Rwanda has registered tremendous growth in the agriculture sector over the last five years. The value of agricultural productivity increased from slightly over Rwf 1 trillion in 2010 to 1.7 trillion in 2014, a 65 per cent increase.

The Government also increased the agriculture budget from slightly over Rwf 90 billion in 2013/14 financial year to over 102 billion in the current financial year 2015/16.

This was highlighted yesterday, as Prime Minister, Anastase Murekezi addressed parliament on the country’s achievements in the agriculture sector over the last five years.

Some of the notable indicators cited was increasing productivity, crop diversification and investments in food processing, among others.

The report is good news for the country’s development ambitions, especially because agriculture employs the biggest part of the population. When the sector grows, it means better quality of life for the biggest section of the population.

However, the question now is what next after these achievements? Can we keep the sector on a clear growth path to meet the country’s overall development objectives as envisioned in Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRS 2)?  Can these gains be doubled in the next 5 years?  The answer lies with consolidation of these gains while increasing efforts to fully exploit the potential of the sector. There is need for more efforts to increase the rate of modernisation and value addition in the sector.  

This calls for ensuring that farmers easily access funding from banks, which still consider lending farmers as a very risky venture. Government needs to do more to ensure that farmers are able to access loans, if the sector is to fully modernise.  Like some Members of Parliament said yesterday, government should consider creation of an agriculture development bank to give special loans to farmers.