Rwanda Institute for Conservation Agriculture (RICA) and the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, a leading US-based agricultural research institution, have partnered to advance crop improvement, climate-resilient agriculture and research tailored to Rwanda’s farming conditions. The collaboration will focus on joint research, sustainable farming technologies, knowledge exchange and training agricultural scientists, as Rwanda seeks to increase food production and strengthen food security. The partnership was announced on Wednesday, November 11, during a visit to RICA by a delegation from St Louis City, Missouri, including representatives of the Danforth Centre, to explore research collaboration and technology transfer. ALSO READ: Inside RICA's role in advancing Rwanda's farming through conservation agriculture Dr. Solange Uwituze, Minister of State for Agriculture, said the partnership comes at a critical time when Rwanda must produce more food from limited agricultural land while responding to climate change and growing demand. Rwanda has approximately 2.2 million agricultural households, representing 65.3 per cent of all households, according to the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda’s 2024 Agricultural Household Survey. Our ambition is to transform agriculture into a productive, competitive and technology-driven sector. With limited arable land, climate pressures and growing food demand, we must produce more value from every hectare while protecting our natural resources, she said. Uwituze welcomed the Danforth Centre’s participation as a founding partner in the recently launched Rwanda Food Innovation Partnership (RFIP), alongside RICA. The initiative seeks to connect research institutions, universities, technology companies, investors and farmers. She said Rwanda wants to move beyond importing agricultural technologies to developing and commercialising innovations suited to local needs. Our ambition is not simply to import technologies, but to co-create, adapt, test and commercialise solutions that transform farmers' lives and strengthen Africa's food systems, Uwituze said. Expanding research into conservation agriculture Dr. Giles Oldroyd, President of the Danforth Centre, said the partnership with RICA would create opportunities to expand research in conservation agriculture and crop improvement. The centre, based in St Louis, specialises in plant science, with a focus on sustainable food security and improving crops grown by smallholder farmers, particularly in Africa. Oldroyd said the collaboration would extend its crop research beyond cassava to include maize, sorghum, millet and beans. Looking forward, I see huge opportunities for working here at RICA on developing conservation agriculture, expanding the focus outside of cassava to also include other crops like maize and sorghum, millets. These are all crops that we work on, as well as beans, he said. He said the centre would bring expertise in crop improvement to complement advances in farming practices, including the development of improved cover crops that could increase productivity and economic value. I think what we bring to that discussion on conservation agriculture is crop improvement. A lot of the innovations in conservation agriculture have principally been in the agronomic practices, how you do the farming, Oldroyd said. He added that research could also target drought-tolerant crops such as sorghum and millet to help farmers adapt to changing weather conditions. However, innovations would need to be adapted to Rwanda’s climate, topography and farming systems. Building research skills and technology transfer The partnership will also facilitate exchanges involving researchers, students and academic staff from Rwanda and the United States. Oldroyd said the Danforth Centre was interested in creating more opportunities for Rwandan researchers and students to benefit from its facilities and expertise. A really important part of the Rwanda Food Innovation Partnership is workforce development. We see an opportunity for much more exchange with students, students coming to St. Louis, our students coming here to Rwanda, and also exchanges, particularly with RICA and with RAB, he said. Dr. Momar Dieng, Vice Chancellor of RICA, said the collaboration would strengthen efforts to address food insecurity and improve agricultural productivity. The 2026 State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) report by FAO showed that 645 million people, or 7.8 per cent of the global population, faced hunger in 2025. Africa accounted for 309 million people facing hunger, compared with 292 million in Asia (6 per cent) and 32 million in Latin America and the Caribbean (4.8 per cent). The urgency of this collaboration cannot therefore be overstated. Food security is no longer simply about producing more food; it is about producing food sustainably, reducing post-harvest losses, strengthening value chains, and ensuring that farmers can access technologies and markets that improve their livelihoods, Dieng said. He said RICA would contribute through applied research, field testing, technology demonstrations, skills development and scaling up agricultural innovations. He added that linking scientific discoveries with policymakers, farmers, entrepreneurs and investors was essential to ensure innovations reach those who need them. Building on previous cooperation The partnership builds on seven years of collaboration between the Danforth Centre and the Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources Development Board (RAB), which has focused on developing cassava varieties resistant to Cassava Brown Streak Disease (CBSD), a major threat to cassava production. Through the Virus Resistant Cassava for Africa (VIRCA) project, the Danforth Centre and RAB have been working since 2019 to develop disease-resistant varieties. The cooperation has also evolved into the Rwanda Agricultural Biotechnology Programme, supported by the Gates Foundation with more than $9.8 million in funding through 2029. The programme focuses on biotech crops, including CBSD-resistant cassava, late-blight-resistant potatoes and TELA maize, with an ambition of reaching more than 500,000 farming households. Cara Spencer, Mayor of St Louis City, said the partnership reflected the American city's confidence in Rwanda’s agricultural potential and growing role in agricultural innovation. We see the future in agriculture and agriculture tech here in Rwanda. The Danforth Centre believes in Rwanda, and this partnership is really important, Spencer said. She noted that St Louis hosts more than 700 biotechnology companies focused on agriculture and expressed interest in strengthening cooperation with Rwanda. Uwituze said extending collaboration to RICA would create further opportunities to develop locally relevant crop research and sustainable farming solutions.
