PIND, NASC sign two-year deal to expand certified seed access for Niger Delta farmers
The National Agricultural Seed Council (NASC) and the Foundation for Partnership Initiatives in the Niger Delta (PIND) have signed a two-year agreement to expand access to certified seeds and quality planting materials for farmers in the Niger Delta.
The organisations signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) at NASC’s corporate headquarters in Abuja on Thursday.
The partnership will focus on expanding community-based seed production, strengthening certification and inspection, developing local seed enterprises and attracting investment into Nigeria’s domestic seed industry.
The agreement 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.
Fatuhu Muhammed, NASC director-general, said the partnership would bring quality assurance services closer to farmers and seed producers.
“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,” he said.
Sam Daibo, PIND executive director, said the agreement would help move proven community-level interventions to institutional adoption and scale.
“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 MoU formalises a collaboration between the organisations dating back to 2016 through the Building an Economically Sustainable Seed System for Cassava programme, implemented with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and the National Root Crops Research Institute (NRCRI).
The collaboration later expanded into community-based cassava seed multiplication, with NASC certifying seed plots across the Niger Delta.
Under the new agreement, NASC and PIND will expand NASC-certified community seed multiplication across the region.
NASC will lead certification and quality assurance, while PIND will provide support for enterprise development, technical assistance and market linkages.
The partners will also extend NASC’s Licensed Seed Inspectors Scheme to the Niger Delta, with potential candidates to be drawn from PIND’s Farm Service Provider and Business Service Provider networks.
The agreement will also promote domestic seed production for high-demand vegetables such as tomato, pepper and cucumber.
It will further expand access to cassava, banana and yam planting materials produced through NASC’s PROSSIVA programme.
The partnership will 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 under the partnership will be the Nigeria Seed Systems Forum 2026 in Abuja.
The forum will bring together policymakers, regulators, researchers, investors, seed companies, development partners and farmers to advance policy, investment and market action in Nigeria’s seed sector.
A joint technical working group comprising representatives of NASC and PIND will coordinate implementation and monitor progress under the agreement.
The organisations said the partnership would strengthen links between regulation, research, enterprise development and markets, while bringing certified seeds closer to farmers and building a more commercially sustainable seed industry.
