A new African Seed Health Centre (AfSHC) has been established at Sokoine University of Agriculture, Morogoro, Tanzania in collaboration with the Faculty of Life Scences, University of Copenhagen, Denmark. The centre is a regional facility for all African countries. It offers short-term individual/group, Diploma,and post-graduate ( M.Sc. and PhD) training in seed health and seed pathology.

The training courses are conducted in collaboration with two sister seed health centres the Danish Seed Health Centre for Developing Countries, Denmark and the Asian Seed Centre located at the University of Mysore, India. AfSHC uses cutting-edge seed health techniques and technologies in teaching and research.

Seed is the most important input in agriculture. It forms a vital link in the transfer of technology from research institutions and NGOs to farmers. It is the bases and catalyst for agricultural industry and food security. Seed security means having access to appropriate healthy seed of good quality in the right quantities to meet production demands in a sustainable way.

However, sustainability in good quality seed security in many African countries has been, and continues to be affected by several factors, including diseases caused by seed-borne diseases and seed transmitted pathogens. Diseases caused by seed-borne pathogens continue to be a major threat to crop production and seed marketing in many countries in Africa.

Seed health is an important aspect in the seed production chain for increased crop productivity, improved food quality, enhanced food security and improved international and cross-boarder seed trade in Africa. The AfSHC thus, contributes to poverty alleviation and food security in Africa through human resource development in seed health techniques and technologies that will benefit resource-poor farmers. Furthermore, the AfSHC develops, disseminates and acts as a reference centre for seed health information in Africa.

Therefore, the establishment of the AfSHC at Sokoine University of Agriculture is very timely for Africa in addressing training and research needs/demands from seed producers, NGOs, seed certification agents, seed companies, phytosanitary institutions and extension workers/officers.

Such human capacity building is very important in Africa in order to boost seed trade and combat crop losses associated with infected seed across boarders and within countries.

Requests for training in seed health aspects continue to increase at the centre. Several African countries (Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Tanzania, Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe) and seed companies in Tanzania and Kenya have expressed strong interest in sending trainees to the AfSHC. Several others have completed their MSc and PhD studies.