Increasing the capacity of cooperatives in East Africa

With funding from USAID's Cooperative Deveopment Program, the Seed Cooperative Alliance (SCA) was formed to increase rural incomes and boost the supply of quality hybrid maize seed in Rwanda and Tanzania. SCA was a group of experts working together - Land O'Lakes, Inc., Venture37, African seed company Seed Co., and local cooperatives from across the region. Over three years, SCA helped cooperatives engage in partnerships with multiple seed and fertilizer companies. By using hybrid seeds, farmer-members experienced lower costs of production, receiving higher yields and better prices for their produce at market. And best-of-all, participating farmer members started seeing more opportunities to improve their livelihoods.