A GNA Feature by Abdul Rashid Issah
Tamale, Sept 12, GNA – Ghana’s food security challenge cannot be solved without fixing one of the most important foundations of agriculture: seed. Seed is the first input in crop production.
When farmers plant quality seed of improved and well-adapted varieties, they stand a better chance of obtaining higher yields, resisting climate stress, reducing crop losses and improving their incomes.
Yet, for many farmers, access to quality seed remains uncertain. Certified seed is not always available at the right time, in the right quantity, in the right place and at an affordable price. In many farming communities, farmers continue to depend largely on recycled seed, informal seed exchange, grain used as seed, or seed of uncertain quality.
This weakens productivity and reduces Ghana’s ability to build a resilient food system.
The seed access problem is wider than simple availability. In remote communities, seed may arrive late because of poor road networks, high transport costs or weak agro-dealer presence.
Some farmers may know about improved varieties but cannot afford them at planting time because credit is unavailable. Others may buy seed without adequate extension advice or may not clearly understand the difference between certified seed, grain and recycled seed.
Women and young farmers may face additional barriers because they often have less access to land, finance, information and input markets.
Localised insecurity and cross-border movement can also affect seed delivery in some parts of the country, particularly where transporters, agro-dealers, field inspectors or extension agents face movement restrictions.
These realities mean that seed planning must go beyond production figures. It must consider logistics, rural access, security risks, credit, affordability, and timely delivery before the rain begins.
Climate change makes this even more urgent. Erratic rainfall, drought, floods, heat stress, and emerging pests are already affecting agricultural production. Farmers need varieties that are early maturing, drought tolerant, pest and disease resistant, and suitable for local agroecological conditions.
However, improved climate-resilient varieties will have little impact if the seed system cannot multiply and deliver them to farmers on time.
Ghana has made important progress in developing the legal and policy foundations for a stronger seed sector. The Plants and Fertilizer Act, 2010 (Act 803) provides the main legal framework for plant protection, seed and fertilizer control.
It establishes the National Seed Council and gives it key responsibilities, including seed policy formulation, monitoring seed supply for national seed security, developing procedures for cultivar registration, prescribing standards for seed classes, guiding seed certification procedures and publishing the official list of varieties permitted for seed marketing.
Act 803 also provides the basis for regulating seed production, conditioning, testing, certification, labelling, importation, and marketing. Under the Act, seed placed on the market should be of a registered variety, meet prescribed standards, be produced and handled through approved systems, and be properly packaged and labelled.
Seed packages should carry essential information that helps farmers know what they are buying, including crop, variety, seed class, lot identity, quality information and other required labelling details.
The Act recognises the importance of seed classes in maintaining quality from research to farmer use. These include parental materials, breeder seeds, foundation seeds, and certified seeds. This classification matters because certified seed quality depends on the integrity of the earlier seed classes. If breeder and foundation seed are weak, the certified seed system will also be weak.
The legal framework is supported by the Seeds (Certification and Standards) Regulations, 2018 (L.I. 2363). These regulations are important because they strengthen certification and standards, protect farmers against poor-quality seed and misleading claims, protect legitimate seed producers and dealers, and support orderly seed trade. In practical terms, Act 803 and L.I. 2363 provide the legal tools needed to protect farmers, regulate seed markets, and build confidence in certified seed.
The challenge is therefore not the absence of laws and policies. The challenge is translating them into a seed delivery system that works for farmers, seed companies, researchers, processors, and the wider economy.
A strong seed system must work as a complete chain, with each stage properly connected to the next. It starts with research institutions developing improved crop varieties that meet farmers’ needs, consumer preferences, market demands, and climate challenges.
These varieties must then go through appropriate testing and release procedures. After release, breeder seed and foundation seed must be produced in sufficient quantities.
Private seed companies and trained seed producer groups must then multiply certified seed under effective supervision. Finally, the seed must be processed, tested, packaged, labelled, and delivered to farmers before the planting season.
One major bottleneck in this chain is the limited availability of breeder and foundation seed. These seed classes are the critical link between the development of an improved variety by researchers and the production of certified seeds for farmers.
If breeder and foundation seed are not available in adequate quantities, seed companies and seed producers cannot multiply enough certified seed no matter how strong farmer demand may be.
Another challenge is weak coordination among seed sector actors. Research institutions, regulatory agencies, seed companies, agro-dealers, extension officers, farmer organisations, processors and development partners often work in separate spaces.
Ghana needs a more coordinated seed delivery system where these actors are aligned around crop-specific and region-specific priorities.
This is where the National Seed Council must play a stronger role. As the apex body for seed sector governance, the Council should provide leadership, coordination and accountability. It should ensure that seed policies are not left on paper but are translated into practical action that benefits farmers.
One immediate priority should be the establishment of a reliable national seed demand and supply system. Before every season, Ghana should know how much seed is needed for rice, maize, soybean, cowpea, sorghum, groundnut, vegetables and other priority crops.
The country should also know which varieties are in demand, where they are needed, how much breeder and foundation seed is available, and which institutions or companies are responsible for producing each seed class.
The National Seed Council should also coordinate annual breeder and foundation seed production plans. Research institutions and other mandated bodies must be supported to maintain and produce early generation seed, consistent with the seed-class structure provided under Act 803. Without early generation seed, certified seed production cannot be sustained.
The Council must also ensure that released varieties reach farmers. Too often, improved varieties are released but do not move quickly into farmers’ fields. Every released variety should have a clear seed multiplication and promotion plan.
Farmers need access to varieties that are high yielding, climate-resilient, market-preferred, and suitable for their production environments.
Seed quality assurance is another urgent area. Farmers must be able to trust the seed they buy. Fake seed, poor labelling, weak enforcement and sale of seed outside approved channels undermine farmer confidence and discourage investment in certified seed. Ghana must strengthen seed inspection, laboratory testing, certification, packaging, labelling and market surveillance.
The law already gives seed inspectors important responsibilities in protecting the seed market. Act 803 provides for inspection, sampling, testing, and enforcement within the seed system. This should be backed by adequate logistics, trained personnel, functioning laboratories, and stronger collaboration with regional and district agricultural offices.
Digital seed traceability should also be promoted. QR codes, scratch-code verification, or other digital lot verification systems can help farmers and agro-dealers confirm whether seed is genuine. Such systems would make it harder for fake seeds to enter the market and easier for regulators to trace problems when they occur.
Rural seed access must improve. It is not enough for certified seed to be available in regional capitals or district capitals. Seed must reach rural communities before the rain begins.
This requires stronger agro-dealer networks, licensed rural seed outlets, community-level seed entrepreneurs before planting, and closer collaboration with extension officers and farmer-based organisations.
Affordability is equally important. Even when seed is available, farmers may not buy it if prices are too high or if they lack cash at planting time. Seed sector planning should therefore be linked to appropriate credit, savings schemes, input financing and targeted support for vulnerable farmer groups especially women and youth.
Private seed companies also need support. They are expected to lead commercial seed production and marketing, but many face challenges with finance, irrigation, processing equipment, storage, seed drying facilities, packaging materials, and business planning. If Ghana wants a strong private seed sector, seed companies must be supported with appropriate credit, infrastructure, technical capacity and predictable demand.
Seed sector development must also be linked to commodity markets. Farmers will invest in certified seeds when they know they can sell their produce profitably.
For rice, this means stronger links with millers, aggregators, and local rice markets. For maize, it means stronger links with poultry feed, food processors, and structured grain markets. For soybeans, cowpea, sorghum, and groundnuts, it means connecting farmers to processors, aggregators, and nutrition-related markets.
This market linkage is essential. Seed demand is not created by seed supply alone. It is created when farmers see clear economic value in planting better seed. A credible seed system must therefore connect improved varieties, quality seed, extension advice, complementary inputs, production finance and reliable output markets.
Informal seed systems should also not be ignored. Many farmers still rely on farmer-saved seed especially for indigenous and underutilised crops such as fonio, sesame, bambara groundnut and pigeon pea. These systems can be improved through farmer training, better seed selection, proper drying, improved storage, and community seed production.
Where local varieties have strong farmer preference and climate resilience, they should be evaluated and, where appropriate, linked to formal variety of release and seed multiplication systems.
The way forward is to build a seed system that is coordinated, credible, farmer-centred and market-oriented. This requires better planning of seed demand and supply, reliable production of breeder and foundation seed, stronger enforcement of Act 803 and L.I. 2363, effective variety release and deployment, functional quality assurance, stronger rural seed distribution and better support for private seed companies and producer groups.
Ghana has already laid the policy and legal foundation for a stronger seed sector. What is needed now is decisive implementation, adequate resources, and clear accountability. Strengthening the seed system should be treated as a national priority because it affects food security, climate resilience, farmer incomes, agro-industrial development, and economic stability.
If Ghana wants to strengthen food security, support climate-resilient agriculture and improve farmer livelihoods, then the seed sector must be treated as a national priority. The future of Ghana’s agriculture begins with seed. If the seed system works, farmers stand a better chance of succeeding, and the country stands for a better chance of feeding itself.
The writer is Abdul Rashid Issah. He is an Assistant Research Scientist at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research–Savanna Agricultural Research Institute and a PhD student at KNUST, Ghana.
GNA
Edited by Albert Futukpor /Kenneth Odeng Adade