The construction of the seed centre will help one million Rwandan farmers have access to high-quality improved Seeds.

The centre in Bugesera district was launched by One Acre Fund, in partnership with Rwanda Institute for Conservation Agriculture (RICA), with funding from the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, on October 6, 2023.

The groundbreaking ceremony of a Seed Centre was graced by Ildephonse Musafiri, the Minister of Agriculture and Animal Resources (MINAGRI).

The same day, an annual seed industry roundtable was held, bringing together senior government officials, seed companies, and experts, to provide strategic and technical guidance on the operations of the Seed Centre to better support the seed industry.

The Minister said that the seed centre was needed given that the use of quality seeds stands at 37 per cent among Rwandan farmers.

"The centre is a result of collaboration between the government and the private sector as well as partners. As Rwanda started to locally produce seeds, especially maize, beans, potatoes and others, the centre is a big boost,” he said.

He said the number of farmers adopting quality seeds will also increase.

"The adoption was still low as it was not affordable to all farmers. Seed companies and multipliers are also still few.The quality of seeds was not high and therefore, production per hectare was still low. The new seed centre will carry out research, helping companies select parent seeds and building their capacity in seed production so that many farmers adopt high-quality seeds at affordable prices,” he said.

Musafiri said that maize production per hectare is at four tonnes yet there is potential to actually get a yield of 10 tonnes.

Bean production is below one tonne per hectare against a target of four tonnes, while Irish potato production is at eight tonnes against a potential yield of 30 tonnes per hectare, he said, making the case for tripling production in the next three years.

"We still need seeds that are resistant to drought and diseases. We need seed varieties that provide higher yields. We also need skills in seed production. We also need finance to do so. The centre was timely considering our needs as seed companies,” said John Muvara, RISCO’s Managing Director.

10,000 tonnes of disease-free potato seeds

The Seed Centre comprises three target ventures, which together will support the seed sector over the next five years.

These include Potato Seed Venture – to support the production of 10,000 tonnes of disease-free potato seed to reach the market, Multigrain Seed Processing – to enable local seed companies to professionally process 4,000 tonnes of seed as well as Seed Innovation Centre – to train the next generation of more than 60 seed professionals and support faster releases of varieties to market by private seed companies.

The Seed Centre will support seed companies, in partnership with Rwandan farmers, to develop their own varieties of crops like hybrid maize, to better serve farmers’ needs. High-quality seed is an essential input for smallholder farmers to make their farms more productive.

The Seed Centre at RICA will target big challenges faced by Rwandan seed companies such as lack of technical expertise and access to high-cost infrastructure in order to promote innovation in the seed sector for the benefit of farmers and food security at large.

It will offer them five business-to-business services, which they can customize to solve their specific business challenges.The services include variety selection and parent seed for certified seed production, private field inspection and quality testing, professional certifications, processing and storage, and seed marketing and sales.

Eric Pohlman, the CEO of One Acre Fund, said that seeds are one of the most important things for farmers and the starting point of food security in the country.

"Together with partners, RICA, the government, and the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, we invested in a seed centre that can further develop the seed industry in Rwanda. The centre will focus on grain crops such as maize, beans, soybeans, and potatoes. It is more than producing seeds, it is about investing in minds and the future of the seed industry and training seed professionals that are interested in producing more seeds for farmers,” he said.

Dr. Ron Rosati, Vice Chancellor, Administration and Operations reiterated that the centre will improve the availability of quality seeds.

"One Acre Fund will be running the seed centre; RICA will have students and faculties involved in the centre. Faculty would be involved in research projects with One Acre Fund, there will be teaching courses, students will be involved in internships and industry-based courses,” he said, stressing that the seeds will be able to cope with drought and diseases.

The Seed Centre will offer certificate courses for recent graduates and seed company staff on a part-time or full-time basis. A total of 16 students from RICA, University of Rwanda, and Seed Companies have already joined the courses.