The Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources Development Board conducted a February 3-6, 2026 harvest trial to assess improved potato varieties Ndamira and Victoria for higher yields and stronger resistance to late blight across multiple site.

Since its introduction in 2009, aeroponic technology at the Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources Development Board’s Musanze station has become one of the country's most successful seed potato multiplication methods, transforming production efficiency

Rwanda is now a key hub for seed potato trade in the Great Lakes Region, thanks to farmer-led innovations, Africa’s largest minituber facility, a national seed catalogue, and efforts toward regional integration and formal cross-border seed markets.

The Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resource Development Board (RAB) is conducting trials on new potato varieties that require no fungicide spraying

The lack of quality seed for improved varieties has been attributed to the limited capacity of seed multipliers to produce enough to meet farmer’s demands.

Potato farmers have welcomed the government’s on-going trials on the use of agricultural biotechnology in producing a new Irish potato variety resistant to the devastating late blight disease.

The triadic comparisons of technologies – or tricot – approach is being used in a citizen-science project funded by the CGIAR Research Program on Roots, Tubers and Bananas (RTB) to identify and scale up best cassava and potato varieties in Rwanda.

CIP and RAB are focusing their efforts in this area to release varieties that are high-yielding, pest and disease resistant, and climate-resilient.  But is this enough to overcome the low potato yields faced by Rwandan farmers?

The Rwanda Agriculture Board (RAB) has started testing True Potato Seeds, which are produced by Solynta, a Dutch firm that develops hybrid potatoes. True Potato Seeds are collected from the berries or fruits of the potato plant.