Joselyne Nishimwe, a single mother of four from Ngozi Province in Burundi, struggled for many years to support her family. She depended on subsistence farming, but her harvests remained insufficient. Faced with poverty and food insecurity, she wondered how she could improve her production and guarantee a better future for her children.
Joselyne discovered the importance of certified seeds and improved farming practices with support from the Private Seed Sector Development (PSSD) project. In 2021, she participated in a training course presented by Sayokubara Seed Company, a PSSD partner company. Initially skeptical, she finally agreed to experiment with the use of certified seeds on a control plot of one square meter, alongside a plot of the same size using standard, traditional methods.
“I want to prove that with determination and know-how, a simple farmer can become a true entrepreneur and transform her community.”
Joselyne Nishimwe
The results were astonishing: while her traditional plot produced barely 300 kg of maize, her harvest from the plot using certified seeds exceeded 1 ton – over three times her usual production.
“When I saw the difference, I realized that farming could be much more than a simple means of survival. It could become a real economic lever,” Joselyne commented.
Encouraged by her success, Joselyne decided to invest further. With the income from her first harvest, she bought more certified seeds and expanded her cultivable area. In 2022, she took a more advanced training course in seed multiplication and farm management, where she learned additional farming techniques, such as choosing seeds adapted to local conditions, disease and pest management, marketing strategies, and the application of good farming practices, such as sowing, weeding, and fertilization. This training has enabled Joselyne to produce her own certified seeds and sell them to other farmers in her region.
The impact of Joselyne’s commitment is impressive. In 2023, she produced 2.8 tons of certified seeds, which she sold at 3,800 FBU/kg (U.S. $1.28/kg), generating an income of 10,640,000 FBU (or U.S. $3,559.32) – well above her expectations. With her profits, she purchased five hectares of additional land to further strengthen her business, and she now employs three young people from her village, providing them with training and employment opportunities.
“Before, I had to fight every day to feed my children. Today, I can pay for their schooling and give them a better future,” remarked Joselyne on her economic success.
Joselyne’s journey has inspired many women around her. She has become an advocate for certified seeds and a local success story. She now organizes awareness-raising sessions, explaining to farmers how to adopt good practices and improve their yields. Her objective is clear: to enable other families to escape poverty through more productive and sustainable farming.
Rather than slow down and coast on her success, Joselyne is making plans to extend her production to other seed varieties to meet growing demand, to build a storage shed to better preserve her seeds, and to obtain financing to buy modern farming equipment and mechanize certain tasks.
“I want to prove that with determination and know-how, a simple farmer can become a true entrepreneur and transform her community,” Joselyne declared.
Joselyne’s story is a powerful example of the change that farmers can make for themselves with the use of certified seeds and supportive training. Thanks to her courage and hard work, she has transformed her life and inspired hundreds of other farmers to follow in her footsteps.
The Private Seed Sector Development (PSSD) project (2018-2026), funded by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and implemented by the International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC), aims to increase the production and incomes of 178,000 farmer households in Burundi. The project works with private and public sector partners to promote the development of a private sector-led seed industry that is able to provide farmers with sustainable access to high-quality seed and agricultural advisory services.
