The Program for Seed System Innovation for Vegetatively Propagated Crops in Africa (PROSSIVA), with a renewed focus on scaling seed innovations across Africa, is advancing efforts to strengthen Ghana’s yam seed system by promoting innovative propagation technologies, building stakeholder linkages, and supporting the transition to a more formal and resilient seed system. These efforts reached an important milestone at the National Yam Advocacy Summit, held on 6 August 2026 in Accra, following a high-level engagement with Ghana’s Minister of Food and Agriculture, Hon. Eric Opoku, on 5 August.
During the ministerial engagement, the PROSSIVA team explained how Leaf Bud Cutting (LBC) technology can rapidly multiply high-quality planting materials for yam production. The Minister welcomed the technology as a promising and practical innovation, expressing interest in deploying it in Ghana to boost farmers’ productivity and livelihoods. He emphasized, however, that increased production must be matched with strong export and processing market linkages to ensure farmers can profitably absorb the gains from improved productivity.
Convened by PROSSIVA, an IITA-led initiative, in collaboration with Ghana’s Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA), the National Yam Advocacy Summit brought together regulators, policymakers, researchers, seed enterprises, farmers, processors, exporters, development partners, investors, and other actors across the yam value chain. The summit provided a national platform to showcase the LBC technique and other innovations that can improve the availability, quality, and affordability of planting materials while strengthening linkages among value chain actors.
Yams are a major food and economic crop in Ghana, supporting thousands of households and contributing to domestic and export markets. However, limited access to quality planting materials, low multiplication rates, high seed costs, pest and disease pressures, and inconsistent seed quality continue to constrain productivity. The summit, therefore, focused on innovations to address these constraints and unlock greater potential within the yam sector.
Delivering the keynote address on behalf of the Minister, the National Coordinator of the Feed Ghana Program, Hon. Bright Demordzi, highlighted yams’ strategic importance to Ghana’s agricultural economy, noting that the country produces more than 11 million metric tonnes annually and recorded approximately US$48 million in yam exports in 2021. He added that successful national adoption of the LBC technique for yam multiplication would further strengthen the sector by boosting productivity, improving farmers’ incomes, and contributing to Ghana’s broader agricultural development agenda.
Against this backdrop, the summit showcased the LBC technique as a method with the potential to rapidly multiply high-quality planting materials while reducing certain risks associated with conventional seed production. Dr Beatrice Aighewi, Lead of the Yam Component of PROSSIVA, highlighted the potential of vine-based propagation to reduce the risk of soil-borne disease spread, support faster multiplication, enable year-round production, facilitate the rapid dissemination of improved yam varieties, and create opportunities to increase the value of yam production.
During her presentation on PROSSIVA, Project Lead Dr Delphine Amah highlighted the project’s three focus crops and their respective innovations, including Semi-Autotrophic Hydroponics (SAH) for cassava and macropropagation for plantain seed production. She also spotlighted SeedTracker for traceability and market linkages. The presentation generated interest beyond yam, with state representatives and other participants seeking information on the availability and application of PROSSIVA’s cassava and banana technologies. This response underscored the relevance and practical potential of the project’s innovative approaches to addressing persistent challenges in the production of vegetatively propagated crops.
Through two focused panel discussions, stakeholders examined how to move quality seed yam innovations from research to widespread adoption and stimulate demand through markets, investment, and enterprise. The discussions highlighted that scaling up improved seed technologies must go hand in hand with stronger market linkages, private-sector investment, and viable business opportunities across the yam value chain. Stakeholders noted that the high cost of planting material remains a major constraint for farmers but emphasized that wider adoption of improved multiplication technologies could substantially reduce these costs while expanding access to quality seed yams.
The strong interest from participants was evident in their inquiries about the availability and practical applications of PROSSIVA’s yam, cassava, and banana technologies, underscoring the relevance and potential of the project’s innovative approaches to addressing persistent challenges in vegetatively propagated crops. The Program emerged as a timely opportunity to scale these innovations, linking improved seed technologies and productivity gains to the country’s broader food security and agricultural transformation agenda.
The National Yam Advocacy Summit marks the start of a broader collaborative effort towards scaling innovative seed technologies in Ghana. Building on the momentum from the Summit, CGIAR-NARS research institutions, the private sector, and other value-chain actors will work together to strengthen capacity, expand demonstrations, and create the market and institutional linkages needed to scale seed system innovations.
Contributed by
Isaac Ajayi, Francisca Ocloo, Beatrice Aighewi, Delphine Amah, and Daniel Aihebhoria
Recent stories
Facts Only
* The Program for Seed System Innovation for Vegetatively Propagated Crops in Africa (PROSSIVA) focuses on scaling seed innovations across Africa.
* The efforts aim to strengthen Ghana’s yam seed system through innovative propagation technologies and stakeholder linkages.
* A high-level engagement occurred between the PROSSIVA team and Ghana’s Minister of Food and Agriculture, Hon. Eric Opoku, on August 5, 2026.
* The National Yam Advocacy Summit was held in Accra on August 6, 2026.
* Leaf Bud Cutting (LBC) technology was explained as a method to rapidly multiply high-quality yam planting materials.
* The Minister expressed interest in deploying LBC to boost farmer productivity and livelihoods, contingent upon strong export and processing market linkages.
* The National Yam Advocacy Summit involved regulators, policymakers, researchers, seed enterprises, farmers, processors, exporters, development partners, and investors.
* Constraints in the yam sector include limited access to quality planting materials, low multiplication rates, high seed costs, pest/disease pressures, and inconsistent seed quality.
* Dr. Beatrice Aighewi highlighted that vine-based propagation can reduce soil-borne disease spread and facilitate faster multiplication.
* Project Lead Dr. Delphine Amah spotlighted Semi-Autotrophic Hydroponics (SAH) for cassava and macropropagation for plantain seed production, along with SeedTracker for traceability.
* Stakeholders discussed scaling innovations requires market linkages, private investment, and viable business opportunities.
Executive Summary
The Program for Seed System Innovation for Vegetatively Propagated Crops in Africa (PROSSIVA) is advancing efforts to improve Ghana's yam seed system by promoting propagation technologies and strengthening stakeholder linkages. This initiative reached a milestone at the National Yam Advocacy Summit on August 6, 2026, following an engagement with Ghana’s Minister of Food and Agriculture on August 5. During this meeting, Leaf Bud Cutting (LBC) technology was presented as a method to rapidly multiply high-quality yam planting materials. The Minister expressed interest in deploying LBC but stressed the necessity of linking increased production with strong export and processing market linkages for farmers to realize profitable gains.
The summit convened regulators, policymakers, researchers, seed enterprises, farmers, processors, exporters, and investors across the yam value chain to showcase innovations like LBC that improve planting material availability, quality, and affordability. Challenges facing the Ghanaian yam sector include limited access to quality planting materials, low multiplication rates, high seed costs, pest/disease pressures, and inconsistent seed quality. Experts highlighted that vine-based propagation, such as LBC, offers benefits by reducing soil-borne disease risk, enabling faster multiplication, facilitating year-round production, and spreading improved varieties. Stakeholders discussed the need for scaling these innovations through market linkages, private investment, and enterprise development to reduce planting material costs for farmers.
Full Take
The narrative frames the transition of agricultural innovation from a research-based concept to systemic economic transformation. The central tension lies between technological potential—demonstrated by LBC and other methods for rapid multiplication and risk reduction—and the structural barriers of market access, investment, and cost absorption faced by end-users, specifically farmers. The focus on linking productivity gains directly to export markets and private investment suggests an implicit critique of siloed, purely research-driven development models.
A significant pattern emerges around the necessity of linkage: innovations are presented as inherently valuable only when they integrate into existing economic structures (markets, processing). This moves the discussion beyond mere technical feasibility to systemic implementation challenges. The interest shown for cassava and banana technologies by state representatives signals that the value proposition is transferable, suggesting a potential paradigm shift from sector-specific solutions to integrated value chain strengthening.
The structure suggests a move toward collaborative scaling where scientific knowledge (PROSSIVA) must be operationalized through institutional alignment (MoFA collaboration) and economic incentives (market demand). The implication for human agency is that the ability to realize productivity gains is not solely dependent on technological adoption but equally contingent on establishing robust contractual and investment frameworks. What is missing is a deeper examination of the historical failure points in previous seed system transitions, and what specific institutional mechanisms are required to ensure market linkages materialize rather than remaining aspirational goals at summits.
Bridge Questions: If market linkages are the primary bottleneck identified by stakeholders, what concrete policy instruments can be implemented immediately to force the integration of LBC adoption with export contracts? How do different investment vehicles—public vs. private—balance the high upfront costs associated with adopting new propagation methods across diverse African agricultural contexts? What longitudinal data exists on whether technology dissemination alone reliably translates into sustained income improvements without concurrent market access?