The Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Legacy Crop Improvement Centre (LCIC), Dr Amos Rutherford Azinu, has called on Ghana to urgently adopt India’s seed cluster development model, describing it as a tested and effective route to achieving food security, empowering farmers, and modernising agriculture.
Speaking after participating in the India–Africa Seed Summit held in Hyderabad, Dr. Azinu said the experience offered valuable lessons on how purposeful policy choices, innovation, and collaboration can rapidly transform agricultural systems in developing economies.
The summit brought together policymakers, researchers, private sector players, and farmers to examine sustainable solutions for Africa’s food systems, with India’s seed industry emerging as a standout case study.
Dr Azinu noted that India’s progress is especially compelling given its history. By 2025, the country had risen to become the world’s fifth-largest seed economy, a sharp contrast to the food shortages and famines it endured only decades ago.
Central to this transformation is Hyderabad, widely recognised as India’s “Seed Capital” and a key contributor to regional food security. According to Dr Azinu, the city’s success is the result of a deliberate clustering strategy rather than chance.
He explained that the state of Telangana now produces more than 60 per cent of India’s seed requirements, supported by an ecosystem that brings together over 400 seed companies and globally respected research institutions such as the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) and the Indian Institute of Millets Research.
This concentration of research, capital, infrastructure, and skilled professionals, he said, allows innovations to move quickly from laboratories to farmers’ fields, while also ensuring efficiency in production and distribution.
For Ghana and other African countries, Dr Azinu argued that the key lesson lies in focus. Instead of dispersing limited resources across wide areas, he said governments should develop well-planned agricultural clusters in strategic locations to accelerate impact.
He also pointed to India’s structured seed multiplication system—comprising Breeder, Foundation, and Certified Seeds—as a critical pillar of success. This three-tier framework, reinforced by OECD-standard certification, digital tracking, and full traceability, ensures seed quality, genetic purity, and farmer confidence.
In regions where counterfeit agricultural inputs remain widespread, Dr Azinu stressed that such certification systems are vital not only for protecting farmers but also for strengthening markets and improving incomes.
India’s achievements, he added, are underpinned by strong public–private collaboration. While public research institutions such as the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) develop the majority of seed varieties, private companies dominate production, particularly in high-value crops like vegetables.
The integration of digital technologies has further strengthened the system. By 2025, India was deploying artificial intelligence in precision agriculture to boost yields, alongside blockchain-based traceability and rapid seed testing methods.
Dr Azinu described this as a major opportunity for Africa to leapfrog traditional development pathways by adopting advanced systems without decades of gradual change.
Crucially, he said India’s model is designed with smallholder farmers in mind, making it especially relevant to African contexts where farming is often conducted on marginal land. Hybrid crops such as maize and cotton, he noted, have already proven successful in agro-climatic conditions similar to those across the continent.
With India’s seed industry projected to reach $7 billion by 2030, Dr Azinu said the growth reflects strong institutional foundations rather than short-term gains.
For Ghana, he outlined key priorities, including the development of agricultural clusters, rigorous quality assurance regimes, deeper public–private partnerships, investment in digital agriculture, and inclusive policies that place smallholder farmers at the heart of reform.
“The challenge of global food security is not just about producing more seeds,” Dr Azinu said. “It is about building smart systems that can transform agriculture from subsistence into a strategic economic engine.”
He added that Hyderabad’s success offers a clear blueprint for developing nations willing to align innovation with policy and inclusion. “The model exists,” he said. “What remains is the decision to act.”
