By Awyetu Asabe Hope
A Kano-based agribusiness firm, Seed Project Company Limited, rebranded as SeedPro Africa, has unveiled a vegetable seed processing facility aimed at boosting local tomato and pepper seed production and reducing reliance on imports.
The firm also announced plans to introduce six new tomato and pepper seed varieties into the Nigerian market.
The firm’s Chief Executive Officer, Dr Zainab Gwadabe, disclosed this on Saturday during the company’s 20th anniversary celebration in Kano, where it also launched a home gardening kit to support household food production.
Gwadabe said the facility, described as the first of its kind in Nigeria, would process and package locally produced vegetable seeds, helping farmers cushion the impact of foreign exchange volatility on agricultural inputs.
She said the six new varieties include four tomato types and two pepper types developed to address climate and nutrition challenges.
“Two of the tomato varieties are heat-tolerant and suitable for wet-season production, while the other two are bio-fortified with beta carotene. The pepper varieties are also heat-tolerant,” she said.
Gwadabe added that SeedPro Africa plans to introduce more seed varieties before the end of the year as part of efforts to reduce seed importation and protect farmers from dollar fluctuations.
Also speaking, the Senior Portfolio Officer of the Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund (AECF), Mr Michael Adibe, said the organisation was partnering with SeedPro Africa under its Investing in Women Nigeria project, in collaboration with Kano State Ministries of Agriculture and Commerce.
Adibe said AECF funded seed multiplication and processing, adding that the processing machines and greenhouse launched at the event were sponsored by the fund.
The AECF official said SeedPro Africa currently works with about 5,000 farmers engaged in seed multiplication, many of them women, who receive farm tools, inputs and technical training.
He said the partnership, which runs from December 2024 to November 2027, targets reaching 5,000 women farmers and producing up to 10 metric tonnes of seeds annually.