AGRA has announced the launch of the Africa Digital Crop Variety Catalogue, a transformative digital platform, developed in partnership with Ministries of Agriculture, the National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS) and National Regulatory Authorities across six (6) countries. The African Digital Crop Variety Catalogue provides the first comprehensive, interactive, and searchable database of released crop varieties for the initial cohort of countries, Ethiopia, Malawi, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda.
AGRA has been working on seed systems for 20 years developing robust seed business and enabling better policies that support advanced seed systems. AGRA’s impact on Africa’s seed systems is enormous through a significant contribution to the release of 688 crop varieties released and the strengthening of 114 African seed companies.
Together with the empowerment of 38,000 Agro dealers, this is supporting 33 million farmers to access high yielding seed. “The digital seed catalogue is an important milestone to strengthen the seed market and therefore further scale high yielding and nutrient dense seed access by smallholder farmers,” said Jonathan Said, Vice President, Centre for Technical Expertise, AGRA.
This landmark innovation is developed through CESSA – the Centre of Excellence for Seed Systems in Africa, AGRA’s one-stop platform for advancing seed systems on the continent. CESSA offers an integrated suite of tools, training, data, analysis, and digital solutions aimed at ensuring equitable access to high-quality seed for farmers.
The digital catalogue addresses long-standing challenges in seed system development, particularly the fragmentation, outdatedness, and limited accessibility of national crop variety lists. Despite hundreds of improved crop varieties being developed and released in Africa over the last decade, no single, up-to-date platform existed where governments, National Agricultural Research Institutes, seed companies, and other stakeholders including non-governmental organizations, and farmer organizations could access comprehensive information on available varieties.
“In many African countries, vital data on crop varieties is incomplete, inaccessible, or absent altogether,” said Alice Ruhweza, President of AGRA. “This has hindered farmers from accessing resilient, climate-smart, and nutrient-dense crop varieties. The Africa Digital Crop Variety Catalogue fills this critical gap by offering a centralized and transparent digital resource,” added Ms. Ruhweza.
Anchored by findings of AGRA’s Seed Systems Assessment Tool (SeedSAT), the Seed investment plans and report of the Seed System Performance Index (SSPI)—which is now adopted by the African Union as a continental benchmark—the new platform reflects AGRA’s commitment to actionable, data-driven reforms in Africa’s agricultural transformation. The digital catalogue is a milestone in the implementation recommendations of the Seed Investment Plan a blue print for advancing seed systems in Africa.
The absence of such a platform has previously hampered compliance, seed quality and certification processes, and investments in seed systems, resulting in low adoption rates and a huge seed gap. Furthermore, the gap in information disproportionately affects women and young people, who often lack the networks and resources to access knowledge and business opportunities in seed systems.
“This platform is not just a digital catalogue – it is a game-changer for seed sector transparency, equity, and growth,” said Dr. Jane Ininda, Interim Director, CESSA at AGRA. “By consolidating variety data from across the continent, we’re enabling smarter investment, research prioritization, and ultimately, improved livelihoods for farmers,” added Dr. Ininda.
With this launch, AGRA calls on governments, seed companies, researchers, and development partners to adopt and contribute to the Africa Digital Crop Variety Catalogue, making it a living tool for Africa’s agricultural resilience and prosperity.
The Africa Digital Crop Variety Catalogue significantly improves agriculture and seed systems across Africa by providing an up-to-date, comprehensive list of officially released crop varieties from multiple countries. Its searchable, user-friendly interface serves breeders, regulators, seed companies, and policymakers, enabling quick access to detailed data that supports commercialisation and better decision-making in variety choices, seed production, selection, and marketing.
The platform promotes inclusivity by engaging both local and national seed stakeholders, strengthening grassroots participation. It also advances gender equity and youth inclusion by improving access to vital agricultural information for underserved groups, addressing past challenges in compliance and certification.
With this launch, AGRA calls on governments, seed companies, researchers, and development partners to adopt and contribute to the Africa Digital Crop Variety Catalogue, making it a living tool for Africa’s agricultural resilience and prosperity.
The catalogue can be accessed via https://varietycatalogues.com
