AGRA

AGRA marks 20 years of operation across the continent, Rwanda stands out as one of the countries where its interventions have produced tangible and lasting results.

On KPMEDIA Podcast, Jean Paul Ndagijimana, AGRA’s Country Manager in Rwanda highlighted that the journey has been less about celebrating projects and more about building systems that work for farmers.

“AGRA was founded in 2006 following the vision of the late Kofi Annan, who believed that transforming agriculture was the fastest way to transform Africa,” Ndagijimana said. “Over 60 percent of Africans depend on agriculture, so any serious development agenda had to start there.”

In Rwanda, AGRA’s work began in the context of post-genocide reconstruction, when institutions including agriculture were being rebuilt almost from scratch. The organization identified human capacity as the most urgent gap.

“At that time, what Rwanda needed most was skilled people scientists, breeders, extension specialists,” Ndagijimana explained. “So AGRA invested heavily in education.”

Through partnerships with institutions such as the Rockefeller Foundation and the Gates Foundation, AGRA supported more than 50 Rwandans to obtain Master’s degrees and over 27 to complete PhDs in fields including crop science, plant genetics, and breeding. Many of these professionals are now working in research institutions, government agencies, and the private sector.

AGRA’s support went beyond training. Over the past 20 years, the organization has invested approximately USD 20 million in Rwanda, channelled into research infrastructure, laboratories, equipment, vehicles, and production facilities.

“A country does not only need people; it also needs tools,” Ndagijimana said. “We supported laboratories, in-vitro facilities for potatoes, and research stations in Musanze and other areas.”

These investments contributed to Rwanda’s ability to develop its own improved crop varieties. Today, Rwanda produces locally bred, high-yield maize varieties and is making similar progress in rice, soybeans, and potatoes.

One of AGRA’s most impactful interventions focused on addressing aflatoxin contamination in maize a problem that once locked farmers out of major markets. When Africa Improved Foods (AIF) opened its factory in Rwanda, it

was rejecting nearly 90 percent of locally produced maize due to quality concerns.

“It was painful,” Ndagijimana recalled. “The factory was in Rwanda, but farmers could not sell to it.”

AGRA worked with the Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources Development Board (RAB) and international partners to introduce biological control solutions such as Failsafe, alongside improved post-harvest handling practices, including drying maize on the cob.

“Today, more than 90 percent of Rwandan maize meets AIF’s standards,” he said. “That completely changed the relationship between farmers and the market.”

AGRA also played a central role in shifting Rwanda’s seed system from state-dominated to private-sector-driven. In 2016, Rwanda had almost no private seed companies. Today, there are more than 20.

“Government was producing seed, distributing seed, and regulating seed it was too much,” Ndagijimana noted. “We worked with government to bring in private companies while allowing the state to focus on research and regulation.”

Private companies now dominate seed multiplication and marketing, while government institutions concentrate on breeder seed and quality assurance an arrangement that has strengthened sustainability and efficiency.

With youth and women forming the backbone of Rwanda’s population, AGRA has increasingly focused on making agriculture attractive, profitable, and modern.

“Young people don’t want agriculture that depends only on hard manual labor,” Ndagijimana said. “They want technology, data, and predictable income and that’s what we are supporting.”

Through greenhouses, irrigation systems, digital advisory services, and smart pest-management tools, AGRA has helped reposition agriculture as a business. The organization targets supporting 132,000 young people most of them women into agricultural employment by 2028.

AGRA’s latest strategy prioritizes value chains such as avocado, chili, and poultry due to their strong domestic and export demand.

“Chili can start generating income in as little as six months, and global demand is high,” Ndagijimana said. “Avocado offers long-term security one tree can produce for over 20 years.”

These commodities, he added, provide both quick wins and long-term income stability, especially for young agripreneurs.

Rwanda hosts the secretariat of the Africa Food Systems Forum (AFSF), a major continental platform convened by AGRA that brings together over 5,000 participants, including heads of state, investors, private companies, and development partners.

“Being the convener of AFSF shows the trust placed in AGRA,” Ndagijimana said. “And for Rwanda, hosting the forum generates millions of dollars in economic activity and invaluable knowledge exchange.”

He noted a growing trend of African and Rwandan diaspora investors using AFSF as a bridge to invest back home, particularly in high-value crops such as avocado and chili.

For Ndagijimana, the most meaningful measure of success is at the farmer level.

“What makes me happiest is seeing a farmer who used to beg for a buyer now negotiating prices with multiple buyers,” he said. “That power to choose that dignity that is real transformation.”

As AGRA looks ahead, its focus in Rwanda remains clear: strengthen implementation of sound policies, deepen private-sector engagement, and ensure that gains especially in seed systems and markets are sustained.

“We know where Rwanda is going,” Ndagijimana concluded. “The task now is to turn strong policies into everyday reality for farmers.”

After 20 years of AGRA’s engagement in Rwanda, the impact is no longer measured only in narratives, but in numbers. Over USD 20 million has been invested in Rwanda’s agricultural systems. More than 50 Rwandans have earned Master’s degrees and 27 have completed PhDs, strengthening the country’s scientific and institutional backbone.

Rwanda has moved from importing nearly 100 percent of its improved maize seed in 2017 to meeting domestic demand by 2022, with over 20 private seed companies now operating in the country, compared to virtually none a decade ago. In maize markets, rejection rates due to aflatoxin contamination dropped from 90 percent to below 10 percent, unlocking stable markets for thousands of smallholder farmers.

AGRA’s current strategy targets the creation of 132,000 jobs by 2028, most of them for youth and women, while high-value value chains such as chili and avocado are positioning Rwanda for long-term export growth.

Taken together, these figures point to a structural shift, from subsistence to systems, from uncertainty to structured markets, and from dependency to local capacity. For Rwanda’s agriculture sector, the next phase will be judged not by new pilots, but by how these numbers continue to grow and who benefits most from them.