By Zablon Oyugi, December 1, 2025, In a significant milestone for African agriculture, Komboka rice from Kenya has become the first rice variety to be listed in the regional seed-trade directory of Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), paving the way for its cultivation and sale across all 21 COMESA member states.
The listing — completed in September 2025 — means that Komboka can now be marketed and traded across Eastern and Southern Africa without the need for each country to conduct its own variety testing.
This removes a major barrier to cross-border seed flow and fast-tracks availability of improved rice varieties to farmers across the region.
Developed by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in collaboration with Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) and other national agricultural research partners, Komboka was first introduced in Kenya in 2013.
In Kenya, the variety has already won wide adoption among farmers because of its strong performance: high yields, resilience under drought or low-water conditions, robust disease tolerance, and good grain quality with long, semi-aromatic grains.
According to IRRI and local stakeholders, at least 40 per cent of Kenyan rice farmers now plant Komboka, a share that continues to rise — including in newer rice zones such as Tana River County.
With its new COMESA status, Komboka’s reach is projected to expand beyond Kenya, into countries such as Sudan, Malawi, Rwanda, Somalia and others that make up the wider Eastern and Southern Africa rice belt.
Regional seed-trade registration of Komboka opens a channel for faster dissemination of improved, climate-resilient rice varieties — a move experts say could significantly boost productivity, food security, and incomes for smallholder rice growers across East and Southern Africa.
As demand grows, IRRI and national partners plan to collaborate with seed companies and local distributors to ensure Komboka seed becomes widely available — helping turn what was once a Kenya-only success into a region-wide asset.
