Agripreneurs explore opportunities in the seed sector

Diversity of cowpea seeds

Members of the IITA Youth project have explored opportunities in the seed sector, making visits to seed companies across Nigeria. The exploratory visits in 2012 were aimed at exposing them to the potential in the seed sector.

“Plans are underway for these young people to join the Nigerian seed companies in providing farmers with high quality seeds/planting materials (for IITA commodities such as maize, cowpea, soybean, cassava, yam, and banana/plantain) in the first instance,” says Dr Gbassey Tarawali, Representative of the DG and DDG (P&CD), who is working closely with them.

Seed companies visited were Da-AllGreen Ltd, Premier Seeds Nigeria Ltd, Nagari Seeds Nigeria Ltd, Savannah Seeds Ltd, National Agricultural Seed Council, Sun Seed and Springfield Agro Ltd, Maslaha Seed Co., Terratiga Ltd, Seed Project Co. Ltd, Maina Seeds Ltd, and Manoma Seeds Co.

During the visit, the Agripreneurs were able to understand the challenges facing the seed sector and came back with plans on how to overcome those challenges.

The IITA Youth Agripreneurs project was initiated by Dr Nteranya Sanginga, IITA Director General, in 2012. The project aims to unlock the potential in agriculture by attracting and engaging young men and women in agribusiness to create decent employment opportunities comparable to those for their colleagues in the banking, oil, and communication sectors.