At least 72 per cent of Rwandans are employed in agriculture sector while the 28 per cent in other sectors also get their daily foodstuff from agriculture products, according to the 2015 Integrated Household Living Condition Survey (EICV4).

According to the report between 2010 and 2014 the total of agricultural produce rose from Rwf1.084 billion to Rwf1.785 billion, translating into a 65 per cent increase. 

The value of food crops rose from Rwf719bn to Rwf1274bn while the value of exported crops rose from Rwf75bn to Rwf106bn.

 The total value of livestock production rose from Rwf109bn to Rwf167bn while the total value of fishery rose from Rwf12bn to Rwf20bn.

The   value of agro-forestry products rose from Rwf169bn to Rwf218bn.

This progress is attributed to various initiatives, including quality land use of the total 1,400,000 hectares of arable land.

For instance, for the 245,163 hectares that needed to have radical terraces to be productive, terraces have been  established  on over 92,882 hectares (over 38 per cent) while for the 1,124,328 hectares that needed progressive terraces to be productive, terraces have been created on over 901,752 hectares or 80 per cent .

The other programme to be the base for significant progress in agriculture is the land use consolidation started in 2008, where farmers were urged to focus on the   selected staple crops mainly maize, rice, wheat, Irish potatoes, beans, banana, cassava and soybeans.

In this case, consolidated land for these selected crops rose from 25000 hectares in 2008 to the current 790,048 hectares while the target is 945,704 hectares in 2017.

To cope with climate and weather change, there was a focus on marshland and hillside irrigation.  In this regards, farmers were provided with subsides for small scale irrigation equipment; subsequently irrigated area rose  from 13000 hectares in 2010 to 35560 hectares in 2014 while 40,000hectares are expected in 2017.

 According to the country’s irrigation master plan, 600,000 hectares need to be irrigated to be productive

Agriculture mechanisation has also played a significant role in the progress of agriculture.

Up to now mechanised agriculture is practiced at 15 per cent; which is a good step forward if compared to the five per cent in2010.

It is expected that mechanised agriculture will be at 25 per cent in 2017.

 Agriculture mechanisation has always faced challenges

However, measures to address those challenges have been taken including sensitising farmers on the importance of embracing mechanised agriculture, sensitising private investors to invest in agriculture machinery and privatisation of the government’s agriculture machinery.

 Use of fertilisers and selected seeds plays key role

The various initiatives had to be accompanied by sensitising farmers on the use of selected seeds and use of fertilisers   through  farmers’ groups known as Twigire Muhinzi groups. 

Currently there are75,800 farmers’ groups countrywide comprising more than 1 million farmers.

This led to the rise in the quantity of fertiliser use from 14kg per hectare in 2010 to 32 kg in 2014 while the target is 45 kg per hectare in 2017.

The use of selected seeds on consolidated land raised from 21 per cent in 2010 to 41 per cent in 2015, while it is expected to be at 70 per cent in 2017.

 In a bid to increase the produce on one hectare, research has been conducted on new varieties of seeds mainly for maize seeds (hybrids), wheat and soybeans.

Currently, there are six varieties of maize under multiplication phase that will be distributed to farmers within agriculture season 2017A

Progress in crop productivity at a glance

Since 2010, maize productivity increased from 2.5 tonnes per hectare to 4.2 tonnes per hectare.

Wheat increased from 2.0 tonnes per hectare to 2.6 tonnes per hectare while Irish potatoes moved to 25.7 tonnes per hectare from 12.4tonnes per hectare.

Crawling beans registered an increase of  2.4 tonnes per hectare from 1.0 tonnes per hectare while non crawling beans increased from 0.8 tonnes per hectare to 1.3 tonnes per hectare.

Bananas have increased from 8.4 tonnes per hectare to 15.2 tonnes per hectare.

Rice increased from 5.2 tonnes per hectare to 5.9 tonnes per hectare while soybeans increased from 0.7 tonnes per hectare in 2010 to 1.2 hectares in 2015.

  Post harvest handling

Concerning post harvest handling, main achievements from 2010 to 2015 are mainly training farmers on post harvest handling practices and construction of grain drying grounds and grain strategic reserves.

 The current grain strategic reserves have the capacity to contain 244,545 tonnes. This led to the reduction of the produce lost in post harvest handling process from 32 per cent in 2010 to 10.4 per cent in 2014 for maize, from 25 per cent to 8.3 per cent for rice. The target is to have post harvest losses at 5 per cent in 2017. 

Besides, five cold rooms have been constructed for horticulture produce while feeder roads have been constructed while   others are under construction to ease transport of produce to the market

Concerning livestock production, the sector also registered significant progress from 2010 to 2015.

Milk production increased from 372,619 tonnes in 2010 to 706,030 tonnes in 2015, an increase of 89 per cent.

 Agriculture exports also registered significant progress

Since 2010, income from coffee exportation increased to $ 59.6m in 2014 from $ 56m in 2010. Money from tea exports increased from $55.7m in 2010 to $ 62.2m in December 2015.

Pyrethrum increased from $1,410,000 in 2010 to $ 3.7m in 2015 while money from horticulture exports increased from $3.1m to $ 5.4m in 2015.

Money from crop exportation increased from $ 16.4m in 2010 to $ 41.7m   in 2014.

From 2012 to 2014, tubers brought in $ 16,958,632 while livestock (Living) brought in $ 25.5m. Within the same period, meat and milk brought in $12.5m and $13.1m respectively.

To consolidate the progress of  agriculture sector, the strategic Plan for the Transformation of Agriculture in Rwanda, phase three (PSTAIII/2013-2018)  was put in place.

 It focuses on developing research in agriculture sector to enable farmers to embrace new agronomic technologies, developing agro-processing as well as enhancing private sector investment in agriculture and agri-business. It also focuses on building capacity of agriculture institutions.