Kenya Highland Seed

Quality and safety of varieties and quality assurance and after-sales
When registering new varieties, Kenya Highland Seed adheres to protocols of the Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (KEPHIS) in Kenya and protocols of the Tanzania Official Seed Certification Institute (TOSCI) in Tanzania. The company has a quality assurance system and instructs its distributors on how to maintain proper storage conditions. Kenya Highland Seed works with local authorities to prevent the sale of counterfeit seeds and has a system in place for managing grievance complaints filed by customers.

Access to seeds for smallholder farmers and governance and accountability
The company’s objectives for ensuring access to seeds for smallholder farmers include a focus on capacity building and seed production. The company’s management team is responsible for overseeing the company’s access to seeds strategy. To further increase accountability for its strategy, Kenya Highland Seed could link its management team’s remuneration policy to its access to seeds objectives.

Stakeholder engagement
The company undertakes stakeholder engagement activities with the Seed Trade Association of Kenya, the Tanzania Seed Trade Association and the African Seed Trade Association (AFSTA). However, it could disclose an overview of issues raised through these activities as well as how it identifies its most relevant stakeholders.

The company provides limited insight into its position and activities related to genetic resources and intellectual property management. As it is important that seed companies contribute to genetic resources and intellectual property management that supports smallholder agriculture, the company could provide more insights into its activities for others to learn from.

Variety testing
The company conducts variety trials in four out of the eight index countries where it is active: Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. These trials are conducted on crops both from other companies and sources. The company could consider extending its testing locations to other countries in the region where it is active.

Seed production activities in index region
Kenya Highland Seed has seed production activities in Kenya, where it involves local players, including smallholder farmers. However, it has the opportunity to extend seed production to other countries in the region and provide examples on ways in which it involves local players, such as smallholders, in its production activities.

Quality management in seed production in index countries
To ensure quality, the company uses an internal management system that covers all of its seed production in index countries. However, it does not provide any examples or elaboration on this and has the opportunity to provide examples of how it ensures the quality of its seed production.

Social and labour rights in seed production
The company does not disclose a policy committing to prohibit child and forced labour nor does it disclose a commitment to respect the health and safety of workers both when seed production is carried out by the company itself or through an intermediary. Furthermore, the company does not disclose that it pays its workers a living wage or requires its intermediaries to do so.

Diverse portfolio
As Kenya Highland Seed only has a few varieties for the majority of crops in Kenya, the company can diversify its portfolio by offering more varieties and more seed types per crop.

Other agricultural inputs
The company could increase its disclosure regarding its packaging and labelling policies to promote the sustainable use of other agricultural inputs in appropriate quantities.

Extension services
Kenya Highland Seed offers customer services as well as extension services and discloses that it has reached out to approximately 3 million farmers through extension services, trainings and demonstration fields since their establishment in 1998. However, the company has the opportunity to disclose in which countries these extension services are offered and to track the number of smallholders reached in the index study period.

Programmes for women farmers and next-generation farmers The company provides extension services in the region but can expand its programmes to target women and next-generation farmers.

Information and communications technology (ICT)
Kenya Highland Seed has provided information on seed prices and farming practices through social media. However, it could provide examples of ICT programmes that build the capacity of smallholder farmers in the region.

Onion
Tomato

Cabbage
Carrot
Cauliflower
Cucumber
Eggplant
Green pea
Melon
Okra
Onion
Pepper (hot)
Pepper (sweet)
Pumpkin
Squash
Tomato
Watermelon

Download the portfolios of all companies in the 2021 index for Eastern and Southern Africa here.