Getting knowledge from the Dutch seed potato sector

SPF is a farmer-led business in the value chain of seed potatoes created in 2015 by a collective of seed potato producers, ware potato producers and potato cooperatives. SPF is owned by 506 shareholders including 461 individual farmers and 45 farmer cooperatives with 2,619 members. SPF has the main objective to improve the supply of potato seeds in Rwanda through a decentralized potato seed trading system. To achieve these above, SPF ensures the stable and real time availability and accessibility of quality potato seeds, ensures the market to seed multipliers (granted by contract) but also provides the technical assistance to seed multipliers. 

Click here to watch the short movie about SPF

Through the involvement of Agriterra in the promotion of potato in Great Lakes, SPF is in contact with this Dutch Agri-Agency since 2016, and got the status of client since 2018. 
Agriterra supports SPF in the areas of seed potato business development, growing and post-harvest handling techniques, marketing, governance, networking and financial management among others. 
For SPF, Agriterra has organised several Agripool assignments that were joined by Dutch seed potato experts. Through these missions, the Dutch expertise on seed potato business was shared.

After being inspired by the Dutch expertise, this study visit in the Netherlands was several times requested by SPF as a young and fast-growing organisation and Agriterra expects to be able to support them in that sense so as to strengthen the linkage between Dutch and Rwandan leading actors in seed potato value chain for sharing experience, learning from each other and initiating sustainable relations.  

The overall objective for this study tour is getting new knowledge, skills and methods from the competitive Dutch seed potato sector. The mission will increase the skills in terms of seed potato growing and post-harvest handling, seed potato business development, and seed potato company’s governance and management among others.  The skills will lead to increased effectiveness and efficiency of SPF, thus an improved seed value chain in Rwanda.