Plans for Africa
Hakuna matata
Apart from individual countries in North Africa, the continent is unfamiliar terrain for KWS. The experience we have gathered south of the Sahara stems largely from a project in Ethiopia. Now we’re branching out in East Africa.
Corn breeder Justus Nelle, here at a Sorghum Field Day in August 2019, is creating the foundation for our corn breeding strategy in Kenya
Africa, “the sleeping giant,” will have around 2.5 billion inhabitants, or double the present number, by 2050. More than sixty percent of the population of many countries still work in agriculture, yet a full plate of food at lunch or dinner is not something people there can take for granted everywhere. The continent has the world’s youngest population – an average age of 18 (compared to 44 in Germany and 30 worldwide) – and its thirst for knowledge is huge.
“Hakuna matata,” a phrase from the East African language Swahili meaning “No worries,” seems very optimistic in view of that. Yet it also expresses the philosophy of life of many people there as they struggle intrepidly to overcome everyday problems with a great deal of creativity. And we’re also adopting that constructive approach as we embark on our journey in East Africa.
Promoting sustainable agriculture
True to our maxim of “Respect, Support, Prosper,” we listen closely and learn from the locals what their real needs are and where we can help make progress together. As a newcomer in East Africa, KWS has some theoretical knowledge about the political pitfalls in this region and its cultural background. But things are often different in real life. That’s why our first step was to find reliable local partners.
All our plans are founded on the goal of promoting sustainable agriculture through better seed, extended crop rotation and conservation tillage, thereby improving the living conditions and livelihoods of smallholders in particular. As part of the Strategic Planning we have now started to work on, we intend to identify how we can successfully establish our own, sustainable business activities, building around this nucleus.
A highly motivated team has now been formed to further develop these plans, which were initiated by Henning von der Ohe (Group Strategy), and contribute its own ideas and experience to the Strategic Planning. Anyone also interested in helping KWS establish activities in Africa can contact our project managers Bettina Haussmann and Gordon Day at the Group Strategy department. |
Henning von der Ohe (KWS, left) and Carl Jensen, co-founder and Managing Director of GNA, in April 2019, discussing plans to cooperate more closely
Our approach in East Africa comprises three steps:
In Zambia, we intend to launch a development program aimed at improving the supply of seed and geared toward smallholders, backed by funding from a program of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The traditional corn and sorghum varieties farmers grow for their own consumption have good quality traits, but a low yield potential and do not have the resistances required to cope with a changing climate. This segment accounts for around 30 percent of the total market and is not yet served adequately by other players.
The Zambian startup Good Nature Agro (GNA) and the Zambian Agricultural Research Institute (ZARI) are partners in this project. It is a fascinating approach: As part of the network of more than 5,000 smallholders run by GNA, private extension agents are each helping 40 farmers grow, finance, harvest and market high-quality legumes. KWS is rounding out GNA’s product range, which specializes in legumes, with its breeding know-how and by adding corn and sorghum in particular. The goal is to lift the mostly poor smallholders into the middle class. |
In Kenya, our corn breeder Justus Nelle has been working on his doctoral thesis on hybrid breeding activities for sorghum in East Africa for more than a year and is also conducting initial field trials with corn in cooperation with the local company Agventure, the results of which are to be used as the basis for KWS’ corn breeding strategy in East Africa. The objective is to develop our own varieties for marketing in the region and, like in Zambia, establish our own commercial business in the medium term.
Agventure was founded in 2010 and is an association of nine professional farmers who cultivate a combined total area of around 15,000 hectares. In the medium term, they aim to start producing quality seed and offer improved varieties for an extended crop rotation and so for a more sustainable agriculture. |
We aim to complete the Capacity Development project in Ethiopia we launched in 2012 together with the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ) and local partners by the end of 2021. This project has helped train many breeders at the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR), provide laboratory equipment, make wheat and barley breeding more professional, and supply around 50,000 smallholders with improved wheat and barley seed thanks to support for nine seed cooperatives.
In the current fiscal year we intend to support the EIAR in organizing the multiplication of improved varieties through seed cooperatives and local seed companies to a greater extent so that more smallholders can ultimately benefit. The local partners will therefore be able to expand breeding, production and distribution of seed in Ethiopia under their own responsibility. |
Info:
Bettina Haussmann
bettina.haussmann@kws.com
Gordon Day
gordon.day@kws.com
© KWS SAAT SE & Co. KGaA 2025
