Rwanda Welcomes Danforth Plant Science Center as a Founding Partner of the Rwanda Food Innovation Partnership

Partnership Highlighted at the Rwanda Institute for Conservation Agriculture during St. Louis trade mission in Kigali

 

ST. LOUIS, MO (November 11, 2026) — The Government of Rwanda has formally welcomed the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center as a founding partner of the government’s Rwanda Food Innovation Partnership (RFIP) group, building on years of collaboration between the St. Louis–based plant science research institute and the Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources Development Board (RAB).

 

“Rwanda’s ambition is to build Africa’s food future: to become the continent’s leading destination for food systems innovation,” said Dr. Telesphore Ndabamenye, Rwanda’s minister of agriculture and animal resources. “Rwanda is building this ecosystem deliberately and in partnership.”

 

Designed to accelerate food innovation in Rwanda, the RFIP connects research, regulation, and the private sector. The new partnership was publicly announced today at a session at the Rwanda Institute for Conservation Agriculture (RICA), outside Kigali.

 

As a partner, the Danforth Center will support Rwandan researchers, regulators, entrepreneurs, and industry in five areas:

 

• crop improvement and biotechnology
• science-based regulatory pathways
• agricultural productivity and climate resilience
• technology transfer and commercialization
• scientific training 

Hosted by the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources, the Rwanda Food Innovation Partnership is designed to deliver Rwanda’s Food Innovation Ecosystem Strategy (2026–2035), which aims to create 30,000 youth jobs in the food innovation economy and raise agri-food export value above $650 million by 2035. The RFIP Partners Group, launched in September, brings together partners who contribute expertise, investment, research, and technology to Rwanda’s food innovation ecosystem.

 

“Rwanda is leading the way in agricultural improvement, and we are honored to support that vision as a partner of the Rwanda Food Innovation Partnership,” said Dr. Giles Oldroyd, president of the Danforth Center. “When scientific discovery reaches farmers and markets, it builds industries, creates jobs, and generates prosperity. We look forward to sharing our expertise, learning from our Rwandan partners, and deepening the ties between Rwanda and St. Louis as centers of plant science innovation and excellence.” 

 

The announcement came during the World Trade Center St. Louis trade mission to Rwanda and Kenya. The thirty-six-member delegation of business and civic leaders includes St. Louis Mayor Cara Spencer and St. Louis County Executive Dr. Sam Page. The trip is deepening ties between St. Louis and Kigali, which is set to become St. Louis’s seventeenth sister city. The Danforth Center organized the delegation’s “Agriculture Day” on November 11. It included a visit to a RAB field site and a roundtable at RICA, where leaders from RICA, RAB, Bayer, and Gates Ag One discussed how to deliver new technology and improved crops to farmers.

 

The partnership expands the Danforth Center’s ongoing collaborations with researchers and leaders in Rwanda. Earlier this year, the Danforth Center became a partner in the Rwanda Agriculture Board’s five-year, $15 million Rwanda Capacity Building (BioCap) Project, supported by the Gates Foundation. BioCap promises to strengthen Rwanda’s ability to develop, regulate, and deploy improved crop varieties tailored to national needs, thereby supporting food security and sustainable agricultural production.

 

Danforth Center scientists have also collaborated with RAB researchers on cassava resistant to cassava brown streak disease. Cassava is sub-Saharan Africa’s second most important staple food crop after maize, a key cash crop for smallholder farmers, and a staple for Rwandan farm households. But viral diseases such as cassava brown streak disease can wipe out up to 100 percent of a harvest. The partners expect to share more progress in 2027.

 

The Danforth Center is the world’s largest independent nonprofit plant science research institute. It contributes more than $400 million a year to the St. Louis regional economy.