Partners: Ghana Netherlands Business and Culture Council (GNBCC);
Period: 2025 – 2028 (Year 1 Pilot: September 2025 – June 2026)
Country of Operation: Ghana
Category: Agriculture, Capacity Building, Policy Analysis & Advocacy, Employment, Evidence Generation (MERL)
Project Snapshot
The Ghana–Netherlands Seed Partnership (GNSP) is a multi-stakeholder public–private partnership aimed at strengthening Ghana’s vegetable seed sector through regulatory reform, market development, variety testing, commercial seedling production, and knowledge exchange.
The initiative aligns with Ghana’s Feed Ghana Programme and the 24H Economy/GROW24 agenda, as well as Dutch agricultural cooperation frameworks. It positions the vegetable seed sector as a key driver of productivity, climate resilience, youth employment, and private investment.
GNSP is structured around four interlinked Work Packages designed to reinforce systemic transformation within Ghana’s seed ecosystem:
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Enabling Environment Support: Policy reform, regulatory strengthening, development of a seed sector roadmap, and production of knowledge products.
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Commercial Seedling Production: Establishing Ghana’s first commercial nursery, piloting a low-tech model with farmers, developing a bankable business plan, and mobilizing co-financing.
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Variety Trials: Testing onion, tomato, carrot, chili, pepper, and habanero varieties across agroecological zones, alongside mechanization trials and climate-performance data systems.
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Market Development: Mapping seed distribution networks and assessing the feasibility of a branded promotional campaign to increase uptake of hybrid varieties.
Project Objectives
Main Goal:
Strengthen Ghana’s vegetable seed ecosystem to improve productivity, enhance climate resilience, stimulate youth employment, and attract private sector investment.
Specific Objectives:
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Improve regulatory and policy frameworks governing the seed sector.
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Support the development of commercially viable seedling production models.
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Generate performance data on improved vegetable varieties across agroecological zones.
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Strengthen seed distribution networks and market linkages.
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Provide evidence to inform strategic decisions within the Seed Distribution and Marketing Study.
PDA’s Task
PDA is leading the full evaluation fieldwork cycle for the GNSP Seed Distribution and Marketing Study in Ghana.
Our responsibilities include:
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Reviewing project documentation and mapping major seed distribution companies.
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Designing, scripting, and internally testing survey instruments using KoboToolBox.
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Recruiting and training enumerators.
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Developing a detailed nationwide fieldwork plan.
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Supervising data collection across farmers, agro-input retailers, and seed distributors.
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Ensuring data quality through monitoring, validation checks, cleaning, and labeling of datasets.
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Compiling field notes, observation reports, and full documentation.
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Delivering the complete cleaned dataset to GNBCC/Advance Consulting for analysis and reporting.
How We Are Going About It
PDA’s approach follows a structured and quality-assured fieldwork cycle.
We begin by reviewing project materials and mapping key actors within the seed distribution ecosystem. Survey instruments are carefully developed and tested in KoboToolBox to ensure clarity, consistency, and reliability.
Following instrument validation, enumerators are recruited and trained, and a comprehensive nationwide fieldwork plan is implemented. Data collection is conducted across farmers in multiple production zones, agro-input retailers, and major seed distributors.
Throughout the fieldwork phase, PDA supervises daily operations, conducts monitoring and validation checks, and ensures adherence to data quality standards. All datasets are cleaned, labeled, and documented, and field notes and observation reports are compiled.
The final cleaned dataset and accompanying documentation are delivered to GNBCC/Advance Consulting to support analysis and inform strategic decision-making within Ghana’s vegetable seed sector.