The National Agricultural Seed Council (NASC) and the Foundation for Partnership Initiatives in the Niger Delta (PIND) have entered into a two-year partnership to expand farmers’ access to certified seeds, strengthen quality assurance and attract investment into Nigeria’s domestic seed industry.
The partnership was formalized through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed at NASC’s headquarters in Abuja.
The agreement will focus on expanding community-based seed production, strengthening seed certification and inspection, developing local seed enterprises and mobilizing investment across the seed value chain.
The partnership combines NASC’s regulatory and quality-assurance mandate with PIND’s market systems expertise and networks of Community Seed Entrepreneurs, Farm Service Providers, Business Service Providers, research institutions and private-sector partners.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, NASC Director-General, Fatuhu Muhammed, said the partnership would bring quality-assurance services closer to farmers and seed producers across the Niger Delta.
“A productive agricultural sector begins with quality seeds. By working with PIND and its networks across the Niger Delta, NASC can extend certification and inspection services to more communities, protect farmers from poor-quality planting materials and create stronger pathways for investment in Nigeria’s seed industry,” Muhammed said.
PIND Executive Director, Sam Daibo, said the partnership would help institutionalize and scale proven community-level interventions.
“Many farmers understand the value of quality seeds but cannot access certified planting materials when and where they need them. By combining NASC’s regulatory leadership with PIND’s market systems experience, we can close that gap, strengthen local seed enterprises and help farmers build more productive and commercially viable livelihoods,” Daibo said.
The partnership builds on a relationship between the two organizations dating back to 2016, when they collaborated under the Building an Economically Sustainable Seed System for Cassava programme, implemented in partnership with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and the National Root Crops Research Institute (NRCRI).
The collaboration subsequently expanded to community-based cassava seed multiplication, with NASC certifying seed plots across the Niger Delta.
Under the new agreement, NASC and PIND will expand certified community seed multiplication across the region. NASC will oversee certification and quality assurance, while PIND will provide enterprise development support, technical assistance and market linkages.
The partners will also extend NASC’s Licensed Seed Inspectors Scheme to the Niger Delta, with potential candidates drawn from PIND’s Farm Service Provider and Business Service Provider networks.
The agreement will promote domestic production of high-demand vegetable seeds, including tomato, pepper and cucumber, while expanding access to cassava, banana and yam planting materials produced through NASC’s PROSSIVA programme.
It will also support the Mastercard Foundation-funded WISE programme by enabling NASC to certify Community Seed Entrepreneurs trained to supply quality cassava planting materials to women producers across the Niger Delta.
The first major joint deliverable will be the Nigeria Seed Systems Forum 2026 in Abuja, expected to bring together policymakers, regulators, researchers, investors, seed companies, development partners and farmers to advance policy, investment and market action in the seed sector.
A Joint Technical Working Group comprising representatives of NASC and PIND will coordinate implementation and monitor progress under the agreement.
The organizations said the partnership would strengthen the link between regulation, research, enterprise development and markets, bringing certified seeds closer to farmers while supporting the development of a more commercially sustainable seed industry in Nigeria.
