Entrepreneurship for Commercial Seed Incubation Business (ECoSIB)
An AGRA-funded 19-month project building the technical and managerial competencies of seed SMEs and developing a cadre of seed business entrepreneurs in Ghana.
Agri-Impact together with FARA and funding from the Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) supported ECoSIB in 2016. This project built the technical and managerial competencies of seed businesses. ECoSIB sought to increase availability and accessibility of superior quality seeds to smallholder farmers through scaling up volumes of breeder and foundation seeds and developing a cadre of seed business entrepreneurs with the requisite skills to engage in commercial production and distribution of superior quality seeds in Ghana.
The 19-month project funded through the Scaling Seed and Technologies Partnership (SSTP) of AGRA through FARA adopted the integrated value chain approach to address key issues identified as slowing the growth of the seed industry in Ghana — such as low level of entrepreneurial skills and poor distribution systems. The Initiative was modeled after FARA/UniBRAIN's tripartite collaboration between Universities, Research and Business for agricultural innovation development and technology commercialization.
Project Objectives
- Built the technical and managerial competencies of SMEs in seed business and developed a cadre of business entrepreneurs with requisite skills to engage in commercial production and distribution of improved seeds.
- Increased availability of improved quality seeds of selected crops to smallholder farmers.
- Facilitated market linkage between certified seed producers and seed buyers.
Project Output
- 35 Seed SMEs mentored and coached.
- 35 Seed companies trained in yam minisett technology and hybrid seed production.
- 15 managers and owners of seed SMEs trained in Seed Business Management including understanding of national seed policy and national seed plan.
- 8 Seed SMEs linked to the Rural Development Fund (RDF) of DANIDA to obtain credit on a concessionary basis.
- 2 storage structures made available for use by enterprise farmers.
- 10 ECoSIB partners trained in incubation management by AAIN.
Countries/Locations: Northern Region, Brong Ahafo Region, Ashanti Region, Eastern Region, Volta Region, Central Region
Project Partners: AGRA, FARA, USAID, KNUST, CSIR-CRI, Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Grains and Legumes Board of the Crop Services Directorate, Agri-Impact Consult