Beans in Rwanda: The Day ISAR Released 15 New Bean Varieties
New Varieties to Help Farmers Reach New Heights
Rwerere, Rwanda (17 February, 2010) – Earlier last month, agricultural researchers high in the hills of Rwanda invited hundreds of smallholder farmers, government officials and development partners to the release of 15 newly bred and improved climbing, bush or snap varieties of beans, a staple food and major source of protein diets in Rwanda. The varieties could triple the yield of ordinary varieties grown by farmers. The new varieties have great potential to improve food security and nutrition for rural households in Rwanda.
The government approved the release of the varieties after 10 years of intensive participatory breeding between researchers at the Rwanda Agricultural Research Institute (ISAR) and farmers, majority of them women. The release of the new varieties is one more step in the country’s efforts to develop a highly productive and sustainable agricultural system. It is part of the country’s Crop Intensification Program (CIP), the Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRS), Vision 2020 Program, Rwanda’s pillars to attain socio-economic and food security transformation.
The policies are now bearing results.
The President of the Republic of Rwanda, H.E. President Paul Kagame, had this to say at the September 2009 UN General Assembly in New York: “Since the initiation of our strategy in 2006, considerate impact is being realized. And for two years now, we have realized food surplus. Our exports of beans…have gone up by over 30%”. The President further stated that with high level engagements, a world free of hunger is achievable.
Dr. Daphrose Gahakwa, the Director General of ISAR, who also represented the Chief Guest and Rwanda’s Minister of Agriculture, Hon. Agnes Kalibata, reiterated the role of women in agriculture and variety selection. “Rwanda women farmers are bean specialists. They are quite precise about which variety to grow where (soil types, intercrops), in which and when in the season; which one to cook or to sell.”
“The sweetness of these beans comes from more than their taste, high productivity as well as their market–preferred attributes among farmers and consumers. It is the sweetness of success for Rwanda’s farmers,” said the Director General.
The new varieties were officially released at a farmer field day on January 15 that was held at the Rwerere research station and neighboring farmers’ fields. Farmers, who were part of the breeding and selection process, examined the seeds of the new varieties and gave them new local names like Nyiramata (meaning: he who has milk, is wealthy and healthy) and Ngobokarugo (timely bumper harvest), which reflect the potential commercial or nutritional value of the new varieties.
Nyiramata has milk-white seed coat, cooks fast, flatulence-free and fetches premium prices in hotels and urban markets. “One log of fire wood is enough to cook a full pot,” said Beatrice Nyiramiryango, a collaborating woman farmer at Rwerere. A pot is a clay-baked traditional cooker.
Partners Working Together
The decade long research at ISAR stations of Rwerere, Rubona, Nyagatare and Karama in the high, mid and low altitude zones was supported by several development partners and international organizations, now led by the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), a partnership-based organization that targets rural poverty and hunger through improving smallholder farming; its affiliate partner, the Rockefeller Foundation.
The International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), the Dry Grain Pulses Collaborative Research Support Program (CRSP) and the Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in East and Central Africa (ASARECA) were other key contributors to the success of bean breeding in Rwanda.
“AGRA’s work in Rwanda is strongly supportive of government programs to transform the country’s agricultural systems. Rwanda’s Strategic Plan for the Transformation of Agriculture supports the development of roads to improve market access, and of storage facilities to enable the safe storage of crops. It also provides well-targeted subsidies, helping small-scale farmers to access good seed, fertilizers and credits,” said Dr. Gahakwa of ISAR.
Dr. Namanga Ngongi, President of AGRA said: “The Rwandan government’s agricultural policies and programs are initiating a new Green Revolution. The country experienced a 15 percent increase in food production in 2007 and a 16 percent increase in 2008. We are glad our support of ISAR crop breeders and of innovative seed companies are contributing to this transformation for Rwanda’s smallholder farmers.”
Developing the New Varieties
Among the new favorites was one called Gasilida, named in recognition of a Rwerere woman farmer, Cansilida Mujawamariya, who provided the source of the land race to ISAR breeders. Gasilida is one of the new varieties of climbing beans, which grow over two meters tall on poles or stakes. “It is generations old in the family. It has outstanding precocity, yield and taste. I picked it from my mother-in-law,” Mujawamariya said.
Eduard Murwanashyaka, an ISAR senior technician at Rwerere went on, “I found it peculiar in her bean mixtures that we use as local checks in regular on farm trials. I isolated and introduced it in the breeding scheme. It stood the tests and outperformed many test entries. She agreed we name it after her.”
Another main breakthrough was the release of three heat tolerant and early maturing climbing bean varieties, named Gitego 1, Gitego 2 and Gitego 3, suitable for low altitude zones of Umutara, Ngoma, Mayaga and Bugesera regions of eastern Rwanda. Climbing beans have hitherto been exclusively grown in higher elevations between 1600- 2500 metres above sea level.
“The heat tolerant varieties will contribute not only to the improved food production but also towards mitigating the climate change phenomenon,” said Dr. Gahakwa, who is also a plant breeder.
Unlike bush beans that grow out, climbing beans grow up, thus utilizing more aerial than ground space, in a way similar to storey buildings in cities.
With proper care and adequate inputs, the new climbing beans produce more than 5 tons per hectare, which is twice to three times higher than the yield of the semi-climbing and bush beans.
Access to the New Seeds
Now that the new bean varieties are approved, the next challenge is to ensure that large quantities of seed are available to all the farmers who want to grow them, according to Dr. Joseph DeVries, the Director of AGRA.
“I congratulate ISAR breeders for the effective and efficient commitment of resources. But releasing good varieties is only a step in the march towards a Green Revolution in Rwanda and Africa. The farmers have to access and plant seed of the new varieties in order for them to realize their advantages and yield benefits over the old ones,” said DeVries.
“To get good seed in farmers’ hands, AGRA also supports the growth of private seed companies that are committed to quality and to serving smallholder farmers,” said Dr. Jane Ininda, a program officer with AGRA’s Program for African Seed Systems (PASS). “It is part of AGRA’s integrated approach to agriculture. We look at what needs to be done across the entire food value chain, whether that is training, varieties, seeds, soils, inputs, infrastructure, markets, or policies.”
Dr. Irvin Widders, the Director of the Management Office of The Dry Grain Pulses Collaborative Research Support Program (Pulses CRSP) at Michigan State University, acknowledged the well-spent effort and likened the release of new varieties with the “birth of a child.” He expressed the optimism the new varieties will be adopted by the intended beneficiaries: Rwandan smallholder farmers.
Farmer Participation
Mrs. Alfonsine Nyirambanjinka and Stansilas Binyavanga, two of the farmers who participated in the breeding process, displayed about 5 hectares grown to some of the new climbing bean varieties: Mwirasi (the proud one), Gasilida and Ngwinurare 2 (enjoy, come again) to the participants.
“I seek training and supervision from ISAR and the Rwanda Development Authority (RADA), grow the varieties, and produce seed that I sell to other farmers. Should any farmer fail to raise money, then we exchange seed for grain. In that way I help seed dissemination chain in my location, I feed my family,” said Mrs. Nyirambanjinka.
Gregoire Kabiligi, a collaborating farmer in Musasu village near Rubona research station, was equally hopeful.
“We planted the new climbing bean varieties on 28-hectares of consolidated land in our village with the supervision and technical assistance from ISAR scientists. We hope to harvest about 100 tons. We shall sort and grade good seed or grain that will be sold to new farmers or be consumed.”
To emphasize the importance of availability of seed and inputs to farmers, ISAR’s Dr. Daphrose Gahakwa highlighted the need for stronger linkages between research institutions and extension services of The Rwanda Agricultural Development Authority (RADA), Non-Governmental Organizations, Farmers’ Cooperatives and new seed companies, agro-dealers and other stakeholders in the production to market value chain.
Dr. Gahakwa said the government’s commitment to such a holistic approach in the transformation of agriculture was responsible for the double digit growth in agriculture in the last two years. She praised similar AGRA’s integrated food value-chain approach support to Rwanda and welcomed other bilateral and multilateral contributions to Rwandan agriculture.
Next Steps
Rwanda has diverse macro and micro niches in the low, mid or high altitude zones. The farmers and other end-users have diversified needs: beans for family food security, beans for better income earning, beans that resist this or that biotic or abiotic stress. These can be bush, climbing or snap (French) beans depending on the growing environment. There is the new issue of climate change that requires special breeding strategy. A couple of varieties can hardly suffice to meet all these constraints.
“The release of the new climbing, bush or snap bean varieties is thus only part of the solution to overcome these diverse and complexed biophysical and socio-economic challenges, which we still have to confront. Breeding of new competitive bean varieties; and the forward march towards a Green Revolution in Rwanda continues,” Augustine Musoni, a bean breeder and leader of Rwanda bean research team, concludes.
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About the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA)
AGRA is a dynamic partnership working across the African continent to help millions of small-scale farmers and their families lift themselves out of poverty and hunger. AGRA programmes develop practical solutions to significantly boost farm productivity and incomes for the poor while safeguarding the environment. AGRA advocates for policies that support its work across all key aspects of the African agricultural value chain from seeds, soil health and water to markets and agricultural education.
AGRA's Board of Directors is chaired by Kofi A Annan, former Secretary-General of the United Nations. Dr Namanga Ngongi, former Deputy Executive Director of the World Food Programme, is AGRA's president. With support from The Rockefeller Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the UK's Department for International Development and other donors, AGRA works across sub-Saharan Africa and maintains offices in Nairobi, Kenya, and Accra, Ghana.