Image: Participants during the 10P multi-stakeholder meeting, Abuja, Nigeria, October 2025. Photo credit: Sahel Consulting.
Emergency seed aid is essential in times of crisis, but when delivered repeatedly without coordination, it can weaken local seed markets, limit farmer choice, and undermine long-term resilience. In Nigeria, well-intentioned interventions have created a vicious cycle of ad-hoc procurement and direct distribution that weakens commercial markets and perpetuates dependency.
In October 2025, Sahel Consulting, in partnership with Mercy Corps and SeedSystem under the Integrated Seed Sector Development in Africa (ISSD Africa) program, convened over 30 stakeholders from government, humanitarian agencies, research institutions, and the private seed sector in Abuja. Building on comprehensive research across 142 stakeholders and strategic pre-workshop engagement with seed champions, the workshop advanced the contextualization and adoption of the Ten Guiding Principles for Good Seed Aid (10P) within Nigeria’s seed system.
Developed by Mercy Corps and SeedSystem with input from with the international seed system leaders including UN FAO and supported by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), the 10P provide a practical framework to ensure seed aid strengthens, rather than disrupts, national seed systems.
Participants unanimously affirmed the relevance and timeliness of the principles for Nigeria. Three strategic directions emerged: establishing a national seed aid framework anchored in the 10P with mandatory adherence for all actors; transitioning from prolonged emergency aid to market- and community-based systems; and implementing NASC-led oversight mechanisms for transparency and coordination. Stakeholders identified six principles for priority implementation while affirming the importance of all ten.
Nigeria’s experience demonstrates how evidence-based dialogue and inclusive stakeholder engagement can transform emergency seed aid from a standalone intervention into a strategic tool for building agricultural resilience.
Read the full workshop report to explore the findings, stakeholder commitments, and actionable recommendations shaping Nigeria’s pathway toward sustainable seed systems.
Contact for more information
Sahel Consulting: zbello@sahelconsult.com
Mercy Corps: klambert@mercycorps.org
ISSD Africa: geotim@mercycorps.org