East-West Seed rises to #2 in 2021 Access to Seeds Index for Western and Central Africa

The 2021 WCA index was published on September 21st, 2021 by the World Benchmarking Alliance (WBA), an ally of the ATSI Foundation. The WBA is a non-profit organization seeking to generate a movement around increasing the private sector's impact towards a sustainable future for all. The ATSI foundation is an independent, non-profit organization based in The Netherlands that evaluates and compares seed companies according to their efforts to improve access to quality seeds of improved varieties for smallholder farmers.

You can view the scorecard for East-West Seed here, or see below for a summary.

East-West Seed’s leading practices

In the 2021 WCA Index scorecard, East-West Seed was ranked highest among the 32 seed companies evaluated in the region in two measurement areas; governance and strategy, and research and development. ATSI also highlighted the company’s leading practices in sales and marketing and capacity building as key drivers of its ranking.

For governance and strategy, ATSI highlighted East-West Seed’s approach to ensuring access to seeds for smallholder farmers is a focus, right from the top of the organization. ATSI also commended East-West Seed’s stakeholder engagement in the region, where the company works with key stakeholders and integrates the outcomes of these engagements into its access to seeds strategy for smallholder farmers.

In the research and development measurement area, ATSI said East-West Seed’s own breeding program in Benin and investment in building the capacity of local research staff in the region is a leading practice. ATSI also highlighted the company’s commitment to the development of traits particularly important for smallholder farmers, such as early maturing crops and improved nutritional value through local trials and breeding programs.

Reach in remote areas and the use of technology

For sales and marketing, ATSI highlighted East-West Seed’s “well-developed quality management systems and its reach into remote areas across the Western and Central Africa region”.

In the capacity building category, ATSI highlighted East-West Seed and its Knowledge Transfer Foundation’s services throughout the region. These included innovative approaches including programmes for next-generation farmers and programmes aimed at advancing the use of information and communication technology (ICT) among smallholder farmers.

Top 3 in all 7 Indices since 2016

Since 2019, ATSI focuses on 4 Indices, ranking companies in the regions of Western and Central Africa, Eastern and Southern Africa, South and South-east Asia and a Global Index.

East-West Seed has ranked first in 4 out of the last 7 Indexes by ATSI, and in the top three places in the rest.

The history of East-West Seed’s ATSI rankings since 2016