An Ethiopian digital solution bridges gap in access to Seeds

By Aminu Mohammed

In september and october 2024, a round of ToT sessions were organized to train participant on the the functionalities of the newly developed National Seed Information Hub. Over 90 participants from regional agriculture offices, federal entities such as the MoA seed directorate, EIAR, the Ethiopian Public Seed Enterprise, regional agriculture research institutes, public seed enterprises, unions, seed distributors, and private seed companies took part in the training. Attendees included ICT professionals, seed experts, and officials. The sessions were led by Dr. Melkamu Beyene and Aminu Mohammed from Addis Ababa University, in collaboration with ICT experts from MoA and EIAR.

Participants from over 20 organizations successfully completed the training across nine regions. This hands-on training enabled users to test and explore all aspects of the system. After mastering the platform, trainees piloted it with real data, resulting in the registration of 768 seed varieties, 39 seed producers, 66 processing sites, 45 farmlands, 2 importers, and 9 regional offices. Additionally, 39 producers and 9 regions submitted their seed production and demand data. Feedback from discussions and post-training surveys indicated that participants were pleased with the Ethio-Seed Hub’s development, appreciating its user-friendly interface and the completion of essential features for rollout. All participants committed to using the system to report seed demand for 2024.