SeedNL team welcomes Falaq Tidjani as Advisor

Could you please introduce yourself to the SeedNL community?

My name is Falaq Tidjani. I am a Beninoise-Nigerian with a background in BSc Business Economics from Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, England and an MBA from IE Business School, Spain. I have been working in the agriculture sector for about 9 years, as a management consultant. More specifically, I have been working on seed sector development initiatives since 2019. I am driven to make a change and contribute to improving food and seed systems in low-middle income countries (LMICs), through knowledge and transformative initiatives.

Can you tell us what you will be working on for SeedNL?

I will serve as an advisor for SeedNL initiatives across various geographies. This will include engaging with the SeedNL community, managing partnerships, facilitating discussions and dialogues, fostering and sharing learning, and working with the international and national partners to ensure we build strategic and impactful relations and initiatives.

In addition to SeedNL, you are working for Wageningen Centre for Development Innovation (WCDI) of the Wageningen University Research (WUR). Can you elaborate more on this?

I spend most of my time working on various projects with WCDI, where I am a seed systems advisor. A portion of my time is working with the SeedNL team on the various activities to foster seed sector development.

What is your ambition and wish for the seed sector and its development over the next years?

I believe that building a sustainable food system starts with a functioning seed system that ensures access to quality seeds, at the right time and location by food producers (farmers). This aligns with SeedNL’s mission, which resonates with my personal beliefs. Building a sustainable seed system will require partnerships at all levels. Some of the ways I believe we can contribute to this massive agenda include, knowledge sharing and implementation, market development, policy support, openness to learning and evolving etc. I am excited at the opportunity to contribute to this transformative process on a large scale, with the platform that SeedNL provides and likeminded individuals.