East-West Seed, a tropical vegetable seed company with Asian as well as Dutch roots continues to remain top in the recently launched Access to Seeds Index.
Access to Seeds, an autonomous organization, which is supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Dutch govt. announced the Global Seed Index results from its Amsterdam headquarters. The Index had put East-West Seed in the top position, beating 13 other global seed firms on their commitment and performance in offering smallholder farmers all over the world access to quality seeds.
In November 2018, the South and Southeast Asia Index was launched which also positioned East-West Seed at number 1 amongst 24 firms surveyed. This has brought four straight #1 positions for the Asia-based company, continuing its good performance.
If we look at the measurement areas of the Index, the company earns the highest score in Research and Development (R&D) due to its wide breeding programs including a huge number of local crops. East-West Seed also leads in Marketing and Sales because of its widespread distribution channels and availability of seeds in small packaging that are easy to get and reasonable to smallholders.
In addition, it scores high in the Seed Production measurement area owing to its partnership with smallholder cultivators, who account for 95 percent of its output.
Access to Seeds intends to shine a light on how seed companies can intensify efforts to improve access to quality seeds of enhanced varieties for smallholder farmers. It considers seed companies as an important partner in efforts to increase smallholder farmer output and achieve food and nutrition security.
