Operation Sow a Seed
Putting agronomy where farmers already know the problem — starting with the seed that actually grows in their soil.
Operation Sow a Seed is VOAC's agriculture programme. It will run farmer-led trials: the cooperative chooses the varieties, including the ones their mothers grew; an agronomist designs the trial so the comparison is honest; and the results belong to the cooperative whether or not they flatter anybody.
It has not started. It starts with the first cooperative that asks for a trial and the first agronomist who can design one — and it will be deliberately small. One trial done properly is worth more than a continental launch with no evidence behind it.
What it produces
- Planned: farmer-led seed trials with published results, including failures
- Planned: a seed-saving record for local varieties at risk of being lost
- Planned: trial protocols in Fon, Kpelle and French that other cooperatives can reuse
Where it runs
- Benin
- Liberia
- Nigeria
The issues it answers
A programme with no problem behind it is a press release. These are the ones that justify this programme existing.
Across the continent · Agriculture
Farmers are sold seed that was never tested in their soil
Certified inputs arrive with a stamp and a promise, and fail in the field — while the local varieties that would have worked are quietly disappearing.
The issue, and what we intend to do →Benin · Agriculture
Benin's cooperatives need trials that include their own seed
Women's cooperatives across Benin's Collines and Zou grow in soils that certified seed was never tested against — and want evidence, not opinion.
The issue, and what we intend to do →Liberia · Agriculture
Liberia's young people are leaving the land that could employ them
Fertile land, a young population and almost no route between the two: agriculture is treated as what you leave, not what you build.
The issue, and what we intend to do →How to take part
We need agronomists with field-trial experience and facilitators in Fon, Kpelle or Hausa. Cooperatives who want a trial can write to us — we will say honestly whether we can reach you this season.