Burkina Faso
December 16, 2022
The National Center for Specialization in Fruits and Vegetables (CNS-FL) of Burkina Faso welcomed, from November 30 to December 3, 2022, some twenty representatives of seed companies of the country. They came to learn the basic principles and concepts required to produce seeds for vegetable crops. This training is the first of two programmed by the SAFEVEG project to strengthen the capacities of seed companies in this Sahel country.
Training is the first of two programmed by the SAFEVEG project to strengthen the capacities of seed companies in this Sahel country. Photo: Marcel Beria/WorldVeg
Coming from all the horizons of this vast country, the seed trainees who were carefully selected among the seed companies already involved in the production of vegetable seeds or which ambition to do so received theoretical training on the knowledge of the seed law, the technical itineraries of vegetable seeds production of the priority crops of SAFEVEG project, marketing, and commercialization and then a practical training in the field, focused on the recognition of pests and the measures to be taken in case of occurrence.
For Mr. Léopold Zinsonni, national president of seed entrepreneurs in Burkina, who welcomed the initiative of the SAFEVEG project, this intense 3-day training allowed all learners to strengthen their knowledge in seed production, “This will boost our business and the whole seed system of Burkina Faso. We could now provide producers with better quality and more efficient seeds.”
It is important to note that the seed sector in the field of market gardening in Burkina Faso is lagging behind compared to the cereal sector, for example. Most of the vegetable seeds used in the country come from outside. This poses the problem of conservation not only during transportation but also during storage. Finally, the quality of the seeds is strongly altered, which considerably reduces productivity, not to mention the important currency outflow for the country.
As a reminder, the SAFEVEG project financed by the European Union and the Kingdom of the Netherlands includes three countries: Benin, Mali and Burkina Faso. It aims to increase vegetable consumption in urban and peri-urban areas of the three target countries in order to reduce undernourishment, improve the income and productivity of small-scale producers, particularly women and youth, and extend sustainable land use.
Topics
Species
