The Africa Vegetable Breeding Consortium (AVBC) held its largest-ever annual workshop in Benin, bringing together 40 participants from 19 seed companies across 18 countries.
The event showcased 41 vegetable breeding lines across eight crops, including tomato, chili and habanero pepper, okra, pumpkin, amaranth, mungbean and African eggplant. For the first time, participants also evaluated 30 experimental hybrids—16 tomato and 14 pepper hybrids developed by WorldVeg.
The new breeding materials are aimed at helping African seed companies develop higher-yielding, climate-resilient and market-focused varieties suited to local growing conditions and consumer needs.
A major focus was also bacterial wilt resistance, with WorldVeg and six African seed companies testing tomato and chili pepper lines in disease hotspots across Africa.
The workshop, organized by WorldVeg in partnership with the African Seed Trade Association (AfSTA), reflects the growing demand for improved vegetable genetics. AVBC provides member companies with early access to WorldVeg breeding materials, helping them test, develop and commercialize varieties for African farmers.
The consortium also recognized COPROSEM of Mali and BOUTAPA of Burkina Faso for releasing more than 10 varieties, while COPROSEM, BOUTAPA, East-West Seed and NAFASO Seeds were recognized for consistent data sharing.
The event highlighted AVBC’s expanding role in strengthening Africa’s vegetable seed sector and accelerating the delivery of quality, locally adapted vegetable varieties to farmers.