The Director-General of the National Agricultural Seed Council (NASC), Hon. Fatuhu Muhammed has identified a strong and reliable seed system as the foundation for Nigeria’s food security, saying seed accounts for about 50 per cent of agricultural production.
The NASC boss stated this in Kigali, Rwanda, on the sidelines of the 2026 Africa Food Systems Forum (AFSF), where African governments, development partners, private investors and other stakeholders are discussing strategies to accelerate food systems transformation across the continent.
Speaking on key takeaways from the forum for Nigeria, he said the discussions had reinforced the importance of investing in the seed sector as part of efforts to strengthen agricultural productivity and attract investment.
‘Anything in food security starts with seed, which takes 50 per cent of agri-production. The other 50 per cent you can share within fertilisation, irrigation, fishery and mechanisation,’ he said.
He said the AFSF had also provided an opportunity for Nigeria to engage development partners, non-governmental organisations and international institutions on investment and collaboration opportunities in the country’s seed industry.
He said discussions with the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), a long-standing partner, focused on strengthening the seed system and regulatory framework.
He added that Nigeria’s seed regulatory system had received recognition within the West African region, describing this as an opportunity to attract more international organisations and investors into certified seed production.
‘We are meeting a lot of partners, collaborating with a lot of international organisations who are willing and eager to come to Nigeria to partner with NASC towards seed production and certified seed in the Nigerian agricultural system,’ he said.
The NASC DG also identified digitalisation as a priority area for the council, saying the sector must embrace technology to meet the demands of modern agriculture.
‘I want to go to digitalisation. Let us go digital. This is for the 21st century,’ he said.
He noted that NASC had evolved from a seed unit established in 1975 into the National Agricultural Seed Council, marking about 50 years of institutional development.
He listed some achievements recorded under his leadership over the past year and three months, including Nigeria’s membership of UPOV, the gazetting of three regulations, including those relating to plant varieties, and the securing of a N50 billion catalyst fund from the Federal Government for the seed industry.
The council also used the opportunity to highlight efforts to tackle counterfeit and adulterated seeds, which remain a major challenge to agricultural productivity.
The NASC boss disclosed that the council had prosecuted about three persons for dealing in adulterated and counterfeit seeds, with one already convicted and sentenced to 18 months in prison.
He recalled that the issue of counterfeit onion seeds had previously been raised at the Federal Executive Council level, leading to further action by the council.
To strengthen consumer protection, NASC introduced the Seed Codex, a scratch-card-like identification system that enables farmers to verify the authenticity and obtain details of certified seeds.
He said the Seed Codex provides information about the breeder, expected yield per hectare and year of production.
‘Any seed that doesn’t have that tag of Seed Codex is a counterfeit,’ he said.
The NASC DG expressed concern that Nigeria still has a significant gap in the use of certified seeds, noting that only about 12 per cent of seeds used in the country are certified.
He said closing the gap was critical to achieving the food security objectives being discussed at the AFSF.
He further disclosed that Nigeria has a deficit of nearly 12.7 million metric tonnes of certified rice seed required to make the country self-sufficient in rice production.
He said increased investment, stronger partnerships, digitalisation and greater adoption of certified seeds would be critical to translating the commitments and investment opportunities discussed at AFSF into tangible improvements in Nigeria’s food system.