Dr Amos Rutherford Azinu, Founder and CEO of the Legacy Crop Improvement Centre (LCIC), has urged Ghana to adopt India’s seed cluster development model as a proven strategy for achieving food security, empowering farmers, and modernizing agriculture. Speaking after attending the India–Africa Seed Summit in Hyderabad, Dr Azinu emphasized that the summit highlighted how purposeful policies, innovation, and collaboration can rapidly transform agricultural systems in developing economies.
He noted India’s remarkable transformation from historical food shortages to becoming the world’s fifth-largest seed economy by 2025, with Hyderabad emerging as the country’s “Seed Capital” and a hub of innovation. The success of Hyderabad is attributed to a deliberate clustering strategy, concentrating over 400 seed companies alongside globally recognized research institutions such as ICRISAT and the Indian Institute of Millets Research. This ecosystem enables innovations to move swiftly from laboratories to farmers’ fields, while ensuring efficiency in production and distribution.
For Ghana and other African nations, Dr Azinu emphasized that resources should be focused on developing well-planned agricultural clusters in strategic locations rather than being dispersed. He also highlighted India’s structured seed multiplication system—comprising Breeder, Foundation, and Certified Seeds—supported by OECD-standard certification, digital tracking, and traceability, which ensures seed quality, genetic purity, and farmer confidence. Such systems are crucial in regions where counterfeit agricultural inputs are common, protecting farmers and strengthening markets.
Dr Azinu stressed that India’s success relies on strong public–private collaboration, with public research institutions like ICAR developing seed varieties and private companies handling production, particularly of high-value crops. The integration of digital technologies, including artificial intelligence for precision agriculture and blockchain-based traceability, has further enhanced efficiency, demonstrating an opportunity for African countries to adopt advanced systems without decades of gradual development.
He also highlighted that India’s seed model is tailored to smallholder farmers, making it highly relevant to Africa, where farming often occurs on marginal lands. Hybrid crops such as maize and cotton have already shown success in agro-climatic conditions similar to those found in African countries. With India’s seed industry projected to reach $7 billion by 2030, the growth reflects strong institutional foundations rather than short-term gains.
For Ghana, Dr Azinu outlined key priorities: developing agricultural clusters, implementing rigorous quality assurance systems, deepening public–private partnerships, investing in digital agriculture, and creating inclusive policies centered on smallholder farmers. He concluded that global food security depends not just on producing more seeds but on building smart agricultural systems that transform farming into a strategic economic engine. Hyderabad’s model provides a clear blueprint for nations willing to align innovation, policy, and inclusion to drive sustainable agricultural development.
