Globally the provision and adoption of improved seed and planting material for many crops has raised productivity, improved the lives of millions of farmers and increased the availability of low-cost nutritious food in both rural and urban markets. Africa, however, has so far not su„ciently benefitted from this productivity increase. Crop yields for the smallholder farmers who dominate African agriculture are the lowest in the world, due in part to limited access to quality inputs and improved seed varieties suitable for the different climatic conditions, soils and production systems across the continent. Consequently, Africa now imports up to US $35 billion worth of food annually, an amount that is predicted to increase to US $110 billion by 2025