12 I EUROPEAN SEED I EUROPEAN-SEED.COM AFSTA Secretary General Justin handing out membership certificate to a new AFSTA member. P rior to the year 2000, the African continent did not have an umbrella body that could collectively be the voice of the seed industry. Something had to be done about it and hence, after several meetings and consul- tations among key seed stakeholders, the African Seed Trade Association known as “AFSTA” was born. Its mandate from the start was clear: to promote the seed trade in order to improve the seed supply to farmers by advocating an enabling environ- ment to address the issues affecting seed trade at the national, regional and international level. That was 18 years ago. Today, what began with a single soul at the Secretariat has grown with leaps and bounds, recording unimagined milestones as it possesses a large foot print on the African seed industry. OUR MANAGEMENT The management is composed of the Executive Committee that comprises of the current president, the vice-president and the past president and seven board members from different geo- graphical regions of Africa and two from outside Africa. The AFSTA Secretariat, which has six staff members is located in Nairobi, Kenya. Given that the association operates under focused inter- ventions, various committees have been formed. These include Communication and Advocacy (with a sub-committee on Plant Biotech Communication and Advocacy); Partnership and Member Services; Audit; Plant Breeding Innovation and West Africa - to address issues related to the African seed industry. The journey has seen AFSTA facilitate initiatives that have sup- ported seed companies to consistently produce and trade high quality certified seed in Africa. Charisma, they say, takes you into the house, but add cred- ibility and it makes you stay in the house. Indeed, our credibil- ity and consistency have worked ways for us to the top. Today AFSTA is recognized as the apex body that bears the face of African seed industry. AFSTA’s approach focuses on working in partnership with research institutions, regional economic communities, seed experts, governments and development partners to improve access to quality seed by farmers in Africa. There is foreseen investment in the current running initiatives as well as focus on strengthening the use of quality seed for better yields. BRINGING MEMBERS TOGETHER The AFSTA annual congress has remained a key annual event on the calendar of the African seed industry, offering unique opportunities for enhancing existing business relationships and creating new ones. It has also remained a major networking avenue for members and non-members. The congress provides an avenue for the members to meet and share experiences on AFSTA OUTLINES ITS ROLE IN PROVIDING THE VOICE OF THE SEED INDUSTRY IN AFRICA. BY: AGHAN DANIEL Charisma takes you into the house, credibility makes you stay. what they do at the national seed trade association in a meeting known as ‘Seed Companies Meeting’. Further to that, the Annual General Meeting is held within the precincts of the Congress where plans and budgets for the next 12 months are discussed and agreed upon. Here the audited finan- cial report is discussed, and all issues resolved paving way for the upcoming years’ expenditure. It is AFSTA’s deliberate purpose to bring together, each year, colleagues, business partners, suppliers, mass media, customers and connections from other industries that orbit around and have complementary relationships with the seed industry. Congresses in AFSTA have therefore become an important rendezvous to clinch concrete business deals and this has formed the bedrock of our congress. Through the congress, we have been to nearly every region of Africa during the eighteen years of AFSTA’s existence. Currently, AFSTA has a membership comprising of 26 National Seed Trade Associations (NSTAs), with an individual seed company membership of about 115 in total. These members come from all over the world. Africa alone is said to be home to nearly 500 seed companies. PARTNERSHIPS AFSTA’s 2017 - 2022 strategic plan is a blueprint for improvement in the provision of member services with a priority focus on pro- motion of Plant Breeding, Intellectual Property Protection and Advocacy on removing seed trade barriers. AFSTA seeks to build on COMESA’s success of Harmonizing Seed Trade Regulations and expand this regionally.