b'Rwanda has a very high potential to become a significant exporter of crops to DRC, one of the 6% is the amount of cereals grown in Rwanda worlds largest countries with more than 95 mil-6 % in comparison to the countrys total foodlion people, she says, adding that for the Seed production.Resilience project, theyre looking to empower farmers and give them the best possible future after the intervention is completed. After choosing the right location, its about finding the right varieties for the growers. Though 84,000 is the amount of farmers that thethis can be a time-consuming part of the project, Rwanda project is aiming to help access highfinding the markets preferred seeds and the seeds 84,000 quality seeds and improved farming practices. that work best in the smallholder farmers environ-ment is crucial to setting them up for success.We will focus first on identifying market needs and preferences for specific crops, Haran says. Lets take a tomato for example: does the market prefer oval or round tomatoes? What is the pre-ferred fruit size?While private breeders might think and breed for yield, Haran says that the yield is a result of many traits, including potential productivity, resist-ance to locally prevalent pests and diseases and climate adaptability. Based on this information, specific product profiles will be developed for each of the selected crops and shared with the partner seed compa-nies, she says. In addition, Haran says theyre working to iden-tify what crops Rwandan farmers need to grow to complement other locally grown foods.Rwanda needs cereals and grains to comple-ment other foods grown locally. Out of the coun-trys total food production per year, only 6% are cereals and Rwanda is a net importer of grains and grain seeds, she says. Production gaps per hectare are significant: for rice, wheat and potatoes the yield gaps are 37%, 43% and 50%, respectively, compared to the world average, and even less when compared to advanced markets. Rwanda also has a very low vegetable con-sumption rate, which leads to low vitamin and fiber consumption in their diets. Looking into vegetable varieties that perform well in the environment will help fill out their diets. To test some of these seedsfrom locally impor-tant varieties to high-quality seeds provided by seed companiesFair Planet will be hosting open field day trials to showcase what theyre finding.According to Khan Niazi, this not only gives smallholder farmers a chance to see the varieties in action before trying them themselves, but it also A farmer from Butajira, a previous site where Fair Planet helped smallholderallows Fair Planet to provide some education prior farmers.to planting. 34/ SEEDWORLD.COMINTERNATIONAL EDITION 2023'