Rwanda: US.$25 Million Plan to Help Fill in Agriculture Yield Gaps for 360,000 Farmers

Rwanda

The Afministry of agriculture and animal resources has said a five year business plan to benefit 360,000 farmers with an estimated budget of $25m, presented by the Alliance for a Green Revolution in rica (AGRA), will help to fill in agricultural yield gaps and boost the agricultural growth rate from 5.8% per year to 8.5%.

Tony Nsanganira, the State Minister for agriculture in Minagri, made the announcement at a consultative meeting to refine the plan for 2016-2020.

"We need modernization to move from subsistence agriculture to commercial activity, to increase incomes in rural areas and reduce poverty, and this plan will help achieve this. We have to make sure there is no duplication of efforts and enhance coordination. We must tap into existing gaps by looking at what we achieved and the way forward. This plan is part of a new policy we are developing", Nsanganira said.

The agricultural sector contributes to over 33%, or an estimated $4,377m, of Rwanda's GDP, while employing over 4.95 million of people. Approximately 10.2% of the national budget goes into the sector.

However, despite the progress yields of major crops remain below potential with yield gaps of 76% in Irish potatoes, 72% in beans, 61% in maize, 64% in cassava and 36% in rice due to limited use of mechanization and modern agricultural practices.

According to Emime Ndihokubwayo, the representative of AGRA in Rwanda, the solution lies in strengthening the private sector's role in providing enhanced agricultural inputs such as better seeds and fertilizers, innovative finance, modern agronomic practices, improvement of post-harvest handling technology, linkage to markets, and others.

"We had previously invested $11.5m with 22 grants in Rwanda for different activities such as seeds, agro-dealership development, fertilizers, land issues, access to market and others. From this year we are investing $6.5m in the agriculture inputs sector, and $10.5m in private-public partnerships in value chain development", she said.

Ndihokubwayo added that another $2.2m will be invested in enhancing access to markets by reducing post-harvest losses through storage facilities, $3.1m in financial access and inclusion by helping in designing financial products including insurance products, as well as $1.3m to support the government in attracting private investment.

The AGRA plan estimates that losses during and after harvesting amount to 25-30% of all crops produced, and by facilitating post-harvest management opportunities and access to markets, it hopes to close yield gaps for 500,000 farmers and ensure 50 % sell through structured markets by 2020.