Thoughts from the President

March 22, 2024 - Growth in Rwanda

Dear Danforth Center Community,

Several of us hosted a visit today from the Honorable Francis Gatare, cabinet-level head of the Rwanda Development Board. As leader of the agency that oversees the national economy of Rwanda, Francis Gatare has a mandate to accelerate and enable Rwanda’s economic development through private sector growth. You might be surprised to learn that Rwanda is the most densely populated country in Africa. Ninety percent of employment comes from the food and agricultural sector, which accounts for 35% of Rwanda’s gross domestic product.

From his position leading Rwanda’s economic growth, Francis Gatare’s top priority for agricultural economic development is increasing productivity of crops. And that’s where the Danforth Center is playing a role. In 2019, colleagues at the Rwanda Agricultural and Animal Resources Development Board (RAB, the national agricultural research organization) joined Virus Resistant Cassava for Africa (VIRCA), the Nigel Taylor-led effort funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and USAID to address the major virus diseases of cassava in East Africa. Given that earnings from cassava exports declined by 40% due to Cassava brown streak virus between 2016 and 2017 in Rwanda, there’s a great need for resistant varieties. The VIRCA goals in Rwanda include testing performance of recently developed varieties in field trials, training scientists, obtaining approvals, registering improved varieties, delivering seed to smallholder farmers, and training entrepreneurs.

“Wait, what’s with training entrepreneurs,” you ask? One of the biggest challenges to delivering virus-resistant cassava in target geographies, like Rwanda, is the lack of effective, sustainable seed distribution systems. There are no companies to scale-up planting materials, steward varieties, and sell improved cassava seed to farmers. To reach 90% of the 700,000 cassava farmers in Rwanda, the VIRCA team aims to help develop and train 250 Cassava Seed Entrepreneurs (CSEs) who would multiply, quality-assure, and sell cassava seed to farmers. The CSEs will build private businesses that serve an unmet need and provide a source of income. In partnership with Rwandan entrepreneurs, developing private-sector cassava seed systems that are economically sustainable is now one of the top objectives of VIRCA.

I was thrilled to meet Francis Gatare and discuss the opportunities to both increase agricultural productivity and build economic strength in Rwanda through a partnership about which we should all be proud.

Jim Carrington,
President and Chief Executive Officer

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