From 27 to 28 July 2023, a regional awareness-raising tour brought together women's and youth groups in Atakpamé and Kara on seed regulations and inclusive employment in Togo's seed sub-sector.
Organised as part of the implementation of the Programme for the Resilience of the Food System in West Africa (PRSA-Togo), this activity enabled new people enter the agricultural seeds and seedlings value chain in order increase supply of quality seeds and seedlings in the country. For two days, officials from the Agricultural Seeds and Seedlings Department informed 180 youth and women's groups about the various aspects of seed regulations in the ECOWAS zone, as well as job in Togo's seed sector. This awareness-raising event was well attended, with active participation from all stakeholders.
In both Atakpamé and Kara, participants shared their experiences as seed producers and the impact of the support they have received from the Ministry of Agriculture through its various development projects. Wolou Assamati, a seed producer based in Atakpamé, gave an example: "My name is Assamati Wolou and I'm a seed producer. I've been producing seeds since 2009. At the beginning, we planted areas of 2 hectares, sometimes 1 or even 0.5. But in 2013, the DSP and the PADAT and PPAAO projects trained us. Things changed from then on. At the moment, I have more than 15 hectares of maize and 20 hectares of soya. With the DSP, we certify the seeds and have also set up sales outlets in the villages to organise the marketing of our seeds. (...) We also work with inspectors who visit our fields 2 or 3 times before harvest.
In Kara, the proceedings were chaired by the Regional Director of Agriculture for the said region and provided an opportunity discuss the criteria for accessing the PRSA's financial instruments through its windows and the contribution of the seed sector support fund set up since 2014 by the Government. Discussions also focused on the major innovations undertaken within the Ministry of Agriculture to boost the sector, in particular the agricultural transformation agency and the new department of entrepreneurship and agricultural financing.
It should be noted that this awareness-raising tour comes as a prelude to CORAF's technical support, which consists of training seed producers on seed value chains and the creation of an inclusive business model in order to contribute effectively to the scaling-up and promotion of quality seeds.
