When you grow, we grow too. 1940
1975
2015
Shamwari Road, Stapleford P.O. Box WGT 64, Westgate, Harare, Zimbabwe Tel: +263 4 2915 408-14, Fax: +263 4 304 841, Cell: +263 772 231 841-6, +263 772 236 251-4, Email: seedco@seedco.co.zw
Celebrating 75 Years of Seeding Africa
Mr Morgan Nzwere | Group Chief Executive Officer
“A diamond is born only after the Coal withstanding and enduring tremendous pressure and enormous heat for thousands of years. Strive to be a diamond, and never settle for anything less in life!” Deodatta Diamond Jubilee 2015 is a special year for the Seed Co family, as we mark an amazing 75 year journey which has seen us grow from humble beginnings to Africa’s largest seed company. We look back from 1940 when the Rhodesia Seed Maize Co-operative Company was formed and trace our life to date, where Zimbabwe Seed Maize Co-op Company Limited has stood the test of time, through various challenges and stand proud of our evolution. Just like our predecessors, today we continue to ask ourselves the question…Why do we exist as a company? We exist so that we come up with new varieties that farmers can benefit from. These may be varieties inclined towards disease resistance, varieties adaptive to the changing weather patterns and ultimately increased yields. That’s always our number one aim, to continually better our seed and make a difference! Over the years, we have maintained a customer oriented focus which has seen us develop seed that is responsive to our farmer needs across all our regional operations. We are also a proud quoted company, listed on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange and in line with our growth policy, Seed Co has expanded into 15 different African countries expanding our footprint as the leading producer and marketer of certified crop seeds in Southern Africa. Seed Co develops and markets certified crop seeds, mainly
hybrid maize seed, but also cotton seed, wheat, soya bean, barley, sorghum and ground nut seed. Most of hybrid and non-hybrid cereals and oil crop seed varieties are proprietary, having been developed and bred at Seed Co research stations through marketoriented research and breeding programmes. The seed is produced from Seed Co’s own parent seed under contract by an established producer network. Over the years, we have nurtured a strong producer family. Developing this network has come with its challenges since producing seed is a highly technical process. In Zimbabwe, the land reform accorded the indigenous people who had various experiences outside farming, an opportunity to farm. Like in all things, when people are learning a new activity, there are always adaption pains. As a resolute company, our response was to intensify training programmes and deploying agronomists to work closely with them. We are pleased to record steady growth through the intense training programmes that we aggressively pursued in Zimbabwe. Seed Co continues to build on the experience and believe that we are going from strength to strength. In our quest to grow, we have significantly invested in research and development to enhance agricultural seed productivity over the years. Seed Co has seven
research stations mandated to develop seed products in ecological conditions similar to the end-users’ environment. These stations are located in Zimbabwe, Zambia, Kenya and Nigeria and are complimented by thousands of off station trial sites. Innovation and novel breeding methods are responsible for the success in developing thriving hybrid varieties such as SC727 recorded by the art farm as the highest yielding variety across all national varieties in Zimbabwe. Yield records of 18 metric tonnes per hectare have been achieved with this variety, while SC637 a medium maturing variety has shown outstanding performance, with some farmers achieving up to 16 tonnes per hectare. Our research team is dedicated to ensuring that Africa has been served with productive varieties in all regions by continuously breeding varieties that are suitable and adaptable in today’s ecological conditions. We have a strong skills base characterised by years of experience with the longest serving breeder having been with the group for 52 years. The group has a wide portfolio of seed products, and other small grain crops and are forerunners in the release of disease tolerant hybrids with durable resistance to devastating streak and mottle viruses. As a company, we are dedicated to better our capacity. Partnering Limagrain, in 2013 has enabled us to improve our research and ultimately increase Seed Co’s output. Limagrain is the largest seed manufacturer
Seed Co - Limagrain Partnership
Jean-Christophe Juilliard
Bruno Carette
Michel Debrand
Pat Rooney | Group Chairman
Chairman’s Note of Appreciation In celebrating 75 years, we are proud of our grounded past and how we have grown to become a listed Pan African company. We extend our most sincere gratitude to our all our valued stakeholders - the Seed Co family who have contributed to the company’s growth, the Government which enables us to promote best practice in the Agricultural sector and our customers whose loyalty defines us. We are a fiercely competitive company that believes in growth and are not shy of exploring regional expansion for a global reach. Our vision is to become a global seed powerhouse. Our strategic partnership with Limagrain will see us taking our research capacity to a higher level.
in Europe and the 4th largest in the world. This partnership has brought us valuable experience and continues to facilitate our growth. In conclusion, let me say it is with great pride that 75 years later, we continue to harvest from the dedicated Seed Co staff that has continued to unselfishly serve the company offering a high level of professionalism and dedication. We are certainly looking forward to multiple yields in the next 75 years. We hold tight to the vision of becoming a global giant. To all our customers, who have remained loyal to brand Seed Co over the past 75 years, we value your support, and continue to strive to meet all your agricultural intimate needs. Thank you for the decades of yesterday and tomorrow, our promise to lead, seed and feed remains. Thank you.
John Matorofa | Group Finance Director
Seed Co and Limagrain share the same approach of agriculture and parallel histories. Seed Co was originally a cooperative created by farmers in 1940. Limagrain comes from a local cooperative which started in 1942. Both Seed Co and Limagrain have expanded gradually by harmoniously combining local and international activities through the development of various hybrids maize seed production and a strong commercial network to become recognised international groups. In the two groups, research and breeding programs providing successful varieties are strongly linked to the history of the two companies and are contributing to the development of the activities. Promoting innovative and responsible solutions for all types of agriculture (from big commercial farms to small family farms) is the common goal of Seed Co and Limagrain.
In 2050 all farmers will need to be mobilised to increase world agricultural production by 70 % and meet the needs of 9.6 billion inhabitants (8.3 billion by 2030 !) and for Africa 2.4 billion in 2050, and 1.6 billion in 2030. In this context, innovation is the foundation for major changes in agriculture especially plant breeding. Seeds require an international dimension and strong investment in research. Limagrain’s contribution to Seed Co has brought new capital, which will be used by Seed Co to sustain its growth through Africa, and inputs in technology to develop the research activity in the area of genotyping, phenotyping and dihaploïdisation to fast track generations. Specific agreements for germplasm exchanges have already been signed. A project of collaboration for vegetable seed is on the 2015 agenda.