Naema Celestine Brian Mang’oli
Cabinet Secretary of Agriculture and Livestock Mithika Linturi during the 24th AFSTA Congress, emphasized the importance of quality seeds for food security and urged seed companies to invest in seed technology, to improve productivity, food and nutrition security.
To address the issue of counterfeit seeds, he asked how seed merchants dealt with their practices to eradicate counterfeit seeds. He also suggested that STAK get involved in promoting sobriety within the industry. He stated that the government is open to discussion on the matter and would be willing to support it
The president of the African seed trade association Dr. Kulani Machaba says opening up the markets and smooth movements of seeds will help improve African trade, as the African seed market is valued at 4 Billion USD.
some challenges led by counterfeit seeds are poor harvests as the leading contributor, financial distress of the farmers during post-production and pre-production, decrease in production, and weak plant development
