According to a soyatech press release:
Through AGRA’s $4.49 million grant over three years, Iowa State University’s (ISU) Seed Science Center, the University of Nairobi (UoN), the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and private business experts are establishing a Seed Enterprise Management Institute at the College of Agriculture and Veterinary Sciences in Kabete, Kenya.
ISU will contribute its considerable expertise in seed and seed related technologies, and its experience in developing seed policy and regulation. Seed is considered by many to be a key to increasing agricultural output across Africa, and enabling the free movement of seed between countries – especially within regions – is of great importance. Regulatory reform is on the front burner for initiatives like WASA, which is linking seed companies in India with seed companies in West Africa as part of an effort to expand crop and variety availability.
This AGRA investment promotes a triple bottom line: technology transfer (from SSU and CIMMYT); capacity-building (in Kenya and further afield) and sustainability.
Post written by Peter Bloch, consultant to CAS-IP
the CAS-IP blog 