The World Benchmarking Alliance (WBA) recently awarded Bayer Crop Science a stellar scorecard, for the 2021 Access to Seeds Index for the Eastern and Southern African region.

WBA represents organisations working at global, regional, and local levels to shape the private sector’s contributions to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The Access to Seeds Index evaluates and compares seed companies according to their efforts to improve access to quality seeds of improved varieties for smallholder farmers.

Bayer’s ranking in first place for its vegetable seed business in East and Central Africa recognizes the effort the company has invested in the region, and the progress made within the seed industry.

Bayer was ranked fifteenth on the index in 2019, showing the remarkable progress made over the last two years.

“We are very proud of this accolade which recognises both Bayer’s well-developed strategy for ensuring access to seeds for smallholder farmers and our ongoing engagement with local organizations and cooperatives,” says Liza Bohlmann, media liaison for Bayer Crop Science in South and East Africa. “Helping people aligns well with what Bayer does across all its operations, with our vision, ‘Health for All and Hunger for None’, being at the core of everything we do”.

Bayer in Eastern and Southern Africa also performed well in the ranking for marketing and sales, governance and strategy, and seed production. Prior to these latest rankings, the 2021 Access to Seeds Index for Western and Central Africa was published in September this year which saw Bayer also ranked in top place.