Muhogo Bora
Driving economic empowerment in Tanzania through a resilient and inclusive cassava seed system.
Why Cassava?
Launched in 2021, Muhogo Bora is a partnership between Cornell University, the Tanzania Agricultural Research Institute (TARI), and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA). Together, we’re working to improve livelihoods and strengthen communities through seed system change and economic support initiatives by expanding access to improved cassava varieties and supporting farmers—especially women and youth—as Cassava Seed Entrepreneurs (CSEs) in the Western Zone, Central and Southern Highlands regions.
What is a CSE (Cassava Seed Entrepreneur)?
Cassava Seed Entrepreneurs (CSEs) are trained farmers who produce and sell certified cassava planting materials. As trusted community leaders, CSEs help ensure that improved varieties—those with higher yields, better disease resistance, and traits consumers value—reach the farmers who need them most.
By building networks of well-supported CSEs, Muhogo Bora is helping strengthen local seed systems, boost cassava production, and create new economic opportunities for women and youth in rural areas.
Why are Cassava Seed Entrepreneurs Important?
A big challenge in cassava production is access to clean, high-quality planting material. While improved varieties exist, getting them to small-scale farmers remains a bottleneck—especially in more remote or underserved areas.
Muhogo Bora helps address this gap by supporting Cassava Seed Entrepreneurs (CSEs), who are local farmers trained to multiply and share improved seed. This approach helps solve two problems at once—expanding access to better varieties, while also creating economic and social opportunities for farmers, particularly women and youth, to grow cassava for both seed and food. It’s a practical way to strengthen local seed systems and support resilience in rural communities.
Why Focus on Women Farmers?
By bolstering opportunities for women and youth, the whole community benefits. Women play a central role in cassava production—especially in harvesting, processing, and marketing—but often face barriers to resources and opportunities. Many have limited access to quality planting material, training, or participation in higher-value markets.
Muhogo Bora addresses these gaps by directly supporting women to become Cassava Seed Entrepreneurs, offering training, resources, and strategies designed to overcome gender-based constraints. When women have greater access to improved varieties and more opportunities to lead, it strengthens food security and economic resilience for entire households and communities.
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Expanding Our Reach
The Muhogo Bora project has made strong progress in expanding the Cassava Seed Entrepreneur (CSE) model, and our next phase of the project, beginning in 2024, presents an opportunity to build on this foundation and deepen our impact by expanding into new regions and focusing on nutrition, education, and social and economic sustainability.
We’ll build on the current Muhogo Bora CSE system and work towards our six primary outcomes:
Sustainable & Inclusive CSE Model
Building on the successes of Phase 1, we are scaling out the model of CSEs to new regions, with a continued focus on engaging women and youth. In parallel, we work to increase awareness and adoption of clean, certified seed to drive demand and strengthen the seed value chain nationwide.
Economic Linkages & Crop Integration
We are strengthening market access, information flow, and policy support to enhance the productivity, inclusivity, and competitiveness of CSEs along the cassava value chain — including commercialization, value addition, aggregation, and contract farming. We also promote the integration of other nutritious crops like orange-fleshed sweet potato and iron-rich beans, through both established CSEs and school-based interventions.
Enabling & Evidence-Driven Environment for CSEs
We are strengthening the policy and regulatory framework for seed quality and certification, while generating actionable evidence through gender-intentional research and monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL). We practice inclusive, data-driven decision-making, and amplify our impact through targeted communications, knowledge sharing, and advocacy.
