{"id":2000104361,"date":"2026-03-06T12:02:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-06T10:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/?p=2000104361"},"modified":"2026-03-06T11:12:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T09:12:10","slug":"rwanda-saves-rwf-5-billion-as-local-seed-multiplication-replaces-imports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/rwanda-saves-rwf-5-billion-as-local-seed-multiplication-replaces-imports\/","title":{"rendered":"Rwanda saves Rwf 5 billion as local seed multiplication replaces imports"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Dr. Patrick Karangwa, Director General for Agriculture Modernization at the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources, said the country no longer relies on imported seeds because local production has increased significantly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He made the remarks on March 5, 2026, during a preparatory meeting for an international seed trade conference that Rwanda will host for the third time from July 20\u201321, 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Karangwa noted that between five and seven years ago, Rwanda imported seeds costing over Rwf 5 billion annually. Today, all seeds are produced domestically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere are no longer seeds being imported because of the efforts invested in research, including cross-breeding varieties to produce high-quality seeds and scaling up local production,\u201d he said. \u201cSome producers have even begun exporting seeds.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added that the global seed market is valued at Rwf 60 trillion, while Africa accounts for only about 2 percent, underscoring the need to strengthen the continent\u2019s role in seed trade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTo boost Rwanda\u2019s position in the seed trade, we have been collaborating with international bodies that assess seed quality to obtain certification confirming that our products meet global standards,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Innocent Namuhoranye, Chairperson of the National Seed Association of Rwanda (NSAR), said the conference will be a platform to accelerate efforts to position Rwanda as a regional hub for seed trade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis event will lay the foundation for continued innovation and strategic approaches to advance seed trade across Africa,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The conference aims to highlight the role of the private sector in seed production while promoting reforms to strengthen the industry and expand access to quality seeds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alex Bizimana, Head of Agribusiness at Bank of Kigali, said the bank continues to support agriculture through financing and is already seeing strong results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSince 2023, agricultural lending by the bank has grown by 245 percent. Previously, it doubled annually, and now we aim to scale it even further,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The third International Seed Trade Conference in Rwanda will attract more than 300 participants from Africa, Asia, Europe, and Australia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Currently, Rwanda hosts about 30 companies involved in the multiplication of improved seeds. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
Stakeholders in seed multiplication value chain attended the meeting. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Dr. Patrick Karangwa, Director General for Agriculture Modernization at the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources speaking at the event. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Alex Bizimana, Head of Agribusiness at Bank of Kigali, said the bank continues to support agriculture through financing. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rwanda is saving approximately Rwf 5 billion annually that was previously spent on importing improved seeds, thanks to strengthened domestic production and research.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2000104363,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[151,69],"byline":[170],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-2000104361","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-editors-choice","tag-homehighlights","byline-igihe"],"bylines":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"contributors":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"featured_image":{"id":2000104363,"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/imb.jpg","alt":"","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":800,"height":600,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/imb.jpg","width":150,"height":113},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/imb.jpg","width":300,"height":225},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/imb.jpg","width":768,"height":576},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/imb.jpg","width":800,"height":600},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/imb.jpg","width":800,"height":600}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000104361","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2000104361"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000104361\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2000104367,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000104361\/revisions\/2000104367"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000104363"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2000104361"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2000104361"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2000104361"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=2000104361"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=2000104361"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}