Seeds of Expertise for the Vegetable Sector of Africa (SEVIA)

Seeds of Expertise for the Vegetable Sector of Africa (SEVIA) is a private-sector driven project that started in 2013, based on cooperation of two vegetable seed companies (East-West Seed and Rijk Zwaan), a department of Wageningen University and the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In Tanzania, SEVIA collaborates with public and private sector partners, including the Tanzanian Horticulture Association. SEVIA aims to contribute to the development of the vegetable industry in Africa by testing existing genetic resources for Africa and breeding improved African vegetable varieties, and to increasing food security by developing and disseminating adapted technical innovations that enhance productivity and increase farmers’ income. Demonstrations in farmers’ fields are at the ‘heart’ of this project: SEVIA shows farmers – in different regions of Tanzania – how they can improve the cultivation practice, to increase the yield and quality of their vegetable production. SEVIA research has, for example, identified tomato varieties that are resistant to bacterial wilt and discovered that plastic mulch increases yields in cooler conditions and decreases yields in hot conditions.