaji Abubakari Mumuni, made the call and was endorsed by the NaSTAG at the opening of the 7th Ghana Seed Business Forum, dubbed SEEDLINK 2026 in Accra.
The premier national seed sector event was organised by the NaSTAG, in collaboration with the NSC on 29th October 2026 also coincided with the 10th anniversary of the NaSTAG.
The emphasis here is quality locally produced seeds. It has also become a known fact that stakeholders continuously import seeds for the production of crops in this country. Sometimes the sources of these seeds are not even known and cannot be traced, according to Alhaji Mumuni.
“The Government of Ghana frowns on this practice and does not intend to patronise the importation of these materials which can be produced in Ghana. To ensure that only quality seeds are offered to farmers for sale in the country, the council is in discussion with the National Security apparatus to deal with this issue as a security threat in Ghana, and therefore, anybody who contravenes with these rules would be dealt with according to the laws of Ghana”.
Intend To Support PPRSD
In spite of these measures, the Council intend to provide all the necessary logistics to PPRSD to carry out its mandates fully, and he therefore informed all stakeholders to follow fully the dictates of the mandates as enshrined in the Act, 803.
Alhaji Mumuni underscored the importance of cooperation between government, researchers, seed companies, development partners, and farmers. But building a competitive seed industry is not the responsibility of one institution alone. It is a shared responsibility.
Demanded Dedicated Award Categories for Outstanding Seed Companies
He also recommended the introduction of dedicated award categories for outstanding seed companies and seed-sector contributors as part of the National Farmers’ Day Awards.
According to them, celebrating excellence would help promote innovation, quality assurance, investment, and professional standards across the industry in the country.
Alhaji Mumuni was emphatic: “The future of agriculture begins with the seed. We can invest in land, irrigation, machinery, and processing facilities, but without access to quality seed at the right time and at an affordable price, our ambitions for agricultural transformation will remain stagnant”.
A strong seed sector, he noted, is therefore a national economic priority as it underpins food security, farmer productivity, agribusiness investment, employment creation, and their ability to compete in regional markets.
Indiscipline Activities
Alhaji Mumuni, who chaired the opening ceremony of the day-long event, said: “Since the inauguration of the National Seed Council (NSC), the council has realised that several indiscipline activities are being carried out by some stakeholders in the seed sector and as the Chairman”.
Since the inauguration of the Council, no Sub-Committee of the council has been inaugurated or sworn in, yet there are calls for meetings of the sub-committee. This is not only unfortunate but illegal. And I therefore call on the perpetrators of these acts to put a stop to it, he told participants at the well-attended forum.
Alhaji Mumuni also added that some research institutions or researchers have been multiplying seeds for sale to farmers as certified seeds. The Plants and Fertiliser Act, 2010 (Act 803) clearly indicates the roles of each stakeholder in the breeding, distribution and sales of seeds in Ghana.
“Unfortunately, I have witnessed researchers multiplying and selling seeds as certified seeds. This act does not sit well with Act 803, and therefore I request researchers involved in this act to put a stop to it”.
More so, since the inception of private sector participation in seed delivery, several seed producers or farmers have been multiplying and selling seeds without recourse to the institution mandated to provide vigorous quality assurance and regulation in the country, he said.
As per the legislation, only the Ghana Seed Inspection Division of the Plant Protection and Regulatory Services Directorate (PPRSD) is responsible and mandated to provide quality seed in Ghana. However, it has come to my notice that some stakeholders are selling seeds of questionable quality whose origin cannot be traced.
SEEDLINK
In his welcome address, the President of the National Seed Trade Association of Ghana, Seidu Abdulai Mubarak said SEEDLINK is not just a platform, but the heartbeat of the seed industry dialogue. It is also a platform to unite, advocate, and transform Ghana’s seed sector.
“This year is particularly significant as we gather here; we are also in the midst of celebrating a milestone. A decade of resilience, partnership and progress. 10 years ago, we set up with a shared vision to strengthen regulation and show every farmer in the country that the country has access to quality seeds”.
Today, as we stand, SEEDLINK is a testament to that. When we created the SEEDLINK platform, our objective was clear to amplify the voices of the seed sector players, advocate, and then industry coordination, Mr Mubarak explained.
National Seed Plan
According to him, the national seed plan is driving initiatives such as the seed traceability system, which was set up to curb counterfeit seeds in the system. However, SEEDLINK 2026 is not just a moment for reflection; it is a call to action.
Reduction of Seed Prices
This year, Mr Mubarak noted that players in the seed industry have already demonstrated that through the seed companies and seed producers by reducing their seed prices when farmers couldn’t afford alias a 25% price reduction was giving out during the farming season.
But their work is far from over. As they deliberated over the day’s event, he urged the participants to focus on the collaboration and the sustainability that they all drive towards.
Goodwill message
In a goodwill message, Director of Crop Services at Ghana’s Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA), Dr Henry Bleppony noted the theme of the forum: “Quality Seed, Strong Partnership: A Decade of Building Resilience System for Ghana’s Food Security” is both timely and relevant. It captures two fundamental requirements for agricultural transformation.
He said access to quality seed and effective collaboration among the institutions and actors responsible for delivering this to farmers, and iterated: “Seed is the foundation of agriculture. The quality of the seed planted by a farmer has a significant influence on crop establishment, productivity, resilience to climate conditions, and ultimately farm income to households’ food security”.
