Sourcing from trusted and reliable seed potato distributors

28-03-2024

Diane Nyirahabimana, 50, is a member of KOKUMUJE cooperative and a shareholder in SPF Joint Ventures Ltd in Rwanda. She sources 4 tons of certified seed potatoes from SPF every season to produce potatoes for consumption on 1.5 hectare of own land. Agriterra interventions through SPF favored Diane to progressively increase her income through market-oriented potato farming.

On top of seed potato shortages, Diane was for long inconvenienced by the questionable quality of available local seed potatoes varieties, and the adverse effects were high. She was the victim of low productivity, recurring potato diseases, low ware potato prices, low income, and inability to utilize her land at maximum capacity.

Before 2019, Diane could get no more than 700 kg of seed potatoes despite needing more. Most of those seeds were from informal markets without traceable source. Currently, she is able to obtain around 12 4,000 kg of good quality seeds every season and her seasonal production has increased from 6 tons per hectare to 19 tons per hectare.

Gaining new good agriculture practices

Diane participated in various training from SDGP potato partners in topics related to seed sorting and grading, pests & diseases management, fertilizer use, and crop rotation. Consequently, Diane has been deriving more income from peas, maize, and pyrethrum rotated
with potatoes. She has also managed to  decrease expenditures by efficiently using chemical fertilizers and adopting the use organic manure and compost.

Increasing income from potato farming

From accessing good quality seeds, skilling up her production techniques, to obtaining better market prices, Diane has been reaping the benefits from the increased volume and quality of her potato production. Her agriculture income gradually increased from 2,520,000 RWF (around EUR 2,000) per annum in 2018 to 17,600,000 RWF (around EUR 14,000) in 2023.

Additionally, she has increased her land ownership from 0.8 hectares to 1.5 hectares by buying 0.7 hectares.
Diane has an ambition to increase further the land size to 5 hectares to scale up the potato farming business and engage into horticulture production.

Improving livelihood of Diane’s family

Diane and her husband also own a local food retail shop. The income from potato farming is complemented by the income from food retail to earn the family livelihood.

Diane is a mother to 3 children and has been able to support their secondary education through the increase of income from potato farming. As she increased income, she gained confidence to approach financial institutions and trust in them. She sourced 5 million Rwandan francs to scale up the farming activities.