L-R: Fikirini Jackobs, Principal Secretary, State Department for Youth Affairs and Creative Economy, Alice Ruhweza, AGRA President and Gov. Hon. Ken Lusaka, EGH, CBS, Chairman, Committee of Agriculture, Council of Governors during a past event held in May, 2025.
Nairobi, Kenya – Farmers across Africa are set to benefit from a new digital tool that promises to transform seed systems on the continent. AGRA has launched the Africa Digital Crop Variety Catalogue the first-ever interactive, searchable online database of officially released crop varieties across six African countries.
The platform, developed in partnership with Ministries of Agriculture, national research institutions, and regulatory agencies in Ethiopia, Malawi, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda, marks a historic step in making high-quality seeds more accessible.
For two decades, AGRA has worked to strengthen Africa’s seed systems. So far, the organization has contributed to the release of 688 improved crop varieties, supported 114 seed companies, and empowered over 38,000 agro-dealers ultimately helping 33 million farmers access better seeds.
According to Jonathan Said, AGRA’s Vice President for the Centre for Technical Expertise, the digital seed catalogue is a breakthrough. “This milestone will strengthen the seed market and expand smallholder farmers’ access to high-yielding and nutrient-dense varieties,” he said.
Developed through CESSA the Centre of Excellence for Seed Systems in Africa the catalogue addresses long-standing challenges such as fragmented data, outdated crop variety lists, and limited access to information. Despite hundreds of new crop varieties being released in the past decade, there was no single platform where stakeholders could find up-to-date, complete data.
“In many African countries, vital data on crop varieties is incomplete or inaccessible,” said AGRA President Alice Ruhweza. “This has kept farmers from accessing the seeds they need to thrive. The digital catalogue fills that gap with a transparent, centralized solution.”
The platform is anchored in findings from AGRA’s SeedSAT tool, Seed Investment Plans, and the Seed System Performance Index (SSPI) now adopted by the African Union as a continental benchmark. These tools highlight the urgent need for data-driven reforms in the seed sector.
Before now, the lack of a unified catalogue had hindered investment, slowed certification, and contributed to poor seed adoption especially among women and youth, who face greater barriers to information and opportunities.
Dr. Jane Ininda, Interim Director of CESSA, called the platform “a game-changer for transparency, equity, and growth in Africa’s seed systems.” She added that it will support smarter investments and better livelihoods for farmers.
Designed with inclusivity in mind, the platform is easy to use and accessible to a wide range of stakeholders including seed companies, breeders, regulators, and policy-makers. It promotes better decision-making in seed selection, production, and marketing while encouraging broad participation at both national and grassroots levels.
As AGRA rolls out this tool, the organization is calling on governments, researchers, development partners, and seed companies to contribute to and adopt the platform. The Africa Digital Crop Variety Catalogue is more than a database it is a shared engine for agricultural transformation, resilience, and prosperity.
