Results and impact of the
Access to Seeds Index 2019
The Hague, 4 July 2019

Access to Seeds Index: incentivizing the seed industry
to improve access to modern plant breeding for smallholder farmers
• Initiated by The Netherlands in
2012
• Officially launched at 38th FAO
Ministers Conference in 2013
• First Access to Seeds Index
(2016) covered 26 companies
• Second edition (2019) covered
60 companies across 65 countries

UN Agencies: numbers of people suffering from malnutrition are on
the rise, because of effects of climate change on agriculture
Number of undernourished people
2005-2017 (millions)
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900
1000
1 2 3 4 5 6
World:
on the rise
Asia:
standstill
Africa:
on the rise
Latin America:
standstill
UN agencies (2018):
• Help farmers to adapt to climate change
• Improve access to new crop varieties

November 2018
South and
Southeast Asia
Eastern &
Southern Africa
Latin
America
Western &
Central Africa
South &
Southeast Asia
March 2019
Eastern &
Southern Africa
April 2019
Western &
Central Africa
The FAO report increased urgency and momentum for the Access to
Seeds Index studies, published from November 2018 to April 2019
January 2019
Global seed
companies in all
four regions

Access to Seeds Index 2019 covers 62 seed companies,
including 45 SME’s from regions themselves
Source: Access to Seeds Index 2019 – Synthesis Report

Access to Seeds Index: unique resource in the public domain
on seed industry performance in the global south
Individual scorecards of 62 companies
in active in the global south
Performance of the global seed industry
and regional industry in three key regions
Presence and portfolio of companies
across 65 countries in the global south
https://www.accesstoseeds.org

Landscaping
Improve transparency of the industry
Partnerships
Help to create public-private partnerships
Dialogue
Provide an evidence base for dialogue
Benchmark
Reward leadership, encourage improvements
Objectives of the
Access to Seeds Index

The Access to Seeds Index is produced
in a three-year learning cycle
1.
2.
3.

Farmer Roundtables 2016: “Climate changes drives our growing
need for improved seed; we need to partner with seed companies”
Western and
Central Africa
South and
Southeast Asia
Eastern and
Southern Africa
Hanoi, August 2016 Ouagadougou, October 2016 Johannesburg, October 2016
https://www.accesstoseeds.org/climate-change-drives-need-improved-access-quality-seeds/

The Index methodology assesses company activities
in seven areas, developed with 25 experts from all regions
10%
10%
10%
20%
10%
20%
20%
Governance & Strategy
Genetic Resources
Intellectual Property
Research & Development
Seed Production
Marketing & Sales
Capacity Building
Commitment
20%
Performance
60%
Leadership
10%
Transparency
10%
https://www.accesstoseeds.org/foundation/expert-review-committee/https://www.accesstoseeds.org/methodology/

1 East-West Seed
(THA-Private)
2 Bayer
(DEU-Listed)
3 Syngenta
(CHE-Private)
4 Advanta
(ARE-Listed)
5 Corteva Agriscience
(USA - Listed)
6 Acsen HyVeg
(IND-Private)
7 Namdhari Seeds
(IND-Private)
8 Limagrain
(FRA-Cooperative/Listed)
9 Nuziveedu Seeds
(IND-Private)
10 Monsanto
(USA-Listed)
11 BRAC Seed & Agro Enterprise
(BGD-Social Enterprise)
12 Metahelix Life Sciences Ltd
(IND-Listed)
13 Lal Teer Seed
(BGD-Listed)
14 Kalash Seed
(IND-Private)
15 Known-You Seed
(TWN-Private)
16 Vinaseed
(VNM-Listed)
17 Charoen Pokphand
(THA-Private)
18 Takii
(JPN-Private)
19 Mahyco
(IND-Private)
20 Sakata
(JPN-Listed)
21 National Seeds Corporation
(IND-State-owned)
22 Punjab Seed Corporation
(PAK-State-owned)
23 Nongwoo Bio
(KOR-Listed)
24 Bioseed
(IND-Private)
Only top 10 is shown. For full rankings: https://www.accesstoseeds.org/the-index/
1 East African Seed
(KEN-Private)
2 Seed Co
(ZAF-Listed)
3 East-West Seed
(THA-Private)
4 Corteva Agriscience
(USA-Listed)
5 Syngenta
(CHE - Private)
6 Victoria Seeds
(UGA-Private)
7 NASECO
(UGA-Private)
8 Equator Seeds
(UGA-Private)
9 Ethiopian Agricultural
Business Corporation
(ETH-State owned)
10 FICA Seeds
(UGA-Private)
11 Technisem
(FRA-Private)
12 Pop Vriend Seeds
(NLD-Private)
13 Demeter Seed
(MWI-Private)
14 Kenya Seed Company
(KEN-Private)
15 Monsanto*
(USA-Listed)
16 Kenya Highland Seed
(KEN-Private)
17 Capstone Seeds
(ZAF-Private)
18 Klein Karoo Africa
(ZAF-Private)
19 Zamseed
(ZAM-Private)
20 Darusalam Seed Company
(SOM-Private)
21 Starke Ayres
(ZAF-Private)
22 Hygrotech
(ZAF-Private)
1 Value Seeds
(NGA-Private)
2.85
2.52
2.48
2.39
2.21
2.15
2.11
2.11
1.97
1.82
1.82
1.57
2 Technisem
(FRA-Private)
3 East-West Seed
(THA-Private)
4 Syngenta
(CHE-Private)
5 Tropicasem
(SEN - Private)
6 Maslaha Seeds
(NGA-Private)
7 Seed Co
(ZAF-Listed)
8 Semagri
(CMR-Private)
9 Nankosem
(USA-Listed)
10 Corteva Agriscience
(UGA-Private)
11 Premier Seed
(NGA-Private)
12 Da-Allgreen Seeds
(NGA-Private)
0 1 2 3 4 5
South and Southeast Asia:
• 5 Global companies in top 10;
• 5 from region (three from India)
Eastern & Southern Africa:
• 2 regional companies lead,
• 7 from region in top 10
Western & Central Africa:
• Nigerian comp. leads ranking;
• 5 from the region in top 10
Rankings demonstrate the key role of regional
companies for improving access to seeds

South and Southeast Asia:
Companies reach only 20% of smallholders;
most companies focus adoption strategies on just a few countries
Country
India
Bangladesh
Indonesia
Philippines
Thailand
Vietnam
Cambodia
Myanmar
Pakistan
Sri Lanka
Laos
Nepal
Afghanistan
Companies
15
9
8
6
6
5
3
3
3
3
1
1
0
South and
Southeast Asia
Number of companies
with capacity building
activities
6
9
10
12
15
15
16
17
17
18
18
20
15
21
Myanmar
Pakistan
Sri Lanka
Laos
Nepal
Afghanistan
Number of companies with capacity building programs
Number of companies present
3
3
3
1
1
0
India
Bangladesh
Indonesia
Philippines
Thailand
Vietnam
Cambodia
9
8
6
6
5
3
Sales is often not
accompanied by
capacity building
Source: Key findings, Access to Seeds Index for South and Southeast Asia 2019

Eastern and Southern Africa:
Companies have a broad sales portfolio
but focus breeding primarily on maize
Number of companies with
breeding programs for crops
Maize
Beans, dry
Soybean
Tomato
Sorghum
Wheat
Onion
Watermelon
Pumpkin
Okra
Pepper (hot)
Pepper (sweet)
Green bean
11
5
5
5
4
4
4
4
4
3
3
3
3
Field crop
Legumes
Vegetable
Source: Key Findings, Access to Seeds Index for Eastern and Southern Africa 2019
Crops found in company portfolios
Vegetables Field crops
Legumes
Tomato
Onion
Cabbage
Watermelon
Pepper (hot)
Pepper (sweet)
Carrot
Eggplant
Pumpkin
Okra
Cucumber
Lettuce
Melon
Cauliflower
Squash
Green bean
Green pea
Gourd
14 5
14 5
13 5
13 5
13 5
12 5
12 5
12 5
12 5
11 5
10 5
10 5
9 5
9 5
9 5
9 5
9 3
2 3
Maize
Sorghum
Millets
Rice
Sunflower
Wheat
Sesame
Potato
Soybean
Dry Beans
Groundnut
Cowpea
Pigeon pea
Chickpea
13 3
13 3
8 2
7 2
7 1
1
5 3
5
1 2
11 3
10 2
9 1
7 3
1
15
2
Global companies
Regional companies

Western and Central Africa:
Diversity of seed industry players
has potential to release new varieties across all countries…
Origin of homegrown
seed companies
Presence global seed
companies
Presence seed-producing
cooperatives
Source: www.accesstoseeds.org/publications
Companies
16
14
13
12
12
11
11
8
7
6
6
6
5
5
4
3
2
2
2
1
1
1
F ebru ary, 2 0 1 8
Landscaping study for the
R eg ional Access to Seeds Index
for Western & Central Africa
Coordinated under the supervision of
Mr. Yacouba Diallo, Bamako, Mali
Commissioned by the Access to Seeds
Foundation
Identifying Leading Seed
Companies in Western and
Central Africa
January 2 0 1 9
Bridg ing the g apbetween the
world’s leading seed companies
and the smallholder farmer
Access to Seeds
Index 2019
Global Seed
Companies

Western and Central Africa:
…however, only eight African companies and three global companies
are involved in breeding, resulting in outdated portfolio
Source: Access to Seeds Index for Western and Central Africa 2019
From African continent From outside the continent
Age of
youngest
variety (% )
21
31
48
12
88
Source of
varieties
Almost 50% of portfolio
of regional companies
older than 5 years
Companies breeding in Western and Central Africa

Daily Nation, Kenya
Saturday Nation, KenyaThe Guardian, Nigeria
ANC Morning Show, The Phillipines
RTS1 20H News, Senegal
The Access to Seeds Index 2019 was covered by over 450 media
outlets worldwide, including in-depth background stories
Business Standard, India
https://www.accesstoseeds.org/category/in-the-media/

Advanta Seeds,
Emirates
(twitter, websites,
brochures)
East African Seed,
Kenya
(AFSTA congress,
Nairobi)
Value Seeds,
Nigeria
East West Seeds,
Thailand
(Roadsign, India)
Syngenta,
Switzerland
(website)
Bayer,
Germany
(Press release)
Demeter Seed,
Malawi
(website)
Nuziveedu Seeds,
India
(website)
Punjab Seed
Corporation,
Pakistan
(press release)
After two cycles, the Index is widely accepted as an
accountability standard in the industry

Feedback by relevant stakeholders
on the Access to Seeds Index
“For achieving food and nutrition security
there is a continued need to measure the
performance of the seed sector. We are
fortunate that professional initiatives like the
Access to Seeds Index are already
contributing to that path.”
“The Access to Seeds Index identified
potential partners that were not yet on
our radar screen”
“The Access to Seeds Index is an
excellent initiative that helps farmers
understand the seed companies working
in their region”
“We want a long-term partnership with
the Access to Seeds Index as it is a unique
source of information on the seed
industry in the global south”
“Finally an initiative that recognizes the
indigenous power of the West African
seed sector”
”Relevant source for new products
focusing on global food system
transformation”

2019 Indian Seed Congress build
around Access to Seeds Index findings
(Indian Council of Food and Agriculture)
Relevance of prize underlined with
insights Access to Seeds Index
(Reuters)
Unique source on the contribution to
nutrition targets by the seed industry
(GAIN)
Seen as an authority worldwide on access to seeds for
smallholder farmers/performance of the seed industry
ATSI insights included in assessment
of African growth potential
(AU EU Taskforce)
“Lessons from Access to Seeds Index
for improving Thai seed sector”
(Thai National Science & Technology
Development Agency, Bangkok)
”What can Nigeria learn from ATSI to
become West Africa’s seed hub”
(SeedConnect Congress, Abudja)

Industry experts agree:
Access to Seeds Index changed the agenda of the industry
“The Access to Seeds Index
changed the global industry in
a lasting way”

Landscaping
Improve transparency of the industry
Partnerships
Help to create public-private partnerships
Dialogue
Provide an evidence base for dialogue
Benchmark
Reward leadership, encourage improvements
Access to Seeds Index has met most objectives,
but building partnerships requires a broader coalition

www.accesstoseeds.org