Over the last eight years, more than 5,000 metric tons of high iron bean seed was produced and disseminated in Rwanda through various channels including agrodealers, farmer cooperatives, local extension network and partner organizations.
Consumption of high iron beans provides up to 80 percent of daily iron needs, are high-yielding, disease/virus resistant, and drought tolerant. Rwanda was the venue for a successful iron beans efficacy trial involving college-age women that scientifically linked iron beans consumption to improved iron status and cognitive capacity in women.
At the end of 2018, more than 420,000 farming households were growing iron beans and more than 1.8 million people in Rwanda were estimated to be consuming them, 20 percent of all beans produced in Rwanda were iron-biofortified
Micronutrient deficiency remains a major challenge around the world. More than 2 billion people, living primarily in low- and middle-income countries, have diets that are lacking in essential vitamins and minerals—particularly, iron, zinc, and vitamin A. This puts them at risk of serious health issues such as stunting, anemia, vision impairment (even blindness) and debilitating infections.
In the last few years, Rwanda has had remarkable successes in accelerating economic growth and reducing poverty. Rwanda has focused on developing its agricultural base, with the goal of becoming a middle- income country by 2020. Rwanda was one of the few countries to have met most of the 2015 targets of Millennium Development Goals. Building on this progress, the country is already taking steps to translate the ambitions articulated in the 2030 Agenda into tangible outcomes.
Alexis is one of seed multipliers in Ngoma District, he had just harvested seed ready to deliver to HarvestPlus for further dissemination to other farmers.
While the country has made big gains in improving healthcare services, malnutrition remains a challenge, especially in rural areas among children born to malnourished mothers who lack dietary diversity. Iron deficiency, affects 38 percent of children under five years and 19 percent of women of childbearing age, according to the recent Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) 2014-2015. Iron deficiency is a serious problem that can contribute to iron-deficiency anemia, frequent illness, impaired physical and cognitive development, and poor performance in school; increased perinatal complications, premature births, low birth weight, severe anemia increase risk of death for women while giving birth; and low energy levels for adults that makes it more difficult to perform physical tasks.
Promoting High iron Beans
HarvestPlus has worked with Rwandan partners to develop and promote biofortified beans that are conventionally bred to contain higher levels of iron than local traditional varieties of beans. These iron-biofortified beans can contain up to twice the amount of iron as common varieties. When eaten regularly, they can provide up to 80 percent of daily average iron needs.
Since 2010, the government of Rwanda through the Rwanda Agriculture Board (RAB) has partnered with HarvestPlus and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) to breed, test, and multiply varieties of iron-biofortified beans for dissemination to farmers; the partners have encouraged adoption and consumption by farm households with the specific goal of improving iron status, especially in women and children. Beans were selected as the mechanism to fight iron deficiency because they are a widely-consumed staple food crop among Rwandans. The country has one of the highest per-capita bean consumption rates in the world. Therefore, improving nutrition through bean consumption offers a unique channel for addressing iron deficiency.
With support from HarvestPlus and CIAT, RAB has released ten varieties of high iron beans since the inception of the program in Rwanda in 2010. The varieties are of two types: climbing grown in medium- to- high altitudes and bush beans grown in medium- to- low altitudes. Climbing beans yield three times more than bush beans, providing an eco-efficient solution for densely populated, land-scarce places.
Apart from being nutritious, the new varieties are also drought- tolerant, pest- and disease- resistant, as well as high- yielding. Farmers and rural consumers claimed that iron bean varieties cook relatively quickly compared to other local varieties.
HarvestPlus facilitated the multiplication of seed certified by RAB as quality seed. The seed was multiplied by individual farmers and cooperatives qualified to be seed multipliers. The multiplied seeds were then disseminated to farm households countrywide through various channels including agrodealers, local extension services, farmer cooperatives and partner organizations.
Positive Impact
The program, covering all 30 districts of Rwanda has had a positive impact on the lives of millions of women, children, and smallholder bean farmers. This contributes to national development through improved nutrition and increased household incomes.
Studies completed at the end of 2015, showed that at least 28 percent of smallholder bean farmers had grown iron beans, contributing to increased production and consumption. Iron bean varieties have not only improved dietary quality of meals in the villages; many farmers and their households have also been able to generate new sources of income from iron beans, which had their livelihoods improved.
Farmers around the country described benefits they have received:
Alexis Nzeyimana is a 49-year-old Rwandan farmer from Ngoma District in the Eastern Province of Rwanda. His family of seven harvested mostly maize, soybeans, and beans for many years. But Alexis discovered special beans that uplifted him, his family, and his fortunes. He began working with HarvestPlus in 2013 as a seed multiplier, then became a village model farmer, showing others how to properly plant, store and harvest the crop.
"It was quite difficult before I grew iron-biofortified beans because the bean varieties I used to grow did not yield much and was barely enough for home consumption. When HarvestPlus brought in biofortified beans, I grew RWR 2245 (a variety known locally as mutiki ntoya) and the climber variety MAC44. My farming improved and I have a lot to show for it,” said Alexis.
While previously he could expect no more than two metric tons of bean harvest from his two hectares of land, he now harvests up to five metric tons on the same land.
"From the iron bean seed multiplication business, I have expanded my land from two to 15 hectares with another 25 hectares that I lease every planting season. I have bought a motorcycle that I use in my farming activities and an irrigation system, since my area is naturally prone to drought. I bought a solar system to light my house, and I am proudly building an appropriate storage area for my crops. The biggest thing I am proud of, though, is the beautiful, more- spacious house that I built and moved into after selling iron beans to HarvestPlus for further dissemination to other farmers,” said Alexis.
The iron bean program has reached farming households in Kigoma sector of Huye District:
Ndikubwimana, one of the 2016 members of Abishyizehamwe cooperative, says, before the intervention, ordinary beans were grown and the yield and associated income were generally low.
"When we started working with HarvestPlus, they provided seed at a lower cost and ensured that there is a market for the produce,” Ndikubwimana said.
This cooperative started collecting beans from members under a tree, but now they have built an office and a storage facility.
Hellene Mutezintare, the vice president of the cooperative said that, the returns from the sale of beans have been of great value in meeting households’ needs such as medical insurance and school fees for children. "We opted to grow iron-biofortified beans because they are high yielding, have better nutritional benefits, and require a shorter cooking time,” she said.
Augustine Shiragahinda, a farmer in Burera District in the Northern Province, is one of millions of Rwandans reaping the benefits from iron beans. The 58-year-old father of eight has worked with HarvestPlus since 2012 as a contracted seed multiplier after leading a group of smallholder farmers in his neighborhood to consolidate their small plots into a block of 20 hectares. The move enabled Augustine to shift from peasant to commercial farming; producing enough for domestic consumption and for the market.
Augustine Shiragahinda, one of farmers in Burera District in the Northern Province, reaping the benefits from iron beans.
According to Augustine, consolidating land with neighbors made it easier for agronomists, RAB, and HarvestPlus to offer technical support and agricultural extension services in modern farming methods, leading to higher yields and incomes. "This program has supplied iron beans to our cooperative and given us a contract to multiply seeds that have an assured market. As a result, our incomes have increased, nutrition has improved in our households, and children attend school regularly because they are no longer sickly,” said Augustine. With the increased income, Augustine has also been able to renovate and expand his family house.
Damarce Mukagashema is a farmer from the southern Ruhango District. She started growing iron beans in 2012; since then, she does not grow any other type of beans because, according to her, the iron bean varieties are high-yielding and full of nutrients. She always keeps a portion to give to neighboring women because she learned that they are good for women and children. She is able to harvest 30 metric tons on ten hectares, compared to the 2- to- 3 metric tons she used to harvest with indigenous bean varieties on four hectares. From the income she earns, Mukagashema and her husband are now able to send their children to boarding schools in Uganda; it also allowed them to expand their land area from four hectares to ten hectares.
Apart from being nutritious, iron bean varieties have marketable traits that farmers and consumers like.
Gaspard Habimana, is a farmer from Gatsibo District in the Eastern Province of Rwanda. He started working with the program in 2013 as both a seed multiplier and an agrodealer. "Of all the bean varieties, iron beans sell fastest because people now know the benefits of these beans. People prefer iron beans even on a slightly higher price than the indigenous varieties. You may find that iron beans cost 450 Rwandan francs per kilogram on market, while indigenous varieties cost 360 Rwandan francs, and people still go for iron beans. That means, they know all the benefits from these beans”, he said.
Engaging the private sector
In order to increase the iron bean project’s reach and ensure its long-term sustainability, HarvestPlus works with private seed companies and hundreds of farmers that produce and sell seed of iron bean varieties across the country.
On the seed side of the value chain, HarvestPlus works with seed multipliers and agro-dealers to get the improved seed out to farmers.
Laurent Hitimana, a bean seed multiplier based in Gatsibo district, Eastern Province, says that he produces about 2.5 tons of seed from the 65 kilograms of certified seed he has purchased from HarvestPlus each quarter since 2013.
"I spend money on buying certified seed knowing that after I harvest I will make a big profit,” he said.
Hitimana said, if he did not grow this type of beans, he could not afford his children’s school fees. "I was required to pay 2 million (Rwandan francs) per year for my three children; the profit I got from seed multiplication business, made it easy”, he added.
Emmanuel Karegeya, an agro-dealer based in Nyabugogo, Kigali, started working with HarvestPlus six years ago. He says that, farmers prefer iron bean seed because these seeds guarantee a much bigger harvest per unit area compared to local beans.
"From iron bean seed, one can harvest 2.5 tons of beans on one acre, compared to just 1.5 ton from local bean varieties,” he said.
Gloriose Musanabandi is an iron bean seed agro-dealer. Based in Mulindi a City of Kigali suburb, Gloriose got to know about iron beans from people who entered her shop and asked for them. "Clients were asking for bean seed, and I had never sold bean seed among the agricultural inputs I had in my shop,” she said.
Gloriose, one of iron bean seed agrodealers based in Mulindi, distributes packs of seed to farmers.
She acquired three kilograms of beans from her colleague and grew them first to see how it went. She harvested 80 kilograms, and ever since, she does not cook any other type of beans and always has the seeds in her shop to distribute to farmers. Gloriose also gives farmers advice on how and when to plant for better output.
Due to the popularity of the beans, Gloriose says she started selling around 200 kilograms during planting seasons but today she sells over eight metric tons largely to urban farmers. From the income she earned, she has expanded her business; she was able to pay school fees for her children and gained permanent clients. "I do not only sell iron bean seed, I also explain about the nutritional benefits of the beans to clients and I have gained permanent clients,” Gloriose explains.
One of the most important developments in promoting high iron beans was the external investment in the processing and value-addition industry led by FarmFresh. They process and package thousands of tons of high-quality pre-cooked beans for the local and regional markets.
Christian Heremans is the manager of FarmFresh, a bean processing company based in Kigali. Heremans said that, the company embarked on the journey of processing iron beans varieties because, the segment of the consumer market they were targeting liked iron beans; even when they were slightly more expensive than the local mixed bean varieties , consumers would still choose iron beans because they understand the benefits. "We conducted some research around iron beans, we already saw that people would be willing to pay a premium price for nutritious iron beans; we realized people were actually interested in these beans, so we haven’t stopped processing them since then and now we have expanded the market to Tanzania and Kenya,” he said.
Linking farmers to market
With support from the United States Government’s Feed the Future initiative, HarvestPlus and CIAT worked with other partners to develop markets for iron beans through creating business linkages between grain producers and aggregators, grain wholesalers and retailers, and between grain aggregators and processors.
Laetitia Umulisa, communications specialist at HarvestPlus, said this was a natural result of growing interest in iron beans.
"The public kept asking us where they could find iron-rich beans for consumption. Farmers, who had gotten abundant harvest due to the improved seed quality, needed a market to sell their surplus,” she said. In response, the program helped set up grain aggregation outlets to buy grain from farmers. The aggregators then sell to retailers in rural and urban areas.
Gerald Ngendahimana is an aggregator of rice, maize, and beans based in Nyanza district, Southern Province. He aggregates beans from farmers and resells them to urban traders. He sells 30-40 tons of iron beans per quarter—a result he attributes to the fact that they are easy to prepare in addition to their other qualities. "Although I sell a kilogram of iron beans at Rwf520 compared to Rwf360 for the mixed beans, the former always outsell the latter, which shows how much people love them and know the benefits,” Ngendahimana remarked.
Libertha Muragijimana, a bean retailer at Kimironko market, Kigali, who started dealing in iron beans since 2014, says she sells about three times more iron beans than the indigenous variety. "Buyers keep coming because they know that iron beans are good for the body,” she said, adding that there is need to step up production of the iron beans since supply does not meet existing demand.
Placidie Mukampabuka has been a retail seller of iron beans in Kabeza market since 2014. The mother of five sponsors a prime-time advertisement for iron beans on the market radio to popularize consumption of the beans among fellow market vendors and shoppers. As a result, her sales have maintained an upward trend, topping 30 kgs per day. "Iron beans are good, especially for pregnant and breastfeeding mothers, children, and any person recovering from an illness, because they increase red blood cells in the body. Consumers like the beans, "she said.
Placidie, is one of iron beans retailer from Kabeza Market. We found her when she was weighing iron beans for consumption for clients at her stand in the market.
At retail price of Rwf 650 per kg, Placidie, like hundreds of other retailers across the country, has seen her retail business grow. "As a trader, my cash flow increased since I started selling iron beans and I have been able to take out a long-term bank loan and service it with ease to expand the business and improve our home,” she said. From the earnings of her sales, she has been able to pay for the education of her five children, with the youngest graduating from university next year.
Rwanda embraced biofortification in 2010, becoming one of the first countries on the continent to do so. The 2013-2018 National Food and Nutrition Policy also seeks to promote the production and consumption of biofortified foods.
Rwanda was also among countries to officially release a biofortified first crop in Africa. It was the first country to help farmers and households in the multiplication of biofortified iron bean seeds.
Having proved that biofortification technology works (breeding, nutritional efficacy, and delivery), the most sustainable strategy for scaling biofortified crops is to crowd in as many partners as possible including private sector and public funded nutrition programs to continue to scale up iron beans in the country. The iron beans industry will continue to be cared of in good hands of RAB, CIAT (HarvestPlus, PABRA, TAAT), USAID Hinga Weze, AGRA – PIATA and Kilimo Trust. These organizations, have facilitated the establishment of a consortium of bean stakeholders known as "Rwanda Bean Alliance”. The alliance is structuring iron bean value chain based on a private sector market-led seed system where seed production is aligned to demand by the grain producers, aggregators, traders, processors and exporters in a retrospective manner. Grain production targets will be set and necessary seed supplies established for production by seed multipliers and seed companies through contracts. Biofortification has the government of Rwanda’s support and has a bright future in reducing micronutrient malnutrition in the country.