Counterfeit seeds threaten African farmers’ crops and climate resilience: Study

Researchers studying 50 African countries found wide gaps between government policies against counterfeit seeds and actual enforcement, largely due to limited regulatory capacity. Counterfeiters repackage or dye ordinary grain to pass it off as certified, climate-resilient seed, which can sell for several times the price of plain grain.

Cornell's Ed Mabaya explained that because planting happens once a season, a farmer who buys fake seed usually only discovers the fraud after it fails to germinate, by which point replanting is impossible and the loss is the whole season's food and income. The deception also erodes trust in legitimate improved seeds, discouraging farmers from adopting drought-tolerant or fortified varieties even when they're real.

Recommended fixes include routine market sampling, mandatory reporting from seed companies, farmer education campaigns, and updated, enforced penalties, none of which currently exist consistently across the countries studied.

The full dispatch is available from the source below.