A drought-tolerant maize seed has been launched in a bid to boost food security in African countries.

"Giving more African farmers good seeds that can tolerate erratic weather patterns and yield [greater] crops will foster development on the African continent," said Wilfred Mwangi, project leader with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), during the launch in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, on Monday.

The project, which is based at the International Center for Research in Agroforestry (ICRAF) in Nairobi, is working with other agricultural experts in an effort to supply the new seeds to farmers in Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Benin, Nigeria, South Africa, Angola, Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe, according to Mwangi.

"CIMMYT has been working together with organisations like the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, other private and civil society partners, and seed companies to ensure many more farmers have access to good seeds that yield even under harsh weather conditions," he said.

Sub-Saharan Africa's recurrent droughts ruin harvests, depriving people of their livelihood.

"There is no better time to accelerate the development of new drought-tolerant maize seeds than now as the effects of global warming become more widely acknowledged," said Daisy Ouya, CIMMYT's communications officer. The initiative is expected to boost food security, she said.

The first drought-tolerant, open-pollinated hybrid varieties of maize and wheat were introduced into eastern and southern African in 1999.