South Kivu: A Call for Traditional Seeds and a Debate on Certification

My mother produced with traditional seeds for more than forty years before my eyes, without ever buying seeds. She cultivated, planted, harvested, and replanted, all without relying on the seed market. So where did this notion of seed validation come from? And why is it that today we no longer see the diversity of colors that once characterized our seeds?” declared Professor Kacho Karume, lecturer and researcher at the Evangelical University in Africa (UEA).

This powerful intervention took place on September 2, 2025, during the workshop on developing agroecological strategies for the province of South Kivu, organized at UEA by the Congo Basin Conservation Society in collaboration with the Faculty of Agronomy. The researcher highlighted the progressive loss of agricultural biodiversity and the erosion of farmers’ knowledge around local seeds.

For him, safeguarding and promoting traditional seeds must occupy a central place in future agroecological strategies in order to strengthen the food sovereignty of farming communities.

In response, Dieudonné Byaombe, Coordinator of the National Seed Service (SENASEM), reminded participants that seed production will not come from multinationals but rather from one territory to another. “With 30 kilos per hectare, we can cover an entire territory, provided we have just three producers. The production of certified seeds—R1, R2, and R3—falls under SENASEM,” he explained.

He also stressed the price disparities between countries: in Burundi, half a kilo of seeds costs $0.50, while in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a kilo sells for between $2 and $3. “In the past, a hectare could yield up to 40 tons, but today, it is difficult to reach even five hectares,” he regretted, calling for seed production to remain in the hands of specialists, particularly the National Institute for Agronomic Study and Research (INERA), the only institution authorized to certify.

This exchange reflects a crucial debate in South Kivu: how can the region reconcile the preservation of farmers’ knowledge and local seeds with the requirements of certification and agricultural productivity.

#CBCS