Sowing the seeds of success with Eden Seeds.

Eden Seeds is transforming the Ugandan agri-food system by ensuring access to indigenous seeds. Take a deep dive into the Eden Seeds’ business model, its progress so far and the vision for the future. 

Introduction

Eden seeds is a farmer-owned indigenous seed company. It is providing smallholder farmers with access to quality indigenous seeds and partnering with Rootical to accelerate the transition of smallholder farmers to regenerative agriculture and agroecology. 

Eden seed's vision for the future is to be a catalyst in making the Ugandan food system more equitable and efficient by empowering smallholder farmers to overcome challenges related to access to quality indigenous seeds. 

The Genesis of Eden seeds

Founded on the belief that regenerative agriculture begins with preserving indigenous knowledge, Eden Seeds emerged to leverage indigenous seeds on the Ugandan market.

“Starting my own business has been a lifelong aspiration and Co-founding with Rootical was a great opportunity for me to get the expertise, mentorship and funding that I needed to kickstart Eden seeds,” Emma affirms. 

Connecting farmers to indigenous seeds

Through partnerships with local community seed banks and agricultural experts, Eden seeds identifies and sources indigenous seeds that are uniquely adapted to the soil and climate conditions, then distributes them to local agro-input stores where smallholder farmers already buy their seeds.

The aim is to position these indigenous seeds (next to the hybrid, imported varieties) as better, affordable, more performant and resilient varieties.

Bembe Agro input shop, in Bembe village Wakiso district one of the clients of Eden seeds that buys beans and maize. 

Eden Seeds not only promotes preservation of biodiversity but also empowers farmers to cultivate crops that are more resilient to pests and diseases and harsh climate conditions. This approach enhances crop yields and ensures food security.

“As a co-founder with Rootical, I have learned to work bottom-up, to go on the ground, validate the problem that smallholder farmers are facing, focus on the feedback and come up with a practical solution. This human-centred approach has helped build strong relationships with the farmers I work with,” Emmanuel adds.  

Future aspirations 

Eden Seeds envisions scaling to new heights, with aspirations to serve thousands of smallholder farmers in Uganda each season by 2030.

Eden seeds aspires to create a transformative impact across smallholder farmer communities in Uganda. By empowering farmers with indigenous high-quality, high yielding seeds, the enterprise strives to boost agricultural productivity and also contribute to the overall livelihood of smallholder farmers.